How much bleach to buy?

[kal2002]

Hi everyone,
I would like to start using the BBB method. Just ordered the TF 100 test kit yesterday. I have a question on the amount of bleach, baking soda, and borax to buy before starting BBB. On a weekly average, how much bleach do you guys use in your pools if there are no major problems such as algae? How much bleach do you keep around for the pool? Thanks.

 

[Bama Rambler]

When asking a quantity question please include you location and the relevant sizes (i.e. the pool).

I use about 2.4 liters of 6% per day. I keep about 3 jugs on hand even though I have a Liquidator.
I keep a gallon of MA on hand though I rarely need any. I don't keep any Borax or Baking Soda or anything else except what's left over from the last time I used it. I think I have a little cyanuric acid on hand but that's just because it didn't take a whole container last time I needed some.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

How does your water look? You posted about algae recently, is that problem gone? If not, you'll need a bunch of bleach. As for borax, muriatic acid, and baking soda, you may not need any depending on your test results (TF-100 on the way I see ).

It would be a help for everyone if you could put some details about your pool in your signature (user control panel -> profile -> edit signature).

 

[lightingguy]

I use 2 182oz jugs of 6% a week. (16K gal, hot and sunny)

My Ph tends to rise slightly and I keep a gallon of acid on hand.

All the other stuff is pretty well set it and forget it. You're not going to have an immediate crisis with your TA or CH that needs large amounts of chemicals on hand.

In terms of Maintenance -

Chlorine - I test and adjust every other day
PH - Weekly
All the rest - Monthly

This is after testing often enough when I first started BBB to really get to know my pool and how it changes over time. Now after 6 months I can pretty well guess where all my numbers will be before I test.

As to the original question - a perfectly clean 12K pool can start with simple maintenance doses - a 30k pool with CYA of 200 and algae will require precisely one truckload of bleach :-D

 

[kal2002]

I edited my signature with this: IG pebbletec pool, 35,000 gals, cartridge filter. I had the water tested at a pool store when I had algae. They sold me PhosFree and 5 bags of shock powder. I used them as instructed and ran the filter for 48 hours. The algae is gone and the water now looks sparkling clear. I had the water tested last weekend again. They told me that TA is low and I needed to add 10 lbs of something to increase it so I added 10 lbs of baking soda.

 

[Butterfly]

35K gallons is a huge pool! As an estimate, if your pool used 2.5 ppm FC daily, it would need appx. 6 quarts (two 96oz jugs) of 6% bleach daily.

Are you considering a SWG or liquidator?

My pool likes to have one 96oz jug each evening. Generally, we buy about two cases (8 jugs) of 6% Tundra weekly.

I still have my original box of Borax from June, 2006
On occassion I will need to add small amount of Baking Soda, so I just buy the 1# boxes from Aldi's (el-cheapo).
My pool does like some Muriatic Acid, so we buy the 2-gallon pack from Lowes/HD.

 

[Bama Rambler]

What you really need to buy besides bleach is a good test kit. Just click the link in my sig and you won't be sorry.
How do you normally chlorinate your monster?

 

[kal2002]

Maybe I should double check to make sure it is that big. We did not have it built. It came with the house. The pool service was using chlorine tablets so we just continued doing the same. Now I want to try BBB and the TF-100 is on its way. But if it requires that much bleach every day, I just might stick with the tablets and supplement it with bleach when necessary. Will that work?

 

[Butterfly]

Maybe I should double check to make sure it is that big. We did not have it built. It came with the house. The pool service was using chlorine tablets so we just continued doing the same. Now I want to try BBB and the TF-100 is on its way. But if it requires that much bleach every day, I just might stick with the tablets and supplement it with bleach when necessary. Will that work?

um, sorta....no....

The tabs will continue to add CYA which will eventually cause problems.

First let's verify the size of your pool and get a handle on the test results with your TF100 test kit (congrats to you for that )

I could be wrong on my estimate for daily FC use/dose....someone else will verify.

Once we get all the facts, we'll help you take full control of your pool :-D

Welcome to the forum

 

[Isaac-1]

I don't consider 35,000 gallons to be a huge residential pool, but certainly on the large end, there are several active memebers on this board with pools in the 33,000-40,000 size range anything over 50,000 gal I would consider huge.

Ike

p.s. most pool chemical bottle show suggested dosage charts up to 36,000 gallons or so

 

[linda1]

I have been keeping a log of supplies I've bought since the pool was installed this past May. I've used 12, 182 oz, 6% jugs of bleach in 12 weeks. Not bad, $2.54 a week to keep a sparkly clean pool!

 

[diverman57]

i cannot imagine how you get by on one jug of chlorine a week. according to the pool calculator, that
would be 4.4 ppm of chlorine usage a week. most pool lose 2-3 ppm per day. that kind of usage is
amazing.

 

[anonapersona]

Now I want to try BBB and the TF-100 is on its way. But if it requires that much bleach every day, I just might stick with the tablets and supplement it with bleach when necessary. Will that work?

It all depend on where your CYA is, and also how expensive it will be for you to dump water and rebalance. If you have water restrictions, I noticed California location, it may not be possible for you to dump half your pool and add water when you'd need to if you did primarily tablets and CYA got too high.

Before you go that route, you might try to locate an RO service and get that price on the table to figure it in your analysis. they can filter the water so that you avoid replacement, though you may still have to add a lot of chemicals to get it rebalanced.

You might need to get a good test of your tap water and determine how much it would cost to get it from tap water levels to recommended levels on a refill. I just put $28 worth of calcium increaser in my pool to get CH up about 75 ppm due to rain. If you had to lower TA a lot or raise CH a lot that could be expensive.

I suspect you might get a lot of rain in the winter, so that could help dilute the CYA that builds up. We do here and so this year I started with low CYA and low CH. For now I am using tablets and bleach, but pretty soon I will go to bleach alone, when CYA gets to the top of the allowable range.

The first order of business is to determine what the levels in the pool are right now. Then you can look at your options. There are also things that can slow the loss of chlorine, like a pool cover or shade cover. You may add SWG for automatic chlorination. There are options.

 

[kal2002]

Found papework that says pool capacity is 27,000 gals. That's good. The results from last weekend's water test from pool supplies store: FC - 4, PH - 7.6, TA - 6 (added 10 lbs of baking soda), TDS - 560. They did not test for other things.

 

[kal2002]

TA - 6 ---- I actually meant 60.

 

[Bama Rambler]

With a pebbletec pool you need to know the CH (calcium hardness) number.
Here's the list of test results you need.
pH
FC
CC
TA
CH
CYA
& if you have a SWCG
Salt

All those ancilliary tests the PS performs are just to make you believe you have a problem so they can sell you expensive "fixes".

 

[kal2002]

I have been keeping a log of supplies I've bought since the pool was installed this past May. I've used 12, 182 oz, 6% jugs of bleach in 12 weeks. Not bad, $2.54 a week to keep a sparkly clean pool!

Where do you buy your bleach?

 

[kal2002]

Two weeks ago, these are the numbers:
pH - 7.6
FC - 2
CC - they don't test for this
TA - 100
CH - 190
CYA - 30-50 (3 weeks ago)
I do not have a SWCG.

Do these numbers look bad?

 

[Bama Rambler]

The biggest issue I see with those numbers is that they're from the pool store! You should really get yourself a good test kit.

Your FC is a little low I'd try keeping that above the minimum recommended on the chlorine/CYA chart for a CYA of 45 since we don't really know what it really is.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

i cannot imagine how you get by on one jug of chlorine a week. according to the pool calculator, that
would be 4.4 ppm of chlorine usage a week. most pool lose 2-3 ppm per day. that kind of usage is
amazing.

When my black/blue solar cover is on, and my pool is not in use, I lose virtually nil. Really, less than 1-undetectable. There can be several days for me before I need to add chlorine. Every pool's circumstances and demand are unique 2-3 is just an avg.