Questions about Chlorine

[Resnick]

Hi Everyone,

Last year I had issues keeping the algae away and to do so I had to use a lot of Chlorine. Researching the subject makes me believe it's because the CYA was too high. I think the lowest and highest I had it was around 80/90-120 when it should be 30-40. Interesting enough, when I opened the pool the algae went away right away and I think the CYA was low at that time. I think all this was caused by me using conditioned chlorine to shock the pool. Note: no one at the pool store said "oh your CYA is high even at 120". After reading about the BBB method and algae, I wanted to try something new so here are my questions. Thank you in advance for your replies.

1. Do most people here use liquid chlorine to sanitize/shock the pool?

2. Does anyone use the Cal Hypo shock? seems like a good alternative to having to deal with all the Gal jugs of liquid chlorine. But then started to think about the calcium build up in the water and problems it can use. It sounds like it would be minimal to a vinyl lining type pool though. Any thoughts?

3. Any one in Northern NJ that knows of a place that I can buy some bulk liquid chlorine? Seems like a good alternative to buying lots of 1 gal jugs. However, I have little kids, so bulk might be a bit more difficult to store / keep safe but I'm still willing to consider it.

4. Is it okay to use Chlorine tablets through the week to maintain the chlorine level? In other words, they don't increase the CYA level as fast as pool shock,right?. I think I was using 3-4 tablets per week.

 

[Richard320]

Hi Everyone,

Last year I had issues keeping the algae away and to do so I had to use a lot of Chlorine. Researching the subject makes me believe it's because the CYA was too high. I think the lowest and highest I had it was around 80/90-120 when it should be 30-40. Interesting enough, when I opened the pool the algae went away right away and I think the CYA was low at that time. I think all this was caused by me using conditioned chlorine to shock the pool. Note: no one at the pool store said "oh your CYA is high even at 120". After reading about the BBB method and algae, I wanted to try something new so here are my questions. Thank you in advance for your replies.

1. Do most people here use liquid chlorine to sanitize/shock the pool?

Yes. Or a saltwater generator

2. Does anyone use the Cal Hypo shock? seems like a good alternative to having to deal with all the Gal jugs of liquid chlorine. But then started to think about the calcium build up in the water and problems it can use. It sounds like it would be minimal to a vinyl lining type pool though. Any thoughts?

I never have. My fill water is already high in Calcium. Wait for #4...

3. Any one in Northern NJ that knows of a place that I can buy some bulk liquid chlorine? Seems like a good alternative to buying lots of 1 gal jugs. However, I have little kids, so bulk might be a bit more difficult to store / keep safe but I'm still willing to consider it.

Chlorine has a shelf life. It loses strength just sitting, worse in high temps. You don't say how big your pool is, but for comparison, my 16000 gallon pool uses a quart of 12.5% per day in the Summer. I buy it 4 gallons at a time. So I'm good two weeks at a stretch. I suppose I could hunt for the link that shows the half-life of chlorine, but take my word for it, you don't want to buy it by the drum unless your pool is supersize.

4. Is it okay to use Chlorine tablets through the week to maintain the chlorine level? In other words, they don't increase the CYA level as fast as pool shock,right?. I think I was using 3-4 tablets per week.

Not with your CYA levels where they are. If you go to poolmath and enter your pool volume up top and then scroll down to Effects of Adding Chemicals, you can see what each pound of Cal-hypo or 8oz Trichlor puck does to your pool chemistry. Things can climb really really fast.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

1. Do most people here use liquid chlorine to sanitize/shock the pool?

Yes. Liquid chlorine form the pool store or regular old bleach...all the same stuff.

2. Does anyone use the Cal Hypo shock? seems like a good alternative to having to deal with all the Gal jugs of liquid chlorine. But then started to think about the calcium build up in the water and problems it can use. It sounds like it would be minimal to a vinyl lining type pool though. Any thoughts?


You can if you have high enough water exchange and calcium hardness is kept in check. Most folks with plaster pools can't use a lot of cal-hypo because the CH gets too high. Vinyl is a little easier in that sense but you still have to monitor your CH like you would CYA and keep it in check.

3. Any one in Northern NJ that knows of a place that I can buy some bulk liquid chlorine? Seems like a good alternative to buying lots of 1 gal jugs. However, I have little kids, so bulk might be a bit more difficult to store / keep safe but I'm still willing to consider it.


Hopefully a fellow New Jersian will chime in.

4. Is it okay to use Chlorine tablets through the week to maintain the chlorine level? In other words, they don't increase the CYA level as fast as pool shock,right?. I think I was using 3-4 tablets per week.

Here's some numbers to keep in mind -

For every 10ppm FC added by dichlor powder (shock), you add 9ppm CYA
For every 10ppm FC added by trichlor tablets, you add 6ppm CYA
For every 10ppm FC added by cal-hypo, you increase your CH by 7ppm

Cal-hypo will raise pH due to calcium oxide and calcium carbonate impurities. Trichlor is acidic and will lower pH and TA. Dichlor is only very mildly acidic and doesn't affect pH much

 

[Isaac-1]

One thing I would like to add to this is our method is based upon only adding the things your pool needs, part of that means no pointless weekly shocking. If chlorine / CYA ratios are correctly maintained then there is almost never a need to shock, we call it the SLAM process (Shock Level And Maintain), as again we believe in testing and adding what is needed in the correct amount for a long enough period of time not just a random spike in Chlorine that pool stores call shocking. This allows many of us to go years between a SLAM, and those rare events are often caused by things like flash floods and other storm debris getting into the pool, or similar circumstances.

 

[Resnick]

Thanks guys. I'll check with the local pool store about their price and volume of chlorine. Hopefully, this year will go a lot smoother.

On a related note, I found this information on an archived thread in case it might be useful to any other NJ user looking for bulk chlorine.


Universal Chemical
100 N. Hackensack Ave.
South Kearny, NJ 07032
(973) 589-1525


The cost is $2.75 per gallon of 12.5%.
The deposit for a 5 gallon carboy is $7.50 EACH.
Don't forget 7% NJ sales tax and a $2 insurance surcharge

Here is the thread link -> Bleach Prices 2014 [Archive] - Trouble Free Pool

 

[zamazing]

I get my liquid chlorine from Joe Ordini's Pool Supply Ordini Pools. Only 3.5% sales tax because they are in Paterson.


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[Resnick]

Hi zamazing,

How much do they charge at that place per gallon (to compare with my local store)?

I ended up reaching out two chemical distributors in NJ but only the one above replied. It looks like they have moved (at least the warehouse) to Brooklyn, NY. I asked about the prices and they said $35 per 5gal pail which translate to $7 per gal. And $ 10 per gal for muriatic acid. I then called the local pool store and they said around $27-28 with a discount for the liquid chlorine and $10 for the Acid. Sounds, like I might just end up getting it from the local store and save myself a trip to Brooklyn.

 

[zamazing]

I don't remember what I paid last time so you may want to give them a call. I don't pay too much attention to Chlorine prices because I have an SWG and most of my chlorine demand occurs only at pool opening or pool closing time.

However, I do buy a lot of Muriatic acid, which I pick up at Lowes for about $7.50 per gallon. Just make sure to pick up the Jassco "non-green" version which has the higher baume formulation.


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[Resnick]

Gave them a call 4.99 / gal. not bad ..thanks again.