Clorox or Chlorine crystals

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ru4cats

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Jun 15, 2015
6
Seeley Lake
Endless pools recommends liquid Clorox since it is so cost effective. This is what I did for the first 6 months. However, I recently decided to try Leisure Time Chlorine Crystals. I tracked the amount of both I needed to add along with the daily cost. After a month, I found the Leisure Time crystals were not only more cost effective, but held a more consistent chlorine level. Is there something I am missing?
 
To compare apples to apples and figure out which is more cost effective, you have to know what the % of active chlorine is. It is the chlorine which is the "active ingredient".
Liquid Clorox comes in different strenghts. 8.75%, 10% and 12%

I dont know what the % of chlorine is in the chrystals, but I know for a fact that those contain stabilizing ingredients, which if one doesnt understand the effects of those stabilizing ingredients, can very easily lead to a person having too high stabilizer in the pool and have to at least partially drain it in order to get the stabilizer down.
 
That is what I thought. When you factor in costs, don't forget to factor in that you will have to drain at least half of your water every month because the dichlor will be adding around 60 CYA each month along with the FC.

The links jblizzle posted are really good reading to get an idea why we recommend what we recommend.
 
ru4cats said:
Endless pools recommends liquid Clorox since it is so cost effective. This is what I did for the first 6 months. However, I recently decided to try Leisure Time Chlorine Crystals. I tracked the amount of both I needed to add along with the daily cost. After a month, I found the Leisure Time crystals were not only more cost effective, but held a more consistent chlorine level. Is there something I am missing?
Click to expand...

The "consistency" you were seeing was due to the fact that the first six months you only used bleach with no stabilizer. Therefore the FC from the bleach probably dropped very quickly between additions. Once you started using dichlor, you were adding CYA to your water which was buffering the chlorine and building up a reserve. Therefore, the FC would drop much more slowly over time as compared to water with FC and no CYA in it.

One method to use for your Endless Pool would be to do what is recommended for Spa setups - Dichlor Then Bleach Method. Using that method would allow you to start up your Endless Pool with dichlor and thus add CYA, then switch over to bleach only. You would find the same "consistency" with that approach.

Is the Endless Pool indoors or outdoors? What does it look like? Can you put your specs in your signature? [EDIT] Nevermind that last question, I see it now. [END-EDIT]
 
JoyfulNoise said:
The "consistency" you were seeing was due to the fact that the first six months you only used bleach with no stabilizer. Therefore the FC from the bleach probably dropped very quickly between additions. Once you started using dichlor, you were adding CYA to your water which was buffering the chlorine and building up a reserve. Therefore, the FC would drop much more slowly over time as compared to water with FC and no CYA in it.

One method to use for your Endless Pool would be to do what is recommended for Spa setups - Dichlor Then Bleach Method. Using that method would allow you to start up your Endless Pool with dichlor and thus add CYA, then switch over to bleach only. You would find the same "consistency" with that approach.

Is the Endless Pool indoors or outdoors? What does it look like? Can you put your specs in your signature? [EDIT] Nevermind that last question, I see it now. [END-EDIT]
Click to expand...


Gosh, I really want to thank everyone for all their information. I've learned a ton of information. I suppose, as with all pools, the company wants to sell the product and doesn't worry about what happens after. I gave up on their customer service when I got three different answers in the space of three days.

I have been test stripping the WaterWell every couple days with AquaChek.7 strips. On the weekend I have been using the Taylor K-2006 kit to check PH, and it has remained at 7.2. The strip I did this morning showed my CYA at 0. I've been using the granular chlorine for about a month, and none of the readings have deviated from what I was getting with the Clorox, other than the total chlorine/free chlorine that varies between .5-3.0. I usually take it up to 3.0 and then let it fall to .5 before I add more.

I see I need to update my signature which I'll do now. My WaterWell is inside with only two small (3'x3') windows. I also keep the pool covered with a solar blanket when not in use, and I have ordered two cellular blinds for the windows. From what I can deduce from the provided information, I should be able to continue to use the granular chlorine, but I need to keep an eye on the CYA level to detect any increase.
 
Forget the test strips, they are garbage. You should use the K-2006. How much of the Dichlor have you added? PoolMath will tell you how much CYA you have put in the pool.

Being inside, you only want 20-30ppm of CYA.
 
The test strip CYA test is worthless. You need to use the CYA test in your Taylor K-2006 if you want a number you can trust.

As your pool is indoor you really don't need a lot of CYA, just some to buffer the harshness of the chlorine. What you will have to be careful of is your CC level. CC is burned off by the UV rays of the sun and as you probably don't have a lot of sun exposure it is something to pay attention to. At smoe point you may want to look into a UV system to keep them in check.

The other thing to keep in mind is the humidity level in the crawl space. Pools in enclosed areas raise the humidity of the surrounding air, sometimes to close to 100%. This may lead to problems with the wood supportive structure of the house or may lead to mold issues.
 

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O.K. Ran the test. The CYA is lower than 30 (test strip color had it at 0). I am adding no more than 1 oz. of the Diclor at a time, every 3-4 days. Thanks for the information. I'll add this check to my list along with the PH. I am SO glad I found this site. I have a friend installing a WaterWell and will be sure to pass on the information.
 
The following is merely "food for thought" in case you need extra measures to deal with the unique water issues presented by indoor pools and hot tubs. Consider this only as a last resort -

As far as the higher CCs go, if they do become a problem or if you start getting a chloramine smell that won't go away with regular chlorination methods, you could use MPS non-chlorine shock as a secondary oxidizer if the aforementioned UV system is not feasible. The only problem with MPS is that it interferes with the FC/CC test so it makes it harder to do those tests as a special reagent is required to do the FC/CC test properly with the presence of MPS in the water. Normally I would never suggest regular use of MPS, but indoor pools and hot tubs are different from outdoor residential pools.

You'll have to take time to "get to know" your water and learn how it behaves.


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I'll keep that in mind. Right now the water chemistry seems really stable, and I have no issues with a chloramine smell. 6 months in...knock on wood. Maybe I'll try to work at keeping the chlorine level closer to the .5 range adding smaller amounts of crystals more often.
 
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