Quote Originally Posted by chem geek View Post
Sean,

As you know from other posts on this forum, many (but not all) SWG users experience rising pH which requires regular additions of acid to maintain pH (and possibly adding baking soda to maintain TA over a longer period of time). Non-SWG users using BBB or liquid chlorine do not generally see the pH rise unless they have high TA, low pH, aeration from water features, or a new plaster pool (that is curing). waterbear (Evan) has found that using 50 ppm Borates significantly reduced this acid demand, possibly by reducing chlorine demand and allowing for lower power levels or run times of SWG generation.


Richard
Sean,
Richard is correct. Since adding the 50 ppm sodium tetraborate my acid use has decreased from about 24 oz every 2-3 week to about 6 oz evey 5 weeks and my pH tends to stay right around 7.6. I have also found that by lowering my adjusted TA to about 70 ppm has been beneficial. Since I have done that I have not seen my pH rise above about 7.9 while before it was not uncommen for it to read 8.2. I have also seen a huge decrease in chlorine demand since I can now run my cell at between 4-10% output depending on temperature (Goldline Aqualogic PS-8) to maintain my FC of 4-5 ppm while before I added the tetraborates I ran the cell at 15-25%! Also, my pool gets constant aeration from the spillover spa and water features (deck jets and spillover pots). I maintain my CYA at about 70 ppm and am located (as you know) in N. FL.
Evan