Chem Geek,
My comments were by no means meant to offend you...as I've said, you really have nothing to gain so your sharing of knowledge is greatly appreciated!
You've made my point much better then I did...many other systems are much harder to manage then dichlor and your way of using bleach may be effective but again, I would never recommend it to the average customer. I see people every day that still have their balancing agents from the start up kit in a box by their spa a year or more after delivery and yet they tell me "I check the water every week and it's always perfect. Then they don't understand when I tell them their pump seals have failed.
I would also agree with you on CYA, I'm currently testing the system out with borate to see if it lessens the corrosion. I would love to get the salt gen manufactures together with the chem experts and the field techs to see if we can't make it work more effectively!
e...Wow...I think with the reputation I've earned over the last 30 years doing this I really don't have to low blows like that from anyone!
No offense taken. Just trying to explain the different perspectives. You are absolutely right that there are some spa (and pool) owners that just refuse to do proper chemical maintenance so keeping things simple and safer is better for them.
You also picked up on the fact that the use of 50 ppm Borates makes sense to have in a saltwater chlorine generator spa. Lowering the TA to around 50 ppm and using 50 ppm Borates is a combination that significantly lowers the rate of pH rise, especially if you don't try and lower the pH below 7.5 and you let the pH settle in near 7.8 if it wants to. Saltwater chlorine generators output hydrogen gas bubbles and the increased aeration forces more carbon dioxide outgassing that causes the pH to rise. TA is a measure of the over-carbonation of the spa so lowering the TA lowers the rate of such outgassing, but since it also lowers the amount of pH buffering that's where the 50 ppm Borates come in. The borates not only buffer pH, but do so more strongly as the pH rises so are ideal in situations where the pH tends to rise such as when using saltwater chlorine generators or when using bleach (or any other hypochlorite source of chlorine).
As an added benefit, the borates cut down the amount of pH rise at the hydrogen gas generation plate roughly in half so that helps to prevent calcium carbonate scaling at the plate though that is more of a problem in plaster pools where one is trying to balance the calcite saturation index. It would also apply to spas where the CH is high in the fill water.
