Chlorine and Shock for the pool?

[akhil]

Hola,

I am looking for suggestion on shock and chlorine. I am new and have purchased
1) Leslie Power Powder Plus Shock - Calcium Hypochlorite as 73% (Leslie's Power Powder Plus Flagship Pool Shock and Super-Chlorinator, Multipack Bags)
2) 3" Jumbo tabs Sanitizer (Stabilized Chlorinating Tablet) - Tricholoro-s-trianetrione as 99%.

I am looking to see if someone can suggest me cheaper or better options for Shock powder and Chlorine. tabs I am putting shock powder and chlorine tabs to the pool and nothing else.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Griswald]

Use bleach...ONLY.

Take that junk back to the robbers that sold it to you!

 

[tim5055]

In addition to bleach, many areas of Texas have higher % chlorinating liquid available. Look for a HASA dealer in your area.

I recommend reading the ABCs of Pool Chemestry in Pool School to understand why we do not recommend solid forms of chlorine for use on a regular basis in your pool. There is a place for them, just not daily use as they bring unwanted additions along with them into the pool.

 

[kimkats]

HI! You sure have come to the right place to learn how to take care of your pool the correct and cheap way!

I have some links for you to read so you can learn the whys and how of TFP. THE most important thing you need to do is buy a good test kit. Take back all of that stuff you just bought and spend it on a test kit. Look in my siggy to find the ones we use and love. I even have the link where you can order them from.

Here are the main things we use in our pools:

Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Here is the ABC of TFP:

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

There are some other links I will share with you after you get a good test kit.

If you look at the chemicals we use in our pools you will see they can be bought at Walmart or lowes or such! NEAT huh?

Kim

 

[akhil]

Thanks everyone.. So which brand of shock powder or bleach or tablets should I buy?

 

[gwegan]

There is really not a whole lot of difference between different brands of liquid chlorine except concentration. Six percent vs 8 percent vs 10 percent. So the brand doesn't matter that much so long as it is chlorine. Once you start testing you can use the pool calculator above to determine how much.

Tim recommended Hasa chlorine above. If there is a distributor nearby that sells it that's fine stuff. I use Kemtek chlorine and muratic acid. Sold at Home Depot. I like it because they have it in stock and it comes in two gallon boxes like milk at Costco. Some folks like unscented bleach from Wall Mart. But frankly chlorine is chlorine generally. There are guys (and gals) on here that talk about different chlorine as if they were comparing different wines. But in the long run they are basically all the same except for concentration.

As to powered shock and tabs -- That is a different story. Powered shock has many different flavor enhancers and is sold in so many different names and formulas around the US that one can't really give a good recommendation. We don't recommend it on here because it is expensive, isn't really necessary, and usually adds other chemicals to the pool that generally have bad long term consequences. Think annual total water replacement or having to spend money on weekly shock treatments that become less effective as the season goes on.

Tabs -- again brand generally does't matter. They generally come in two kinds: 1. the ones that add Cyanuric Acid to (CYA) your pool and 2. the ones that add calcium to your pool. Both of those are generally something you want some of but not to much of. Trichlor and Dicchlor add CYA. Sodium hypochlorde ads calcium. So if you need more of those things in your pool then you use the appropriate tabs. But brand does not matter. Using tabs long term means water replacement or problems. Ok Ok some folks in Florida can use tabs for years without problems but they get huge amounts of rain.

Read Pool School. Get a drop based test kit. Follow the TFP method. Then lay back and enjoy your pool.

 

[pooldv]

More about different forms of chlorine here

Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool