chlorine cost and SWG question

[reebok]

first, thanks very much for the wealth of information here. I never understood why I had problems every year, but I have found the key at this website in the CYA vs chlorine info.
I do have a few questions though. everyone here seems sold on using household bleach. this doesn't seem to be the best option (price-wise) for me, but I may be missing something. 2.5 gallons of pool store chlorine (10.5%) was $2.49 when I first moved here (Lakeland, FL). it has now skyrocketed to $4.25 (and $4.50 at the other pool store). nonetheless, looking at clorox from sams, 3 182oz jugs for $8.12, comes out to ~1.90 per gallon. the pool store chlorine comes out to 1.70 per gallon, and of course it has 4.5% more chlorine. not to mention the buy 2 jugs get 1 free promotions that go on every few weeks. am I missing something or do most of the people here live in places with fewer pools and higher pool store chlorine prices?

with the above info in mind, I have been going back and forth about getting a SWG. the million dollar question is, will it be worth it in the long run. I have never tried keeping a constant level of chlorine (as in, I never tested nightly, though I did use an automatic in-line feeder {which I promptly removed the tablets from as soon as I found the magic CYA info here} and I shocked weekly) so I really have no clue what my demand will be as far as adding every night. the pool will probably be daily to every other day use with two adults and one baby (currently 10 months old), and maybe 3 large dogs if the wife has her way (as she usually does). I live in central florida so I do have a longer pool season than some, and I use solar panels. my CYA per the pool store is 75. this seems ideal for an SWG, but high for non-SWG. once I run out of my polyquat-60 I laid out $42 for, I plan on using the CYA table and keeping my chlorine at the target range (~9ppm) and wait for my CYA to go down on its own over time. now, I have seen on a few products that you should wait until chlorine is below 3ppm for swimming. I know that's a little extreme, but when I've been living on 3-4ppm, and this CYA chart says I need 9ppm, I do get a little leery for my 10 month old. any comments on that?

thanks again for the extremely informative site.
edit: in case anyone needs it, my pool store results 3 days ago were: FC 4.0, pH 7.5, TA 119, CH 399, CYA 75, TDS 1110
the pool is gunite/concrete/diamond brite/whatever that was redone in late 2007. I think it's ~22,000 gallons.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Good prices on liquid chlorine at pool stores are often better than the best available price for bleach. You are seeing good prices on liquid chlorine. Also, many people have found bleach for significantly less than what you quoted. Prices for both vary quite a bit from chain to chain. Also, liquid chlorine isn't available at all in many areas

The level of chlorine that is safe to swim in varies with the CYA level. If you don't have any CYA in the water, you don't want to swim when FC is above 3. But the moment you start using CYA, much higher FC levels become safe.

A good preliminary guess at how much chlorine you will use is around 2 ppm per day.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi and welcome!

Have you added any chlorine since the last test? Because a FC of 4 is too low for your CYA level. I know you are using PQ 60 to control algae, but as far as other bacteria and viruses which are killed by chlorine, you need to keep that FC up above 5 or 6 at a minimum, for your CYA level of 75. 7 or 8 FC would be even better...

Just thought I'd mention that if you were currently using your pool, especially with an infant in the water....

BTW, I buy Wal-Mart large jugs for $2.54 (174 oz) mainly because it's more convenient than the closest pool store, plus I'm there grocery shopping anyway.

 

[tosborn55]

I've kinda fought over the same thing about cost of bleech,i did bleech last year for first time and fought the whole year,trying to keep FC up to par.But I have found out what part of my problem was,after posting on here.But I have read on here that most people use about a gallon a day,In tennesse bleech is about $1.50 a gallon that would equal about $45.00 a month,are my figures right?I know my first year with pucks I used about a bucket of chlorine for the whole year.Or is a gallon a day wrong?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I've kinda fought over the same thing about cost of bleech,i did bleech last year for first time and fought the whole year,trying to keep FC up to par.But I have found out what part of my problem was,after posting on here.But I have read on here that most people use about a gallon a day,In tennesse bleech is about $1.50 a gallon that would equal about $45.00 a month,are my figures right?I know my first year with pucks I used about a bucket of chlorine for the whole year.Or is a gallon a day wrong?

I use anywhere from 3qts to 1 gallon in about a week. Pool size is a big variable on chlorine usage. So is the locale, bather load, etc. every pool can vary.

 

[JasonLion]

There is a great detailed breakdown of the costs of different chlorine sources here. The prices have all gone up since that was written, but the relative costs are still about the same.