Borates, Global Supply Chains, and Pool Chemistry

In this episode of Flock It Friday, Rudy Stankowitz revisits the topic of borates in swimming pools, exploring the chemistry behind them, the regulatory history, and why recent geopolitical tensions have brought boron compounds back into the conversation.

Recent instability in key shipping corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal has raised concerns about global freight movement. Since Turkey holds the world’s largest boron reserves and supplies a significant portion of the global market through its state-owned producer Eti Maden, disruptions in shipping routes could tighten the supply chain that delivers boric acid to the U.S. market. The chemistry itself hasn’t changed—the mines are still operating—but the logistics that move industrial minerals around the world can shift quickly.

Rudy then breaks down the science behind borates. In pool water, boron compounds typically exist as boric acid and borate ions, forming a secondary buffering system that helps resist pH drift, especially in pools with saltwater chlorine generators, where aeration accelerates carbon dioxide loss and causes pH to rise.

Most pools that use borates maintain concentrations between 30 and 50 ppm. Below that range the buffering effect becomes minimal, and above it there is little additional benefit. Once added, borates remain stable in the water and are only removed through dilution, splash-out, backwashing, or water replacement.

Borates are often described as algistatic, meaning they may inhibit algae growth, but they should not be considered a primary algaecide. Chlorine remains the primary sanitizer responsible for algae control.

The episode also touches on the regulatory evolution surrounding borates. Following the introduction of NSF/ANSI Standard 50 Annex R in 2015, many niche pool chemical additives—including borate products—were not pursued for certification under the updated framework. As a result, borates largely disappeared from modern certification listings, though they remain widely used in residential pools where certification is not required.

The bigger takeaway is that the chemistry hasn’t changed—but the systems that deliver pool chemicals have. In today’s global economy, the most complicated part of pool chemistry may not be the reactions happening in the water, but the international supply chains that bring those chemicals to the pool service professional.