Greetings from the land of no winter anymore--North Texas! The BAD-wasps (and other critters) and weeds aplenty. The GOOD-early swim season!!!
Took a dip over the weekend and while a little chilly, in the sun-drenched daytime, just wonderful, especially after several hours of yard work.
Soooo...time to start evaluating saving money on fresh liquid chlorine.
In my area, Denton/Lewisville for those in the know, my best value seems to be:
$3.64 per gallon of 10% in the pool supplies section at Walmart (Pool Essentials Brand I believe)--bought last five gallons at Hickory Creek Walmart but plenty available at Lewisville Main St. store. Date code was very fresh and employee said they will keep in stock through summer.
$2.69 per gallon of 8.25% at Aldi (Denton/Corinth/Lewisville) of their store brand. This has been my go-to source for last few seasons and date code has always been pretty fresh, at least during the summer months.
So when I do the math:
Walmart--$3.64/12.8oz actual chlorine (128oz*10%)=$0.28 per chlorinating oz
Aldi--$2.69/10.56oz actual chlorine (128oz*8.25%)=$0.25 per chlorinating oz
So right now, Aldi still wins, even if it means hauling an extra jug for approximately every five for the same chlorinating power. Plus, I am a bit against spending my money at Walmart unless it is absolutely necessary (cough medicine at 2am type stuff). But it is good to know that I have an option should Aldi be out or whatever might require me to need to buy elsewhere.
I hope this provides good info for those local to my area. I imagine the prices are the same if you are shopping at Walmart/Aldi anywhere in the DFW area. Certainly would love to know if there are differences in the same market. As well, if you find better pricing at another store, please post or send me a PM or ideally both, especially if someone is having a short term sale.
One thing I have found in my couple of years of checking bleach prices, avoid grocery stores, dollar stores, and Home Depot (for chlorine, no vendetta against any of these for other needs). At almost every check, those type of stores have an issue with date code and/or chlorine percentage. Last season, my neighbor who I have turned on to using bleach for pool, was all excited that she had bought some gallons for 99 cents at Winco (love Winco, but not bleach for pool) and stocked up. Well, I could not find a date code and then when I saw the bleach percentage, it was 1%. Really? I did not even know that was a thing...what a waste of perfectly good plastic jug to fill it with a 1% solution. To top it off, it was 3/4 of a gallon. I gently told her not a good deal. She responded, "bleach is bleach, right?" So it was time for a math lesson. After that "aha" moment, she lugged it all back and returned it (bought 24 jugs!). So beware of old or no date codes and minimal bleach percentages in discount bleach. And as for Home Depot, they sell the 12.5% stuff but all the jugs are so dusty that I just have to believe the stuff is not fresh. Plus it is like $4.99 a gallon last I checked, so even if fresh, better deals to be had elsewhere.
Happy swimming season everyone!!!