What am I missing here? Clorox vs Pool store liquid chlorine

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stratocaster1422

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Jun 13, 2014
24
Mendon/MA
I just bought a house with a pool, so this is the first time I have been responsible for one. I've been reading around on here to understand chemical balancing etc. I had planned to switch over to some of the methods discussed on this website, but I feel like I am missing something here.

Why would you use Clorox?

I just paid $17 for 5gal of 12.5% which has essentially an $8 deposit on the blue container. I get $8 back when I bring it back. That means I paid $1.80/gal for the more concentrated stuff. Where are the savings by using Clorox? Ocean State Job Lot (Super ghetto discount store found in crappy areas) just had all purpose Clorox ON SALE at $1.99/gal and that was probably 6% or weaker.
 
In your situation, there is no point in using household bleach. But most people don't have options like the one you describe. Pool stores simply don't sell liquid chlorine where I am, something that is true in about one third of the country. And in much of the remainder of the country, the prices aren't nearly as good as what you describe.
 
You need chlorine to sanitize your pool. Bleach is chlorine. You need regular bleach or pool bleach, nothing scented or special. Different locations have different sources and different prices. For me it's Fleetfarm and I'd love to find someplace that just sells bleach like you get with a recyclable container as my recycle bin gets pretty full of empty bleach containers every two weeks.
so you'd use clorox if it's cost per oz is less and it's easy to find.

This will help you figure out how much you are paying per oz for the bleach no matter 6%, 8%, 12% ... or 76oz, 128oz ... http://poncatechsquad.com/Dan/Chlorine/
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Like Jason said, sounds like you have a great source for the stronger liquid chlorine.
Only one pool store here sells the chlorine in bulk and I think it is over $3 / gallon still.
 
Ok...thanks. Didn't realize how varied pricing/availability was acrosse the country. I'd figure prices would be higher in the Northeast where year-round demand is low. I thought I was missing something :)

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and my previous owners left me 2 empty blue buckets with their pile o' ****....so another free 5 gallon bucket :)
 
I wasted a couple days doing cheap bleach, only to realize it was either old or only 3%. I have to pay almost $4 a gallon for Clorox or almost $5 a gallon at Ace Hardware for 10%. My local pool store does sell 12% LC for almost $7 a gallon. I have been waiting a week for my local farm store to get 10% in stock for $3.97 a gallon. I have an order for 6 cases. You just happen to be very lucky on your prices! I'd say I am green with envy, but green is no longer my pool color, now that it is almost clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!
 
I get 5 gallons of 12.5% for $14 .... or (2) 2.5 gallon containers for $15 here in Upstate NY. It's worth the extra $1 to deal with the lighter container.

I can get Walmart bleach for $3 for 121 oz of 8.25% so for arguments sake i get roughly 50% more chlorine by buying in bulk so that is what i try to do but there are times that it is awfully convenient to be able to dump 1/2 bottle of bleach in every day and be done with it because that is what i need each day. My next door neighbor has a pool the same size as mine and i run his too and just keep everything the same as mine. He travels so for him he does the half bottle every day because he can load up for two days or have his wife add it while he is gone.

But .... you are 100% correct on your theory.
 
stratocaster,

What we teach on the forum is to use your own knowledge to manage your pool......not where to buy the cheapest of everything.

Sometimes I see folks become so focused on saving a dollar or so on chlorine and then throw it all away times 100 when they don't follow the common sense advice that is taught here.....all for free.
 
Another issue a lot of us get into is even if high strength liquid chlorine is available, how old is it? bleach / liquid chlorine looses strength over time, faster when stored in warm locations. This is one reason I would never buy it at the local Home Depot as they store it outdoors in the garden center and seem to get it in by the truck load or at least several pallets at a time. The problem is around here it is a slow seller and I KNOW some of that stuff has been sitting there for years, meaning it is probably closer to 3% by now. (note the higher the concentration the faster it decays, also since last year most bleach is 8.25% not 6%, but again there is the question of age, so it is usually best to buy in places with high stock turn over)
 

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