best chlorine tablets for my cement pool?

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TheBabyQ

New member
May 5, 2024
3
Waco, TX
Hello all,

I am new here. First, a little pool history....

8 years ago, we bought a house with an in-ground cement pool. Neither of us know anything about pools. My husband has been in charge of pool care this whole time. it hasn't gone well if you ask me but he would say different. We always have algae and he prefers to turn off the pool and let it go green every winter. I think thats a bad idea as i believe when the pool gets clean that junk stays in your sand filter, yuck. the last 2 years i have managed to get him to agree to let the pool run all winter. LOTS of money spent of chemicals, as you can imagine. I also believe that the shock and chlorine pucks he is buying is the reason for the cement corrosion. He buys the trichlor, i believe we should use Calcium Hypochlorite.

Here is the dilemma....

My husband now works 60 hours a week with only 1 day off so I can want to take over maintaining the pool for him. I am retired and stay at home so i have the time to learn and do it. I have been reading about the SLAM process.

Questions for you...

1-Which is the best chlorine tablet for our pool?
2-any advice on how to start this take over?
 
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TheBabyQ said:
your link opens up to liquid, is there a tablet?
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Tablets are unsustainable as you've seen.

If you continue using them, it will continue 'always having algae'.

So switch to liquid and learn how to take care of the pool. We'll help, every step of the way. Promise.
 
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TheBabyQ said:
can you tell why sodium chlorine or calcium? your link opens up to liquid, is there a tablet?
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Another great option for our Texas climate is a salt water chlorine generator (SWCG). It's by far the cheapest, easiest, and most convenient way to chlorinate. There's upfront cost, but over time it's the least expensive method.

TheBabyQ said:
We always have algae
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With the tools and knowledge you gain here, you'll never again have a speck of algae.

TheBabyQ said:
he prefers to turn off the pool and let it go green every winter.
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For our climate, I'd suggest keeping the pool open year round.

TheBabyQ said:
LOTS of money spent of chemicals
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You will save a lot of money, time, and effort with the methods practiced here.

TheBabyQ said:
My husband now works 60 hours a week with only 1 day off so I can want to take over maintaining the pool for him.
Click to expand...
Once you master the basics, you'll probably spend less than 20 minutes a week caring for your pool. You're in the right place.
 
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+1 on SWG.

You have seen the effects that Trichlor can have. Those pucks are very acidic. They keep pulling pH and TA down. Once TA is depleted, pH really crashes. They can do terrible damage to heaters and plaster.

They also keep adding stabilizer. Excessive CYA without the required adjustment of FC levels to CYA are the likely cause of of your algae issues.

Calcium Hypochlorite is better in terms of pH and TA, but that keeps adding calcium which will eventually create the opposite problem. And creating scale will not undo the erosion damage, it will deposit unselectively everywhere.

Liquid chlorine and SWGs are the only sustainable ways for residential pool maintenance.

Switch to liquid chlorine, read the articles posted above, as well as: SLAM Process

Start thinking about SWGs. Many pool builders in the US seem to discourage SWGs. If anyone tells you that they are bad for plaster then show them your pool.
 
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Even I have a SWG, and I’m in NH. My pool is open only 5-6 mos a year and the further south the more Chlorine you need and the greater the time/work saver the SWG is. Our pool builder said 90% of the pools he builds have SWG so he just builds his quote assuming there would be one.
 
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@TheBabyQ
We don’t recommend tabs of any flavor at all for daily chlorination as it’s unsustainable long term.
Only for occasional use like vacation.
Also, you mustn’t ever mix cal hypo & Trichlor or an explosion 💥 can occur even if a tiny bit of residue mixes.
They must each have their own dedicated feeder or floater for life.

We recommend using liquid chlorine or a salt water chlorine generator for daily chlorination

See the hows & whys here
👇
www.google.com

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Before chlorinating your pool, you should know these simple tips. Learn the best way to add chlorine to your pool.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
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Make sure that you've been in a salt-water pool before going that route. I'm definitely in the minority, but I'm one of those people who find it to be like swimming in beef broth. The five minutes a day it takes me to add liquid chlorine is well worth it to me. Wal-Mart delivers the chlorine to me that @Newdude linked above, and I'm out there checking skimmers, pumps, and fill level daily anyway.

I'll second the advice to keep your pool open year round. You're far enough south that closing it is far more hassle than it's worth.
 
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CreedenceTapes said:
Make sure that you've been in a salt-water pool before going that route. I'm definitely in the minority, but I'm one of those people who find it to be like swimming in beef broth. The five minutes a day it takes me to add liquid chlorine is well worth it to me.
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Insanity.
A SWCG is absolutely, 1000% the right move for @TheBabyQ
 
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CreedenceTapes said:
Make sure that you've been in a salt-water pool before going that route. I'm definitely in the minority, but I'm one of those people who find it to be like swimming in beef broth. The five minutes a day it takes me to add liquid chlorine is well worth it to me. Wal-Mart delivers the chlorine to me that @Newdude linked above, and I'm out there checking skimmers, pumps, and fill level daily anyway.

I'll second the advice to keep your pool open year round. You're far enough south that closing it is far more hassle than it's worth.
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The beef broth thing made me spit my coffee out 🤣
Was this a tfp pool?
I swear mine is in no way like that! It’s saltiness at 2700-3000 ppm is barely noticeable to most people.
 
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You’re wasting sooooo much money buying the chemicals your husband has used. And then you need different chemicals to combat what they have done to the pool. Why bother? Chlorine doesn’t need all that help.

After converting to TFPC, I went from spending over $2,400/year on chemicals and maintenance (not including any equipment we might have had to replace/fix,) to spending less than $300/year. Multiply the savings over the last 13 years and imagine what you could do with that money.

Caring for my pool became a breeze too, quick, easy. After getting the water in perfect balance, I just throw in a few cups to a quart or two of liquid chlorine each week. I may use a bit more in the heat of the summer, but the end of season total out of pocket $ tells the whole story. I never have to fight algae or anything else. My CC has been 0 for 13 years! (I’m a nerd and followed TFP precisely to the “T” I think it paid off.) We have had the most beautiful pool water in our neighborhood all this time. ❤️
 
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Mdragger88 said:
Was this a tfp pool?
Click to expand...

I doubt the last one I was in was TFP certified, but it was owned by a chemical engineer who worked for a water-treatment facility.

Again, I'm definitely in the minority. I think I'm cursed with being able to taste it more than others... which is weird, because I salt my food like there's no such thing as blood pressure.
 
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CreedenceTapes said:
I doubt the last one I was in was TFP certified, but it was owned by a chemical engineer who worked for a water-treatment facility.

Again, I'm definitely in the minority. I think I'm cursed with being able to taste it more than others... which is weird, because I salt my food like there's no such thing as blood pressure.
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You're not supposed to be drinking the pool water. :poke:
Having an adult beverage pool-side is a much better option.
 
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TheBabyQ said:
got it so far! Here's another question, when I vacuum the pool to suck up the algae, do i put it on backwash or waste?
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You put it in filter (where it will run through the filter and hopefully catch the debris for later backwashing) or waste (where it just dumps everything to the waste line), but never put it in backwash for vacuuming. That will deposit everything in the laterals and immediate sand and allow it all to flow back in to the water when you switch back to normal.
 
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If there’s a lot of debris initially (swamp situation) you can vac to waste/drain (not backwash) so it totally bypasses the filter if you wish. Vacuuming to waste means you must replace water so take that into consideration.
But vacuuming to waste every time is not necessary. Vacuuming to filter as @Donldson described is perfectly fine.
** If you have algae you need to do the
SLAM Process.
Mechanical removal of the algae alone will not remedy the problem.

Please fill out your signature so we know what you’re working with

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