Is there a grocery store substitute for PH reducer?

[Wayne LaBanca]

Yeah, I saw the warning on the Borax and pH pages about the numbers not having anything to do with Borax for pH.

Here's my question: In the next version of your great tool, can you include a calculator to figure how much Borax to add to a pool to raise its pH by .2 ?

Seeing that Alk affects the ability to move the PH levels, I would imagine it would require some fancy programing where you would tell the program what the Alk is and it could figure how much the pH would move based on that.

Hmm, you may have to start charging for this thing.

[cygnusecks]

Ah, does Borax affect Alk? If so then yeah I can see how that would be a little more difficult to calculate...

[mwsmith2]

Yes, borax affects alk, but to a lesser extent that soda ash (the usual pH up) does. The reason it only gives .2 increases in pH is because it doesn't account for alk...and that's the furthest you can move it and be reasonably accurate without that info. Actually what it's making you do is add a little bit and test...just like you're supposed to.

I'd add a section in there for using borax for pH control, but I don't have a formula, and don't have a way to develop one. Sorry guys!

Michael

[cygnusecks]

I see.. yeah understood about the .2 thing, good thinking :-)

So is soda ash as cheap as borax and as easily available?

[mwsmith2]

You can use soda ash but it is going to skyrocket your alk. That's why we use borax.

Michael