Hi all,First time pool owner here; I have been soaking up as much information as I can over the past week. I have decided to go the BBB route instead of buying chemicals and adding them to my pool.I wanted to make sure I gave my pool a good shock and was comparing prices for bleach when I found a Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid at Walmart which is cheaper @ 2.50 vs their house brand bleach @ 2.97. Is it fine to use the chlorinating liquid or should I stick with bleach?Thanks!
Chlorinating Liquid vs. Clorox Bleach with BBB
- Thread starter ned.stark
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
Liquid chlorine and bleach are the same chemical, just different strengths. Use whatever is the best deal. Put the correct setting in PoolMath.
Also realize there should never be a need to randomly "shock" the pool
What are your test results and what kit are you using?
Liquid chlorine and bleach are the same chemical, just different strengths. Use whatever is the best deal. Put the correct setting in PoolMath.
Also realize there should never be a need to randomly "shock" the pool
What are your test results and what kit are you using?
I think Jason's auto correct is striking, bleach and liquid chlorine are both the same chemical, just different dilutions in water. Just be aware the stronger it is the shorter its shelf life, so check those coded pack dates. Usually some variation on year and day of year, plus maybe packing location code letter / letters, sometimes have the state abbreviation. So something like 2016-098-TX2 for the 98th day of 2016 packed in Texas facility #2
I was going to go with bleach because it is usually cheaper than liquid chlorine. Then I found the exact liquid you are talking about at Walmart as well. I have been using that to slam my pool and it is working just fine.
I ordered the Taylor 100 kit after reading here. It is on its way. In the meantime the previous owner left me a test kit that allows me to test for Chlorine, pH, and Alkalinity.
Pool size: 400 sqft; 14000 gallons.
Chlorine: 5
pH : 7.4
Alkalinity: 70
CYA: 16 (based on pool store reading)
Total Hardness (Calcium??): 58 (based on pool store reading)
Based on the above readings (mine + pool store), what is ideal brand for raising CYA and Hardness? Alkalinity, I am going to be adding baking soda per recommended dosage from calculator.
- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
It would be best to just wait on the kit. Add a half bottle of bleach each day with the pump running and run some numbers when it arrives 
It would be best to just wait on the kit. Add a half bottle of bleach each day with the pump running and run some numbers when it arrives
Okay, so no need to worry about the CYA and Hardness in the mean time? Secondly, my own testing and pool store testing, of the alkalinity pretty much yielded same results.
nope..wait until you get your own test kit, to be sure to get accurate results..your CYA is low (according the the pool store reading), but you can deal with that once you test for yourself. If true, you'll want to get your CYA up some more.
I'd also make sure the bleach you use has the percentage of sodium hypochlorite listed on the label.
I bought a gallon of Kroger brand bleach thinking I was getting a smoking deal. I then called the 800 number on the label just to be sure it was around 8.3%. It was 2.75%.
I bought a gallon of Kroger brand bleach thinking I was getting a smoking deal. I then called the 800 number on the label just to be sure it was around 8.3%. It was 2.75%.