Will bleach damage my above ground vinyl pool?

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joecoyle

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Jun 7, 2016
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Manchester, United Kingdom
Hi

I've got 26500 Litre above ground vinyl pool. I want to start using the TFPC method, but it might need to start next season.

Will liquid bleach damage my vinyl liner? Discolour it? We had a mishap about 6 years ago where a trichlor puck fell out of the dispenser and left a nice perfect white circular stain on my pool floor ever since :(

I don't want anymore mishaps.

Additionally, all of the bleach I can see in the laundry aisle of Tesco (I live in the UK) and Aldi is 4.5% and I know the TFPC method says use 6%. What should I do?

Cheers
Joe
 
Using pool math, you can enter the percent concentration of the bleach you are using. Because your concentration is lower, you will use more. Use plain bleach. Do not buy scented, splashless or any other fancy type. Also, you might start looking around for an alternate supply of higher concentration or consider another method of chlorination like a salt water chlorine generator.

Bleach, when used following this method does not bleach the liner.
 
Last edited:
TFPC doesn't specify any particular percentage. 6% was just a common percentage sold at the grocery store at the time. Any percentage of sodium hypochlorite is good, from 3% to 15%. Just be sure to change the percentage in PoolMath so you get the correct dosage. No, bleach/liquid chlorine will not bleach your liner if you follow TFPC recommended levels and practices.

More here,
Pool School - Recommended Levels
[FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
 
pooldv said:
TFPC doesn't specify any particular percentage. 6% was just a common percentage sold at the grocery store at the time. Any percentage of sodium hypochlorite is good, from 3% to 15%. Just be sure to change the percentage in PoolMath so you get the correct dosage. No, bleach/liquid chlorine will not bleach your liner if you follow TFPC recommended levels and practices.

More here,
Pool School - Recommended Levels
[FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
Click to expand...

I'm afraid I have to disagree with one of the most experienced posters on here. I will qualify though. Bleach will "bleach" just about anything at high enough concentrations. The thread below, I started, discusses the causes. Most likely for me is aging and low quality inks. It seems to be common for Intex liners. I am a recent convert to TFPC. And the dichlor did a lot more immediate damage to my liner in the first two years I used it than bleach has in this last year. What I mean is, the dichlor would settle on the bottom sometimes and turn that spot white AND cause, for lack of a better term, dimples, in the liner. And I would spread it out pretty thin. It just wouldn't dissolve fast enough. I should have been brushing after adding I suppose, but anyone who moans about adding liquid chlorine every day should try brushing every time they add granules.

So, my opinion is, if the ink is going to be "bleached", it will be by whatever chlorination method you choose. Just like the granules need to be treated with respect to keep them from damaging a liner, the liquid should be poured slowly and in front of a return jet so it is mixed well.

Better yet, get a SWG.

Link to the other post below(I hope):
Anybody have their Intex AGP liner lose its color?

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=125750&share_fid=4767&share_type=t
 
welbo said:
I'm afraid I have to disagree with one of the most experienced posters on here. I will qualify though. Bleach will "bleach" just about anything at high enough concentrations. The thread below, I started, discusses the causes. Most likely for me is aging and low quality inks. It seems to be common for Intex liners. I am a recent convert to TFPC. And the dichlor did a lot more immediate damage to my liner in the first two years I used it than bleach has in this last year. What I mean is, the dichlor would settle on the bottom sometimes and turn that spot white AND cause, for lack of a better term, dimples, in the liner. And I would spread it out pretty thin. It just wouldn't dissolve fast enough. I should have been brushing after adding I suppose, but anyone who moans about adding liquid chlorine every day should try brushing every time they add granules.

So, my opinion is, if the ink is going to be "bleached", it will be by whatever chlorination method you choose. Just like the granules need to be treated with respect to keep them from damaging a liner, the liquid should be poured slowly and in front of a return jet so it is mixed well.

Better yet, get a SWG.

Link to the other post below(I hope):
Anybody have their Intex AGP liner lose its color?

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=125750&share_fid=4767&share_type=t
Click to expand...

You say you disagree, but then you go on to pretty much agree. Pooldv did say "if you follow the TFPC method" you won't have problems with prematurely bleaching a liner. The TFPC method does say poor slowly in front of return to disperse properly.

Also, instead of SWCG, you could get a stenner pump and dribble the liquid chlorine into a return line at 1oz a minute or so.
 
camueller said:
You say you disagree, but then you go on to pretty much agree. Pooldv did say "if you follow the TFPC method" you won't have problems with prematurely bleaching a liner. The TFPC method does say poor slowly in front of return to disperse properly.

Also, instead of SWCG, you could get a stenner pump and dribble the liquid chlorine into a return line at 1oz a minute or so.
Click to expand...

My point is, mine and apparently many others' liners were bleached out completely, by bleach. If the water had had no chlorine in it, the ink would still be there. That's not to say that bleach is the sole source of the "problem". Low quality inks and age likely play a part too. But it is most certainly bleach that dealt the blow to the ink in the liner and turned it white. Even if I qualify that ANY form of chlorine in the proper level would have done the same thing, you can't say that bleach will definitely not damage a liner. I do think it is fair to say that it is no more risk than any other form of chlorination (maybe even a little lower risk, as I pointed out in my previous post).
 

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The Intex liners are WELL known to fade out within 3 years, regardless of the method used to maintain your pool. Which is the reason I re-lined my Intex pool with an Overlap liner this year. I am now working on 5 years with this pool, and can't be happier with it, even though the liner went completely white, it is still structurally sound. With the new liner, it looks like a new pool.
 
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