Ep126. How Much Chlorine, Borates, And Metal Stain Removal and Prevention

Frank is solo in this episode and discusses some issues brought up in FB groups and listener questions. He dives deep into how much chlorine you should keep in your pool, the benefits of borates, and metal issues and how to prevent them.

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The Deep End Pool Podcast focuses on residential pool maintenance and may not cover commercial pool requirements. Please consult the CDC and local authorities and code requirements for commercial pool maintenance.

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00:00 introduction

02:45 Dealing with the changing nature of each pool's chemistry.

05:35 Properly test, then calculate and add measured doses. The amount needed for chlorine varies from week to week.

06:00 How much chlorine is needed in your pool?

08:00 Without borates, calculate 7.5% of your CYA and adjust chlorine dosing to maintain your chorine at 7.5% of your CYA. With borates it is 5% of your CYA.

10:00 anytime your chlorine falls below the need amount, super chlorinate your pool (7-8 ppm) to handle that extra load, and increase your maintenance dose of chlorine.

13:30 Salt systems may need to increase the percentage of chlorine production and run times on the filter pump to keep up with chlorine demand.

21:30 Borates. Softens water, it's a natural clarifier, helps stabilize pH, and slows the growth of algae.

23:55 chlorine is more effective at lower pH, and CYA protects chlorine from UV rays better with a lower pH.

27:00 with borates in your pool at 40 to 50 ppm, you need to maintain a chlorine residual of 5% of your cya vs 7.5% without borates.

31:00 we found that running a little higher pH is the chlorine does not last as well. The higher pH affects the ability of cya to protect chlorine from UV rays.

33:10 pool staining. CU Lator removes metals from the water.

34:00 metal staining on plaster or pool surfaces means the metal in the water has gone out of solution. If the metal is on the surfaces of the pool structure, it is not in the water to be tested, though some may still be in solution.

36:00 Mineral purification systems, like BlueRay XL, do add metal to the water. You need to manage your metal levels when using these products. Regular testing of metals, and using CU Lator metal remover as needed.

38:00 Keeping LSI balanced is critical to prevent metal and calcium staining.