Walmart Shock

[hoopdedoo]

Here are a couple of links to a product I found this year at Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Essentials-Shock-5pk/19795892
http://www.kellysolutions.com/erene...ool_Essentials_Shock_9_22_2011_9_41_44_AM.pdf

They're selling it for just under $11 for 5 lbs.
I can also get 4 gallons of 12.5% NaOCl for $16 at my local pool store.
So, a couple questions (please forgive me if all this has been answered; I searched the forums fairly extensively, but I'm still unclear):

1. Which of the above is a better deal (or do you know of an even better deal online or elsewhere)?
2. Do ALL products containing Trichloro-s-triazinetrione release CYA, or just ones that have added it intentionally during manufacturing?
3. Do I refer to this product as "Trichlor", or is that just for the ones that have additives like CYA?
4. If CYA levels are low, does this product save even more money over bleach by avoiding the added cost of purchasing CYA?
5. It dropped my pH a bit; is it my best bet to make one of those nifty aerators, or is there a better way?

I opened my pool (18x36 vinyl, 10 ft in the deep end, so around 32k gallons) a few days ago and found a swamp. The water started out very clear (I'm in Ohio, so the water temp was still quite low - sorry, no thermometer, but it numbed the fingers), but the bottom was dark green and black with a thick layer of algae. I vacuumed pretty thoroughly several times over a couple days. Shortly into the first vacuuming the water clouded dark green up from the residue and has remained in varying degrees of cloudiness, so I've been vacuuming blindly.

Then 2 evenings ago I added 6 pounds of the Trichloro-s-triazinetrione. Next morning the water had gone from dark green to a beautiful aqua color, and was somewhat less cloudy. I was impressed - last Spring, using just NaOCl took a lot longer to get to this point. The day after that (today) I took a water sample to the pool store and got these numbers:
FC 0.98
PH 7.61
ALK 98
CYA 7

The girl didn't want to test the CYA, but did after I pressed, then she said I shouldn't worry about it until I got rid of the algae. She also really wanted to sell me some algicide. Thanks to this forum, I passed on the algicide, and just bought 4 gallons of NaOCl and some test strips (I was prepared to buy a decent fas-dpd test kit from them, but oddly they don't carry anything but strips. I suppose anyone who wants them doesn't go to pool stores?) I also bought 4lbs of HTH CYA at Walmart for $16.

At home, I dipped a stick. The color purple for the FC indicated a level of 3, which makes me wonder if she lowered her number to 0.98 so she could sell more chlorine. The CYA was very light tan. Then I added 4 more pounds of the Trichlor and the 4 pounds of CYA, both well diluted and into the skimmer. After 4 hours with the filter running, the strip indicates:
PH 6.2 to 6.8
FC >10 (very dark purple)
TA ~120
CYA ??? (I've always had a hard time with the color on this one - the light brown/tan color really doesn't fit anywhere on their scale. But I'm guessing it's 0-20 range)

I'd like to stick with this cheaper Walmart Trichlor granules as long as possible - seems like a great deal. I'd like to stock up on it before they raise the price or discontinue. Thoughts?
(and thanks in advance - you all rock!)

 

[George N]

Welcome to TFP!

Bleach is all you need to shock

And a good test kit would be nice, see my sig below.

Take some time to read Pool School

 

[cramar]

Ditto

 

[anonapersona]

First, we have found that strips are not accurate enough for the sort of balance we want to maintain in our pools. The best advice is to add the single chemical that you need, in exactly the dose you need, based on your own tests of the pool water.

So, my suggestion at this point is to go on and buy a decent test kit and find out what your values are for sure. I use the TF-100, there are other choices if you will read Pool School, Test Kits Compared. My advice is not not waste your time on trying to find a local test kit, get the TF-100 online now, it will be there really fast.

Next, if your CYA is low, yes, you can use trichlor to raise it. See the Pool Calculator to find out how much trichlor it will take to get you to the right point. You can get there right away with CYA or with trichlor in a measured dose over time. That is, so many tablets of trichlor, at a rate of whatever it takes to keep your FC at the right level, ending when the CYA is at the optimum level for your pool and location. Most of the time it is easier to just put in so many cups or lbs of CYA and be done with it. Your choice. Then it is in, and you turn your attention to chlorine.

Then, your also have choices as to how to shock. The easiest thing to use is bleach, it is just chlorine. Or get "Liquid Shock" which is just concentrated bleach, 10% or 12% instead of 6% bleach. Or, depending on your water you could use cal-hypo or dichlor to shock but each of those add other chemicals that you may need or may need to avoid. And then there is the cost of each to consider.

Later on, when you are really comfortable with all the different things that the other choices involve, you may want to use other than just bleach and CYA, as your tests indicate you have that freedom.

 

[BadOleRoss]

Welcome to TFP!
Take time to read and re-read Pool School! Order the test kits! The test kit is a must have!
I have only been here about a year. I found this place after being pool stored to the tune of $500 early last year. After converting to the BBB method and following the advice that I received from the wonderful cast of people here my pool is as clear as it has ever been and I now know what is going on in my pool. I uncovered my pool last Saturday to find clear water with only a small amount to debris on the bottom that had made its way through my mesh cover. I vacuumed the pool Saturday and again on Sunday, by Monday morning my pool was 100% ready to go. This is a great place with great people. All you need after the test kit is bleach, borax, baking soda and muriatic acid. With the exception of CYA, the other chemicals can be left on the shelves at the pool store.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, hoopdedoo

As I wrote this others have responded, but I'll post this anyways for perpective...

I will try to answer some of your questions, but like George and cramer said, you need to read some poolschool (see link in upper right).

1. Which of the above is a better deal (or do you know of an even better deal online or elsewhere)?

With the caveat that we typically don't recommend using it, the trichlor is the better deal in this case. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/cost-comparison-of-chlorine-sources-t1859.html

2. Do ALL products containing Trichloro-s-triazinetrione release CYA, or just ones that have added it intentionally during manufacturing?

Yes, all do.

3. Do I refer to this product as "Trichlor", or is that just for the ones that have additives like CYA?

Yes refer to it as trichlor

4. If CYA levels are low, does this product save even more money over bleach by avoiding the added cost of purchasing CYA?

If you are very carefully and only put in (over time not all at once) what your pool volume needs, then it can be a okay way of getting CYA. The problem is you can't put the CYA in all at once like you can with straight CYA so you pool may need more frequent chlorine additions during the day to stay above the minimum level of FC. Also trichlor lowers your ph.

5. It dropped my pH a bit; is it my best bet to make one of those nifty aerators, or is there a better way?

The aerator will work but take some time. It appears you ph is not too low, but if you need to raise quickly use baking soda

I'd like to stick with this cheaper Walmart Trichlor granules as long as possible - seems like a great deal. I'd like to stock up on it before they raise the price or discontinue. Thoughts?

Since you are fighting an algae outbreak I would not plan on using trichlor. Bleach or liquid chlorine till you get through the bloom. After you have finished the algae, if you still need to raise CYA and your able to keep you FC level at the appropriate level during the day, you could carefully use trichlor...but I don't recommend it. If you decide too, you may not want to decide how much trichlor to buy before you get a good test kit and get good CYA values. Get the test it ordered, I like the tf100 (see my sig).

 

[zea3]

Hi, I'll answer as best I can inside your post. My reply in red.

Here are a couple of links to a product I found this year at Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Essentials-Shock-5pk/19795892
http://www.kellysolutions.com/erene...ool_Essentials_Shock_9_22_2011_9_41_44_AM.pdf

They're selling it for just under $11 for 5 lbs.
I can also get 4 gallons of 12.5% NaOCl for $16 at my local pool store.
So, a couple questions (please forgive me if all this has been answered; I searched the forums fairly extensively, but I'm still unclear):

1. Which of the above is a better deal (or do you know of an even better deal online or elsewhere)?
2. Do ALL products containing Trichloro-s-triazinetrione release CYA, or just ones that have added it intentionally during manufacturing? Yes, trichlor and dichlor are stabilized with CYA. The only other inexpensive stabilizing agent is Calcium, as found in Calcium Hypochlorite (cal-hypo). FYI, never mix products containing trichlor/dichlor with cal-hypo. There will be a quick chemical reaction resulting in a fire and/or explosion.
3. Do I refer to this product as "Trichlor", or is that just for the ones that have additives like CYA?Yes it is trichlor and as I said in #2, all trichlor and dichlor products contain CYA
4. If CYA levels are low, does this product save even more money over bleach by avoiding the added cost of purchasing CYA? It depends on how low your CYA is. According to the pool calculator 16 ounces of trichlor will raise FC by 3.4 and CYA by 2.1 The FC will drop on its own over time, but the CYA stays until it is drained from the pool. That 5lb box of trichlor will add approximately 10 ppm of CYA.
5. It dropped my pH a bit; is it my best bet to make one of those nifty aerators, or is there a better way? An aerator or fountain is always nice to have, but you don't need to worry about raising pH until it drops below 7.0. Also, high FC will cause a temporary rise in pH. It will usually come down on its own over a couple of days.

I opened my pool (18x36 vinyl, 10 ft in the deep end, so around 32k gallons) a few days ago and found a swamp. The water started out very clear (I'm in Ohio, so the water temp was still quite low - sorry, no thermometer, but it numbed the fingers), but the bottom was dark green and black with a thick layer of algae. I vacuumed pretty thoroughly several times over a couple days. Shortly into the first vacuuming the water clouded dark green up from the residue and has remained in varying degrees of cloudiness, so I've been vacuuming blindly. Keep the filter running 24/7 and clean it when the flow from the return is diminished.

Then 2 evenings ago I added 6 pounds of the Trichloro-s-triazinetrione. Next morning the water had gone from dark green to a beautiful aqua color, and was somewhat less cloudy. I was impressed - last Spring, using just NaOCl took a lot longer to get to this point. The day after that (today) I took a water sample to the pool store and got these numbers:
FC 0.98
PH 7.61
ALK 98
CYA 7

The girl didn't want to test the CYA, but did after I pressed, then she said I shouldn't worry about it until I got rid of the algae. She also really wanted to sell me some algicide. Thanks to this forum, I passed on the algicide, and just bought 4 gallons of NaOCl and some test strips (I was prepared to buy a decent fas-dpd test kit from them, but oddly they don't carry anything but strips. I suppose anyone who wants them doesn't go to pool stores?) I also bought 4lbs of HTH CYA at Walmart for $16. Oh my! I doubt their results were very accurate. It sounds like they used one of those computerized test systems. Those are not the results you would get from a FAS-DPD based kit. Computerized tests require frequent re-calibration and are not fool proof. Also, CYA takes about a week to register on the test after being added to the pool. If you added 6 lbs of trichlor, then you have already added at least 12 ppm of CYA. Test strips are also highly inaccurate and are easily affected by heat, light, and moisture.

At home, I dipped a stick. The color purple for the FC indicated a level of 3, which makes me wonder if she lowered her number to 0.98 so she could sell more chlorine. The CYA was very light tan. Then I added 4 more pounds of the Trichlor and the 4 pounds of CYA, both well diluted and into the skimmer. After 4 hours with the filter running, the strip indicates:
PH 6.2 to 6.8
FC >10 (very dark purple)
TA ~120
CYA ??? (I've always had a hard time with the color on this one - the light brown/tan color really doesn't fit anywhere on their scale. But I'm guessing it's 0-20 range) According to the pool calculator, 4 pounds of CYA is equal to 15 ppm, plus 8.3 ppm of CYA from the trichlor added with it and the previous 12 ppm from the other 6 pounds of trichlor gives you a grand total of 45.3 ppm of CYA. The recommended range is 30-50 ppm for manually chlorinated pools, 60-80 for saltwater chlorine generator pools. As I mentioned earlier, it will take about a week for the CYA to register on a test, and you need to use a dependable test such the one found in the FAS-DPD kits.

I'd like to stick with this cheaper Walmart Trichlor granules as long as possible - seems like a great deal. I'd like to stock up on it before they raise the price or discontinue. Thoughts? You do not need to add any more CYA to the pool at this point. Liquid chlorine is the best source of chlorine for a pool. It does not add CYA or Calcium both of which cause problems when allowed accumulate unchecked. You can manage a pool with high CYA, but it will require you keep a higher FC. With your current numbers plugged into the pool calculator, assuming a CYA of 45.3 ppm, your normal daily FC range is 4-8, and your shock level is 16 ppm. Please read through Pool School and especially focus on How to shock your pool and Defeating Algae. I wish you best of luck with your pool.
(and thanks in advance - you all rock!)

 

[supertune]

Hi hoopdedoo and welcome to TFP!

It looks like you are working blind.
All of the responses you have received are right on the $$. I have nothing to add but to reinforce that you get you own test kit and run from that pool store testing!
The TF 100 test kit is way more professional than just about every pool store!
All you need to do for your pool is to follow instructions in the Pool School link and READ, READ, and READ here and then you will have the knowledge to have a perfect pool all the time and will be really low maintenance because you will learn to only put in what the pool water needs and no other stuff that hampers with the proper water balance.
Get you kit here:
http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

Hope to see you around and hear good things on how you got a college education here for free!
Well, I became a Lifetime member to give back to this wonderful forum to help newbies like yourself to have a great pool like I have now and suffer from POOLSPARKLITIS!

Chuck