Daily Addition of Bleach

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M

Motorin

0
May 31, 2015
11
Demorest, GA
Last year was my first year at trying the TFPC method. I had other issues that kept me from thoroughly implementing it. I actually didn't get things balanced and under control until late in the season. My filters seemed to be running too high of back pressure and finally followed directions here and got everything under control. I think the issue with them might have been due to using a product called Pool Perfect/Phosfree.
I had the easiest year ever opening this year following info I gained here by closing late as possible and using 60% polyquat. I used tablets to get my stabilizer up (currently 50ppm) and have now let the tablets fizzle out and have been using only bleach for nearly two weeks.
My question is how often and how much and what time of day do you guys recommend on the addition of bleach?
 
I feed my pool everyday. Just like a pet, it has needs. For ours .. it's bleach. How much depends on the size of your pool, amount of direct sun, and rate of FC expenditure. But in ballpark terms, we expect a well-maintained TFP pool to lose about 2-4 FC each day. My pool is just under 18K and I feed it about 1/2 gallon of regular 8.25% bleach each evening when I get off work. Yours might take just a hair more. "When" you add bleach is not as important really - just depends on your schedule. Any time of day will work as long as you are consistent with additions and when you test.
 
Nice Texas. I would just add that if you test it and it is below your minimum (or even your target if that's where you want to keep it for insurance) add immediately even if it is noon. You need to keep it above that minimum for your CYA level no matter what or you're putting your pool at risk. You have the CYA in there to minimize losses, so get that FC to your levels per CYA no matter where the sun is. That being said, if you're above minimum, and you want to wait until after afternoon sun, fair enough.
 
The reason we suggest adding in the evening is because it gives the bleach time to do its job before the sunlight starts to destroy it. If you add at noon, the hot sun will start burning off all your freshly added bleach. If you add at night, it has a full 8 hours or so to kill whatever is in the water without worrying about fighting off the sun.

I'm picturing in my head, little drops of bleach with umbrellas in one hand fighting the sun and a sword in the other hand fighting algae. When if it was at night, he could use both hands to fight the algae. lol
 
kris77 said:
...I'm picturing in my head, little drops of bleach with umbrellas in one hand fighting the sun and a sword in the other hand fighting algae. When if it was at night, he could use both hands to fight the algae. lol
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ha ha. my picture is bleach drop soldiers sweating so hard in the sun they have trouble holding onto the swords.
 
gcivic29 said:
Even when the pumps are not running at night? I get the burn off factor during the day but if the pumps are not running at night the bleach won't get circulated properly in order to continue the fight.
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While it isn't circulating, true, it is still in there and actively working. Just make sure that the pumps are on for a while as you dribble in the bleach over a return. It mixes pretty fast.
 
I read somewhere about putting an opened bottle of bleach on the bottom of the pool, and having it dispense over a couple of days. I tried this, and it works pretty well. Hypochlorite soln is denser than water, but the higher concentration diffuses out. It takes 2-3 days for a fully opened bottle to diffuse down to pool water concentration. My bottom cleaner (Hayward Ultra) doesn't knock it over.

I'm going to experiment with only partially removing the plastic seal, and see if I can get it to dispense over a week, so I can go away for a couple of days without worrying about Cl levels dropping to zero.
 

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I use a stenner tank and a peristaltic (I think that is what it is called) pump to dispense bleach every morning right before the pool pump starts up. From 9:30 - 9:38 it pumps out a little less than half a gallon of bleach. The tank is 15 gallons so I fill it about once every month and just keep an eye out on the chemical levels/skimmers to keep the pool in good shape.
 
Thanks for all the info. I was wanting some ballpark idea of what to tell someone should I not be available daily. After opening when the pool was about 74 degrees I was only loosing about 1 ppm FC daily but right now it's about 78-80 degrees and I'm loosing 2 ppm daily.

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holmern said:
I use a stenner tank and a peristaltic (I think that is what it is called) pump to dispense bleach every morning right before the pool pump starts up. From 9:30 - 9:38 it pumps out a little less than half a gallon of bleach. The tank is 15 gallons so I fill it about once every month and just keep an eye out on the chemical levels/skimmers to keep the pool in good shape.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a neat setup. Do you have that on a timer? I'd like to look into a setup like that.
 
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