What's the best way to automate chlorine?

[dannieboiz]

I got about a month with the 1st season with my pool. I seem to go through about 2-ish gallons of chlorine a week. At $7/gal I'll be using about $675 worth of chlorine a year. It'll probably be less during the off season since I won't have my pool at 88 degrees.

Main thing is right now, the kids are in there every other day and the weather is nice. I'm motivated to go clean the pool, test the water and add chemicals. When it starts to rain and cold out, it'll be a different story.

I really like the idea of SWG but also see there are other options as well.

If I can get a system under $1k I think it'll be worth it cause it'll pay for itself in 2 years. Any suggestions?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

How are you testing your water? Got some test results?? How high is your CYA? Is the pool in sun for extended hours a day?

.....and most importantly where in the world are you shopping that bleach is $7 a gallon??

I don't shop at Walmart myself but I know everyone here says the bleach is about $3/gallon

 

[Patrick_B]

Yea that is really high. Plus in winter, you won't have to test or add near as often as you do in summer. It's very easy over winter.

 

[pooldv]

I am very happy with my Pentair IC40 SWG. Saltwater pools are great and I will never go back. I do still use bleach in winter and to supplement heavy swim loads or whatever and I also use bleach in my hot tub. I get store brand 8.25% plain bleach at the grocery store. I don't look at the price anymore but I think it is under 3 bucks.

 

[Bama Rambler]

An swcg is a good option and so is an injection pump and tank. If bleach is running you %7 a gallon then a swcg will probably be a better option in the long run.

What strength bleach are you getting?

 

[dannieboiz]

How are you testing your water? Got some test results?? How high is your CYA? Is the pool in sun for extended hours a day?

.....and most importantly where in the world are you shopping that bleach is $7 a gallon??

I don't shop at Walmart myself but I know everyone here says the bleach is about $3/gallon

I stand corrected. $7 for TWO gallons of the 10%. So Half of what I projected. Remember carrying 1 box of 2 jugs and had it in my head of just 1. LOL

Even at say $300 a year. I think it is still worth it. I'm away for a week every month and what I've been doing is when I know I'll be travel, I spike chlorine up to 7 or 8. It'll slide down to about 1 or 1.5 and when I get home, I'll spike it up again to about 6 and balance it out over the next few days.

my CYA level is around 30. During the summer, the sun last much longer at the pool area. Full blast at the pool at 11ish in the morning and doesn't go away until about past 7. This is when 100% of the pool surface get direct sunlight.

I'm testing the pool with a TF-100 kit


I was reading that SWG requires you to add acid cause it jacks up the PH. I think I would rather store a shed full of acid than to have to go to the store every week to buy chlorine.

 

[ping]

You could bump up the CYA to 50 and that should help some with the amount of chlorine that the sun is burning off. Make sure you are following the Chlorine CYA Chart.

You can install a couple different chlorine injection systems well under a $1000. I prefer a Stenner injection pump over the Liquidator. You can search many installs using the search function.

For around $1000 with self install you have several brands of SWG's to choose from. You will want one that is rated at 40,000 gallons or more.

Some people save money by going with a SWG while others it is about even. You do need some type of automated chlorine system to make it much easier to care for the pool while you are away for a week at a time every month.

 

[dannieboiz]

I thought higher CYA burns through chlorine faster?

 

[ping]

Higher CYA, in our suggested range values, requires the FC level to be raised but it does not make the pool use more chlorine. Pools that get a lot of sun tend to use less chlorine overall if the CYA is around 50 than pools that don't get very much sun, and they do fine with the CYA around 30. Higher CYA makes chlorine less effective, hence you need to bump up the amount of chlorine in the pool, but it protects the chlorine from being used up from the sun.

 

[dannieboiz]

Higher CYA, in our suggested range values, requires the FC level to be raised but it does not make the pool use more chlorine. Pools that get a lot of sun tend to use less chlorine overall if the CYA is around 50 than pools that don't get very much sun, and they do fine with the CYA around 30. Higher CYA makes chlorine less effective, hence you need to bump up the amount of chlorine in the pool, but it protects the chlorine from being used up from the sun.

Ahh, learn something new everytime I visit this forum.

I have a box full of trichlor tabs. I have been hesitant to use it since it's said to raise CYA levels. I'm leaving again in a few days. Should I start floating them instead of spiking my chlorine level?

 

[tim5055]

I have a box full of trichlor tabs. I have been hesitant to use it since it's said to raise CYA levels. I'm leaving again in a few days. Should I start floating them instead of spiking my chlorine level?

Yes, but remember each trichlor tab (based on 8oz tabs) raises your CYA by 2.7ppm

As to automation, I like my Stenner Pump

 

[dannieboiz]

So the Stenner pump is plumbed to a storage tank full of chlorine and gets automated to dump chlorine? Doesn't chlorine loses its potency over time?

 

[ping]

Bleach does lose its strength over time, see this link for the rates, http://www.odysseymanufacturing.com/about_product.htm.

You shouldn't have any problem using the 10% chlorine you are using now with a 15 gallon tank.

 

[dannieboiz]

This seems quite interesting and simple. I gotta look into this. But with a 15/20g storage tank. I'll still be hauling chlorine weekly in larger qty that's it. If I can go 2 weeks w/o touching the pool I think that would be great.

 

[garyengr]

This seems quite interesting and simple. I gotta look into this. But with a 15/20g storage tank. I'll still be hauling chlorine weekly in larger qty that's it. If I can go 2 weeks w/o touching the pool I think that would be great.

You should easily be able to go 2 weeks - 4+ weeks would be a better estimate in the summer. I began using a stenner on 5/31/2015. To date, I have pumped an estimated 8 gallons, however, my consumption has gone up significantly. When I began, the temperature was about 90 degrees, yesterday we hit 107 degs. Pool temperature has gone from 72 to 85 yesterday. With the rapidly increasing temperatures and the clouds which have moved in and out, I have been adjusting the schedule weekly to stay between 6 and 10 ppm of FC (CYA of 70-75). Not sure what should be done when you're gone for an extended time - probably set the stenner for peak consumption and let the FC increase while you're gone (should not get above shock level unless you're gone for a long time or weather changes drastically).

Gary

 

[tim5055]

At the top of the summer with my highest chlorine demand I go about a month if I don't fill the tank. I just work picking up bleach into my schedule. If I'm going to Costco, I pick up a couple of boxes (3 gal each). I keep a few of the boxes in the back of our SUV an dif I'm going by WalMart I'll stop and pick up more. Right now my tank is full and I have six gallons sitting next to it.