I've been getting Clorox from costco for $9, 3x190oz containers. Does anyone know of a better source?

(probably does not belong in this particular forum)

Nope. Been buying at HD for ~ 4$ per. Probably should hit Sams and see what they have. I wonder if there is a chem supply that has it in carboys for cheaper.

I just bought 2 from HEB for 2.79 each. Dunno if that was a special or not.

If those are 1.5 gallons, that is a good price.

Price dropped to $7.24 for 3x182oz containers of 6% clorox at costco.

I use Sams. $7.24 per case.

Pretty sure I bought bleach for $2.54 per 182 oz bottle (6%) at HEB in Round Rock last week.

Just bout 15 gallons at SAMs for the $7.24 per 3.

I put in my pool 2 years ago and ran with tabs without any problems -- never tested stabilizer levels and haven't had to deal with excess stablizer. I was recently caught in the wildfires here in Spicewood so I had to drain my pool and during my clean up I started reading on-line more and more ... and now I am considering dropping the autofeeder and installing a pump with bleach.

It is a bit hard for me to wrap my head around how much bleach I am going to need for my 30,000 gallons. It didn't seem to use too many tablets in the feeder -- I only needed to replace them ever other week or so...

First, do we have any updates on the best (cheapest) or strongest source of bleach in Austin?

And second, anyone want to hazard a ballpark range estimate of how much bleach I will need on a regular basis ( I am quite aware that there are all kinds of factors here -- but I don't know if I am talking about .25 gallons or 2 gallons a day... )

Thanks in advance,

David

Mine ranges from 1 to 0.25 gallons of 6% Clorox a day. But it's complicated by using an ORP system, PH levels, Borax, etc.

How many gallons does your feeder tank hold? The chlorine container for the intellichem is only 4 gallons. I don't think I'd be happy to be filling that puppy up every 4 days if it's going to use a gallon a day!

EQArtimus,

You can do the math backwards by assuming that a healthy pool uses about 2-3ppm daily in your climate (but that can vary with bather load, sunlight, etc.)

That'll work out to about a gallon of 6% clorox daily. If that task is daunting, you might consider the convenience of an SWG.

However, since you have learned about the excess CYA side effect of tabs, and since tabs have been successful in your situation, you could simply test CYA more often (preferably not pool store testing) and understand what to do about it if the CYA gets excessive.

You could also combine tabs and bleach. The whole idea with BBB is testing and understanding what to do with the test results.

EQArtimus,

I live about 5 miles west of Buda and have used the LQ for about three years. I am about to convert; probably trying tabs first. If the cost of partial drain/refill to control CYA is excessive I may switch to SWG. Heck, my salt level is already 2900 from all the bleach I have been using.

IMHO, LQ is great for some but is really a pain if you have a large pool exposed to the Texas sun. The chlorine load is just too high to make the LQ convenient. The relentless hauling of bleach from the store to the pool, the refilling and the required LQ maintenance, like cleaning white stuff from the floats, has all combined to make the system too burdensome for me. If I was retired, I would probably keep it but I'm not.

Do yourself a favor, stick with the tabs. Like the old saying goes, the cheapest chemical you will ever put in your pool is water.

I'm trying hybrid appoach, bleach in winter and tabs during summer, found Home Depot starting to carry off brand 1 1/2 gal for 2.99. I shop there all the time so works for me but noticed don't stock much of this. I think trial product for them. I'm still trying to determine draining needs but replacing can solve more than CYA problems. I don't think I would want to never do parital drains.