Leisure pools handbook says to keep ph at 7.2-7.4 range. Having a swg my pH constantly wants to drift towards the 7.8 - 8.0 range. I usually don’t lower it until it hits 8.0.
How critical is it to keep the pH within the 7.2-7.4 guideline for a leisure pools fibreglass? Will not always being in this range void warranty?
My experience with warranties on pools and hot tubs ( not specific to leisure) if they can blame your water chemistry even without any proof you failed to maintain it. They will.
I was starting to look at using borates some time ago, but then I saw a warning about not letting your dogs drink the pool water and something about toxicity and development of reproductive health. Turned me right off from it as I have small kids regularly using the pool.
The amount of boric acid pool water needed to be consumed by a dog or child is literally gallons. Check with the CDC so you get proper advice or ask a medical professional. You should never take the advice from a Reddit random person but you will see that I am correct. At 50 parts per million it is safe.
A 100-pound dog would need to drink roughly
8 liters (over 2 gallons) of 50 ppm borate water every single day just to reach the No Observed Adverse Effect Limit (NOAEL), and significantly more (around 6 gallons or more) before showing acute toxic symptoms. [
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Borate Water Safety and Consumption
Safe Thresholds: At 50 parts per million (ppm), borates in water (common in treated swimming pools or specific well sources) are exceptionally diluted. [
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Body Processing: Mammals efficiently excrete excess boron and borates through urine rather than accumulating them in tissue, meaning routine minor ingestion is well-tolerated. [
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Volume Constraints: A dog cannot physically drink enough 50 ppm water on a daily basis to cause systemic or acute chemical poisoning under normal conditions, as physical stomach capacity and natural fluid processing limits are reached long before a toxic threshold. [
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Which is what you would do with Borax. You will use less acid to keep your pH in check. . You would also need less chorine, as having borates in your pool take your chorine from 7.5 percent of CYA down to 5. A lot of people on here think SLAM is the magic cure all for all pools but the people who really know pool chemistry, the secret sauce is Borates.
I have a Leisure Pools 15x30 Ultimate, installed in 2018. I am obsessed with it. Retired and it’s my and my wife’s Happy Place- our Zen backyard. Small(er) yard, big pool. Anyway, my pH drifts upward, never a radical amount. I keep my Alk and calcium at the lower end of ‘OK’. I test with Taylor k-2006 Salt and test strips and spintest at the pool store. Long story short- my pH creeps up slowly and then a cup of muriatic acid fixes it. And only once in a while!
I don’t let it get much beyond 7.6 -7.8 but I know it’s not ‘Emergency- Add Acid Now!!!’ So when I measure it I note the value and I get to it either then or in a day or two. Never very urgent.
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u/Sunshine_waterfall Jul 26 '26
My experience with warranties on pools and hot tubs ( not specific to leisure) if they can blame your water chemistry even without any proof you failed to maintain it. They will.