duraleigh said:I take a minority position on this point. For me, it is most convenient (and I truly believe it to be totally harmless) to pour my bleach (liquid chlorine) directly into the skimmer. It's a matter of convenience for me and I have yet to read anything definitve to "prove" the harm.
That said, I must admit it has become a minority position.....most folks prefer the returns.
JasonLion said:If your CYA level is really zero, there will still be a signficant risk when pouring bleach into the skimmer, even if you substantially pre-dilute it.
I have a vinyl liner and I have no problems whatsoever adding 6% bleach into the return stream/jet.johnsjets said:...I really don't care what the risk might be. I would rather replace a relatively inexpensive item in the pump motor assembly, than having to replace a much more expensive vinyl liner damaged pouring chemicals directly into the pool. The return will not dissipate all the substance and some will find it's way to the bottom of the pool. I probably ruined my previous liner by doing so under the advice of a previous (not so knowledgeable) pool maintenance person. The installer of my current liner does not recommend pouring any chemicals directly into the pool, but to rather dilute them and introduce them through the skimmer. Of course, if you do not have a vinyl lined pool, then no need to worry.
fuzzy_dba said:I have a vinyl liner and I have no problems whatsoever adding 6% bleach into the return stream/jet.johnsjets said:...I really don't care what the risk might be. I would rather replace a relatively inexpensive item in the pump motor assembly, than having to replace a much more expensive vinyl liner damaged pouring chemicals directly into the pool. The return will not dissipate all the substance and some will find it's way to the bottom of the pool. I probably ruined my previous liner by doing so under the advice of a previous (not so knowledgeable) pool maintenance person. The installer of my current liner does not recommend pouring any chemicals directly into the pool, but to rather dilute them and introduce them through the skimmer. Of course, if you do not have a vinyl lined pool, then no need to worry.
I'm one of those "you have to prove it to me" type people and mixed some food coloring with water in a 3 gal. bucket. I poured the colored water mixture into the return stream then dove to the bottom @8.5': The water/color was so dilluted that I couldn't tell that where the stream was! The dillution was so dramatic that I didn't expect it.
It may make a difference that I leave my main drain open so the supply water to the pump is ~65-75% skimmer and 35-25% main drain.
I'm still very careful with MA (paranoid about HCL), but don't worry about 6% bleach. Do I just dump it in? No, a carefull pour and I'm done.
fuzzy_dba said:I have a vinyl liner and I have no problems whatsoever adding 6% bleach into the return stream/jet.
I'm one of those "you have to prove it to me" type people and mixed some food coloring with water in a 3 gal. bucket. I poured the colored water mixture into the return stream then dove to the bottom @8.5': The water/color was so dilluted that I couldn't tell that where the stream was! The dillution was so dramatic that I didn't expect it.
It may make a difference that I leave my main drain open so the supply water to the pump is ~65-75% skimmer and 35-25% main drain.
I'm still very careful with MA (paranoid about HCL), but don't worry about 6% bleach. Do I just dump it in? No, a carefull pour and I'm done.
chem geek said:Dumping into the pool vs. slowly pouring into a return flow aren't the same thing. Also, I usually recommend lightly brushing the side and bottom of the pool in the area where chemicals are added, just to ensure thorough mixing in a vinyl pool. I wouldn't add acid in the skimmer under any circumstances. You simply cannot dilute it enough -- Muriatic Acid starts out at a pH of -1 so even a 100:1 dilution only gets you to a pH of 1. So the safest is to dilute and pour very slowly into a return flow at the deep end with the pump running and then brush to mix.
I wonder which chemical it was that caused the problem with the vinyl in your pool. It is true that chlorinating liquid and bleach are denser than water so can settle to the bottom of the pool unless mixed, but it's pretty easy to get it mixed in a return flow. What sorts of chemicals were you adding when you had the puckering problem? What kind of chlorine? Any acid?
Richard