Re: Hi from Atlanta GA! Bought a Foreclosure /w pool questi
Hi again.
BBB means literally "bleach, borax and baking soda" which are the principal components of actually manipulating pool chemistry -- but philosophically it means (and is what we subscribe to here) literally learning to test and dose your pool yourself, and avoid unintended consequences that come with using *some* commercial formulations -- although there is not a hard and fast rule AGAINST commercial formulations.
Before going much further down this path, please read through Pool School to understand.
By way of shortcut example:
A traditional pool-store advised owner of your set up would be told to use TriChlor pucks put in that Hayward chlorinator and to use "test strips" and to buy certain products to treat possible problems. TriChlor is on the surface just as cheap at the end of the day as liquid chlorine. But it is "stabilized." That means each tablet ADDS something called CYA to your pool water. Once the CYA level reaches near 100, the pool actually isn't as properly "sanitized" because the chlorine level, to be effective, needs to be considerably higher, but won't be. CYA never evaporates or leaves pool water under normal circumstances. So people who use this approach often end up fighting algae repeatedly because the actual free chlorine isn't high enough to combat it. That's where the "unintended consequences" get really expensive...using tonnes of product trying to clear, but only making matters worse and then having to drain to reduce CYA level.
The BBB method instead aims to CONTROL the CYA level CONSTANTLY -- around 40-ish for normal or 70-ish for Saltwater -- and to MAINTAIN the chlorine level in proportion (shown in CYA-Chlorine level chart in pool school) via daily dosing with bleach (eg. store bought) or liquid chlorine (available at pool stores) -- only difference is concentration and cost. (If using Saltwater generator, instead you're using that to "generate" the chlorine via reaction, so it's more convenient, although you may find that ph rises faster and requires more dosing with Muriatic Acid to control.)
Liquid chlorine is the only thing that does NOT add CYA (except a powdered calcium-combo that instead adds too much calcium over time) which is why we use it (or a SWG.)
The result is a "trouble free pool" because ACCURATE testing and staying within the CYA/FC guidelines will mean that you never develop aglae or have unsanitized water, and ACCURATE frequent testing combined with the knowledge of proper water balance using items easy to source and stock means you typically avoid getting "poolstored"
Here, the term "poolstored" means being convinced due to ignorance to purchase an unnecessary and costly abundance of proprietary products on guidance of those educated by the industry that profits from same
Don't get me wrong -- I now buy all my liquid chlorine from the pool store as it is more compact and convenient for me, even though it is more expensive. So it's not like we outlaw pool stores -- just their uninformed chemistry advice and testing inaccuracy.
I also buy things like Polyquat 60 (an algaecide wihtout the damaging copper) or Jack's Magic metal sequestrant there too. But the difference between me and the next guy in line is that my pool water is sparkling and beautiful and never cloudy and I never put anything in that I don't first understand and calculate, so I spend less and dose more accurately and am not mislead by well-meaning misinformation
While this sounds like a lot to the uninitiated, what it actually amounts to is a small investment in research time in the beginning, followed by a MAX of about 3-5 minutes a day to care for your pool (quick test of ph and FC and dose to levels calculated by the pool calculator to fit within your CYA/FC ratio. Since you're not ADDING products with CYA, it's never a moving target and you can get it down to a minute a day once you know from experience how your pool typically behaves
So to my mind, BBB = Informed water balancer not susceptible to snake oil
