Chlorine Consumption - What is considered normal?

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S

Seadweller

Well-known member
Aug 21, 2009
230
Tampa Bay Area
Thanks to the forum, my pool now looks amazing! I haven't had a spot of algae in weeks, and the test kit has kept me from the pool store as well! :D

Over the last several weeks, I find that I'm adding an average of one gallon of bleach to the pool every day to maintain the proper FC based on my CYA level (80). Continued testing indicates that CC is zero. Does this amount of bleach sound normal?

If so, at $2.49/gallon, the annual expense seems pretty high, to the point that I wonder if I might consider a salt system?

Thoughts?
 
You don't mention what strength bleach you are using, but one gallon of 8.25% in a pool the size of yours would raise FC by 4.7 ppm. In sunny Florida, that's not an unreasonable daily loss due to the sun.




You might perform an OCLT just to be sure you don't have something starting to grow that's consuming your chlorine.





Also, check the date on your chlorine bottle to insure that it is fresh. It degrades pretty quickly, especially if stored outside.





Measure your FC before and then 15 minutes after adding chlorine with the pump running and see how much of a rise you are getting from a gallon.
 
Thanks for the input...I did perform an OCLT and it was well within spec...I also checked the dates on the bleach, which is 8.25%...The one thing I have not measured in the increase in the FC within 15 minutes of adding bleach, but I'll do that next...

I wonder if I should bite the bullet and install a salt system. The upfront cost would be the same or less than the annual expense of bleach, but I would imagine ongoing maintenance costs would be less...Has anyone found that to be the case?
 
I like my SWG just for the ease of use. We can be gone for a week, and come home to a perfectly balanced pool. All I have to do is periodically add a little muriatic acid to keep the pH from creeping up too high.



Of course, with a small AG pool, I can get an SWG for around $150, so it's a no-brainer for me. It will be a more significant investment for you, but considering the cost of chlorine and the hands-off benefits, I'd still recommend it.

Be aware that the cells have to be replaced periodically. Most folks here recommend getting an SWG twice the size you need for your pool so that you only need to run it half as long, thus extending the cell life.
 
I have a FL pool too and loss 3-4 ppm for a hot sunny day without any bather load; that is not even full sun until about 12:30 and under a screen. If there are swimmers, it is more.

My CYA is about 80 now (SWG) and that has helped alot to kept the FC steadier.
 
I was wondering the same thing. I lost about 5ppm yesterday. It's hot and sunny in Texas, but that's basically a gallon of bleach per day. I'm new to all this and I was expecting this method to save me money on my pool. I'm still excited about it, don't get me wrong -- and I'm sticking with it. I just didn't realize I'd be spending so much $$ on bleach.
 
Well if you can get that cya down closer to 40-50 range, you will only have to target about 5 to 6 FC per the chart. I am in hot north texas- about 22,ooo gal pool and I use about a gallon bleach every other day if I do bleach only.

I intermittently use pucks when my cya is on lower end; helps lower the Ph a bit and I don't have to add anything for a few days.. just test. I dont seem to spend too much $ kinda using both, i just buy 2 or 3 gallons a week at store, use a few pucks now and then and test the cya 1 or 2 times a week. I probably lose about 2.5 fc daily.
 
And when I need to get cya down, I just have everybody over to swim! The splashout means my cya gets lowered and I get to add nice cold water to the pool to fill it up again... its a winwin!
1363c5ded764acb2b568a89c82e05c42.jpg

Plenty of splashout with this crew!
 

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jeffchap said:
I like my SWG just for the ease of use. We can be gone for a week, and come home to a perfectly balanced pool. All I have to do is periodically add a little muriatic acid to keep the pH from creeping up too high.



Of course, with a small AG pool, I can get an SWG for around $150, so it's a no-brainer for me. It will be a more significant investment for you, but considering the cost of chlorine and the hands-off benefits, I'd still recommend it.

Be aware that the cells have to be replaced periodically. Most folks here recommend getting an SWG twice the size you need for your pool so that you only need to run it half as long, thus extending the cell life.
Click to expand...

My Saltron just died again
I need a cheap alternative
Where did you get the $150 SWG?
 
I'm at 50 CYA and with a string of 90+ degree sunny days I'm going through about 5 gallons a week. I couldn't do a SWG because of the natural stone surround so I bought a Liquidator. It's much more convenient than manually adding bleach every day....but it sometimes makes me lazy about testing.
 
I wonder if I should bite the bullet and install a salt system. The upfront cost would be the same or less than the annual expense of bleach, but I would imagine ongoing maintenance costs would be less...Has anyone found that to be the case?
Click to expand...

I switched this year -- not for cost but for convenience and continuity of chlorination. My estimations in my pool on the replacement cost of the cell itself would have me at break even after 1.5 short (May to early Oct) seasons.
I was buying 12% from a pb co because they refilled bottles...which I didn't mind paying more for because I hated wasting bleach bottles.

If you decide to go swg and your consuming 4 ppm ish a day, be sure to oversize your cell -- eg I chose the aquarite t15 rated for 40,000 gallons even though I'm 23k gallons -- its rated in my gallonage to produce up to 7.8 ppm per day if at 100%.

Since switching, in actuality, I'm only using about 1.5 ppm per day. TG t-15 is rated to produce 500 lbs+ of chlorine in the life of the cell, so at this rat mine might last 7 seasons ;)
 
Makdaddy said:
So bad luck continues
I ordered this unit.
Installed Sunday.
GFI wont stay off. It never powers up. The GFI shuts off everytime I plug it in, I have tried several outlets, and the main unit is powered off.
Click to expand...

That sucks, but fortunately Intex customer support is very good to deal with. They should replace it with no questions asked.
 
Sorry to hear you're having such trouble with them. I've had them replace a couple of things for me in the past for free, without even having to supply a receipt.

Btw, I ordered that very same SWG from Amazon Tuesday. It is supposed to arrive today. Hopefully I don't have the same problem with the GFCI. If I do, I'll probably just cut it off and put on a regular plug. I run everything off of an external timer, and I had to cut off the GFCI on my Intex pump because it would trip every time the timer turned it on. My outlet that everything is plugged into is already GFCI protected anyway.
 
Im also On GFI Outlet for the pump and Deck
I thought about cutting the plug off and replacing it
But that will void the warranty. I would feel better doing that if the unit worked out of the box
I contacted Amazon, they are shipping a replacement
I hope I have better luck on this one.
And the CSR at Intex gave me claim number but wouldnt process anything without a receipt and proof of shipping.
 
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