Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500 g?

[Diver]

I know that preferred chemical for shocking at this forum is liquid bleach. Right now the cheapest bleach I can find is 6% 1.42 gallon clorax at kmart for $3.49 (can't find ultra). for 27k gallon pool to introduce 10 ppm for super-chlorination i would need 4.5 gallons of bleach, which would run me about $16.

the alternative would be cal hypo. leslie's sells their power powder plus shock for $3.15 per pound. and they claim it would treat up to 16,5k gallons. at that rate, the same shocking would cost me only $5.15. i find it strange that they say it would treat 16,5k gallons of water. their product is regular cal hypo, and the latter should treat 7.5k of water for 10 ppm introduction or 10k of water for 7 ppm. even taking the lowest number (7.5k), it would cost $11.35 which is still cheaper then bleach.

so it seems something doesn't add up. 2 question:

1. is my math off somewhere or how do people get cost effectiveness of the bleach?
2. why 16,500 gallon number instead of 10,000?

 

[JohnT]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

Primarily it's their philosophy of just collect your money and get you to come back and not taking CYA level into account.

The other downside of the cal-hypo is the calcium. If your water contains much calcium to start with, you can quickly get to levels that can cause scaling problems. Bleach isn't the choice because it's cheap; it's because it has very minimal side effects compared to cal-hypo or stabilized chlorine.

Not knowing where you live, the $3.49 seems crazy. Walmart carries it for $2.54, and often you can get 12% at pool stores for even less.

 

[jswinehart]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

4.5 gallons using 1.42 gallon containers is just over 3 jugs. At 3.49 each your only at 11.05 worth of bleach plus tax.


Also sams club if in your area carries cases of 3 182oz clorox for 7.48

 

[Diver]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

Primarily it's their philosophy of just collect your money and get you to come back and not taking CYA level into account.

...

Not knowing where you live, the $3.49 seems crazy. Walmart carries it for $2.54, and often you can get 12% at pool stores for even less.

cal-hypo doesn't have an effect on CYA, so that's not a concern. i will try to look for better prices, walmart doesn't want to show me the price - says "it might vary from store to store"

 

[Diver]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

4.5 gallons using 1.42 gallon containers is just over 3 jugs. At 3.49 each your only at 11.05 worth of bleach plus tax.

you're correct

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

What they claim and what's real aren't necessarily the same thing. Use the Pool Calc to see how much Cal-Hypo you really need to bring it to shock. Also keep in mind that using it will increaase your CH so you have to be mindful of that.

Looks like it's 65% cal-hypo. Adding 1 lb of that will raise 27,000 gals by 2.9 ppm.

You're paying a lot more for bleach than we are. At the local Wally-World we pay $2.54 for a large (182oz) jug of store brand. It's 6% so no difference in strength. Kmart probably has their own brand that's cheaper than Clorox.

 

[madwil]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

Diver, the cost of bleach and cal-hypo varies by location- but usually walmart brand bleach is the best I can find, at $2 for 1.4 gal
1 lb of cal hypo is usually 7ppm in 10k gal, 1 gal bleach is 6ppm in 10k gal- so I usually pay $2 for about the same as the $3+ calhypo
2- I think the 16.5k is for 4ppm FC estimate...

 

[Diver]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

so it seems that my numbers are correct regarding 10 ppm and how many 1 lbs of the "their" product will treat. they are very misleading, it gives an impression that 2lbs of power powder pro would be sufficient for my pool shocking, but it's not.

good thing i was skeptical

i will try to figure out the best price for bleach around here and if it would make sense to use it.

i'm going to throw my self to the wolves and say that i'm going to use trichlor for general chlorination via an automatic inline feeder. i understand the consequences of CYA build up, but as much as i love to be technical and get very involved in anything i do, i just do see myself having enough time for everything (new house, new baby, etc) and i'm taking a lazier approach with general chlorination.

by the way, i love this forum. very quick informative responses. i've been reading it for days - love it!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

There's nothing wrong with using Trichlor for your normal chlorination as long as you know what it does and are willing to face the consequences when it gets to be a problem.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

I used trichlor last year. As Dave said, as long as you understand what the tablets add to your pool and the effect it has on the chemistry and how to rectify that, it's fine to use.

 

[JohnT]

Re: Leslie's Power Powder Plus - why 1 lbs for up to 16,500

Primarily it's their philosophy of just collect your money and get you to come back and not taking CYA level into account.

...

Not knowing where you live, the $3.49 seems crazy. Walmart carries it for $2.54, and often you can get 12% at pool stores for even less.

cal-hypo doesn't have an effect on CYA, so that's not a concern. i will try to look for better prices, walmart doesn't want to show me the price - says "it might vary from store to store"

No, but CYA does determine how much shock you need for a given pool size. There is no "one size fits all" shock.