Switching from Leslies chemicals to BBB: need help convertin

[zetoune]

I have a 25k plastered pool, and during most of the sunny season (temp over 90 here in Sacramento) , I managed to keep the water clear by using 2 pounds of Power powder Plus ( 2 bags) per week , adding Muriatic acid whenever needed.

I've been very interested to try this BBB pool maintenance program since I discovered this website. I'm actually ready to try this now.
Here's a basic question: How do you translate 2 pounds of that chemical (Hypochlorite) into the OZ amount of liquid chlorine?

Also, if you use the BBB method, do you really have to add liquid chlorine everyday? So far, testing and adding chemicals in my pool once a week has been enough to maintain good chemistry.

Thanks
Pat

 

[dmanb2b]

hey pat...welcome to TFP

You can use poolcalculator.com to find the appropriate dose, based on the concentration % bleach you use. I would strongly suggest reading through pool school which will answer many of your questions.

You're closer to BBB than you think....bleach is just an alternate way of adding chlorine to your water. Your approach, although it may have worked till now will eventually cause you a lot of grief because the powdered chlorine contains either stabilizer or calcium. Either will eventually over stabilize your pool or cause scaling.

Bleach adds chlorine to your pool with the least amount of other ingredients.

The BBB method (short for Bleach, Baking Soda, Borax) is really about understanding your pool water chemistry and trying to maintain it there without large swings. This season I checked my levels every other day, didn't have a need to shock once, except at closing. Like I mentioned above, this stuff is much better explained in pool school, but to answer your question, you could obtain the same superchlorination level with bleach, but it will eventually fail you as two many variable can impact your chemistry in 5 days (ie...dead mouse, bird droppings, kiddie "accidents"...etc). You're alternate would be to invest in a salt water chlorine generator...which adds bleach every day (creates chlorine from salt).

Good luck

 

[polyvue]

I have a 25k plastered pool, and during most of the sunny season (temp over 90 here in Sacramento) , I managed to keep the water clear by using 2 pounds of Power powder Plus ( 2 bags) per week , adding Muriatic acid whenever needed.

Welcome to TFP, Pat... from another Sacramentan! :-D

I've been very interested to try this BBB pool maintenance program since I discovered this website. I'm actually ready to try this now.
Here's a basic question: How do you translate 2 pounds of that chemical (Hypochlorite) into the OZ amount of liquid chlorine?

You can get some idea of the equivalency of Leslie's Power Powder Plus (calcium hypochlorite) by entering your pool specifications and current/target Free Chlorine levels into the Pool Calculator You'll want to select Cal-Hypo 65% and change the FC target until the recommended amount of Cal-Hypo shows about 2 pounds, then use the drop-down box again to select the type of chlorine you expect to add (6% bleach, 10% liquid chlorine, etc.) This will tell you how much chlorine you need to replace two pounds of Powder Plus.

As dmanb2b explained, the BBB method boils down to understanding your pool's water chemistry. You'll find that bleach or liquid chlorine, though they are bulky when you purchase a lot, don't add anything but chlorine and an insignificant amount of salt to your pool. This is desirable because you don't really want the water to accumulate lots of "stuff" -- in your case, calcium -- that can lead to water balance issues over time. That said, you might be able to continue to use Cal-Hypo (Power plus) on an occasional basis. But if your Calcium Hardness level starts to exceed 400... 500... watch out. So, you probably won't have to add bleach every day, but this depends on a number of factors (CYA level, water temperature, pool cover usage, etc.)

Let us know if you have more questions; there are lots of experts around here to help.

polyvue

South Natomas

 

[chem geek]

If you want to reduce the frequency of chlorine addition using bleach or chlorinating liquid, there are several options:

• Use a pool cover that is mostly opaque to the UV rays of sunlight (it seems that blue covers may be better than clear in this regard; opaque or reflective covers are best at maintaining chlorine, but don't let the sun heat the pool very much during the day) -- this is what I do and I add chlorine twice a week.[/*:m:1i45tj0f]
• Use a higher Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level and tolerate a larger chlorine swing for once a week or twice a week addition. Some pool services use this approach, but the chlorine swing for once a week addition is dramatic (e.g. 14 ppm to 4 ppm).[/*:m:1i45tj0f]
• Use an automated chlorine dosing system such as The Liquidator or a peristaltic pump.[/*:m:1i45tj0f]
• Use a saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) system.[/*:m:1i45tj0f]
• Use a mixture of chlorine sources including Trichlor, but dilute the water more frequently -- this doesn't work well except in smaller pools where one backwashes a filter weekly and/or has summer rains that overflow the pool.[/*:m:1i45tj0f]

Adding chlorine daily or every other day can be pretty easy, but it's clearly a personal choice.

Richard