Solar Pool Cover and Chlorine Floaters

[moneypit2]

Hello,

I recently bought a clear solar cover for my pool. I am not using a reel, just cut it to shape since my pool is an odd shape and I figured a reel wouldn't work too well (the cover would get caught along the curves of the pool).

My chlorination method is 2 chlorine floaters, usually I keep 2-3 pucks in there (for ~25K gallon pool). With the cover on (pretty much 24x7 since the pool is still cold), these floaters can't really move around; in fact they are stationary in the one small area that my cover isn't covering.

I thought the advantage with the floaters is that they distribute chlorine evenly around the pool 24x7, but with mine being stationary is this going to be an issue? The reason I don't have one of those automatic chlorine dispensers inline with my filter is because I only run the filter about 8 hours, and was concerned that with the pump off there will be nothing adding chlorine regularly into the pool. But with the cover now, will I need one of these automatic chlorinators?

I guess if I followed the method here of just pouring in liquid household bleach, the point would be moot...but I tried it last year, and with my high CYA levels I just couldnt buy enough bottles of bleach, which was pretty cumbersome.

 

[wmshay6]

If your CYA is already high, you are making matters worse by continuing to use the pucks. They just push your CYA even higher. If possible, get the CYA down (partial drain and refill), then switch to straight bleach.

With an appropriate level of CYA and the pool mostly covered, you should only need to add bleach once every day or so.

 

[moneypit2]

Thanks. I know the CYA is an issue, but water here in Atlanta is very expensive...draining half the pool would probably cost me a couple hundred bucks at a minimum, whereas even if I use a high amount of chlorine, I only used 1 bucket last year ~$100, and my CYA is actually down (100, was 200+ last year, and that's only after adding about 4" of water to my pool due to evaporation, leaks, etc). Besides, my plaster is going and may need to be redone in the next year or 2...so that will require a complete draining.

The other issue I have is where to dump out thousands of gallons of water without flooding my crawl space!

And as far as liquid bleach, I haven't found out yet where to buy dozens and dozens of bottles of bleach yet.

Regardless, I still have the question about the floaters with the cover on.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If you're going to live with tablets, then you really need a good test kit. Otherwise you're just guessing. Keep in mind also, that most tests report CYA levels of greater than 100 as 100, so it can be very high and you never know it till it's too late.

As for where to buy bleach. I buy mine at SamsClub. They sell boxes of (3)-182oz bottles for a little over $7. I bought 21 bottles the other day. I've also bought it from Walmart in 182oz jugs. They looked a little funny at me the first few times but more and more people are catching on so now they stock more of it. You can also contact a janitorial company and see if you can buy 5 or 15 gallon carboys through them. Some pool places also sell 5 gallon jugs of 12% at a good price.

 

[moneypit2]

Thanks...ok, ok, I get it, switch to liquid chlorine. I do have a Taylor test kit, and try to use it at least every couple of weeks. I also don't really have time to add chemicals each day, as I travel a fair bit for work.

Since I have to figure out how to dump out thousands of gallons of water without flooding my crawl space, I will need to keep my current setup for now...so that said, any issue with my pool cover on, and floating chlorinators?

 

[Bama Rambler]

The biggest issue (besides the CYA) is that you're probably going to have high FC levels against your cover which will tend to shorten the life of it.

your pump is running every day isn't it?

 

[moneypit2]

Yeah, I run it every day, for (2) 4 hour periods. Maybe that's too much for this time of year?

 

[moneypit2]

BTW, I see that you dont have a liquidator anymore; any reason why?

 

[Bama Rambler]

I wouldn't run it any less. 8 hours a day isn't very long at all.

There are several reasons I went to the peristaltic pump and I even started a thread about it but suffice it to say, that while the LQ worked very well most of the time, when the leaves and oak worms got really bad and filled the skimmer it would empty the LQ quickly due to the increase in suction pressure. That and I just wanted to try something different. Ok maybe that's the real reason!

 

[wmshay6]

I wouldn't stress too much about the floaters not circulating. I might bump the run time on the pump to 10 hours just to make sure the water is well mixed throughout the pool.

The main risks are high concentrations of CL near the floaters as well as very low pH near the floaters since pucks really drop your pH. Since you say your plaster may be going anyway, I wouldn't be overly concerned. But I have a vinyl pool so whaddaikonw?

The local wholesale clubs around here carry 3 packs of Clorox in something like 1.5 gallon jugs. You might also check your local pool store for 12% Chlorine. 2x the concentration of the regular store stuff means you would have to carry 1/2 as many jugs for the same chlorinating power. I am tired of lugging WalMart jugs myself, so will be checking Namco soon to see how their refillable jugs compare costwise.

As far as where to drop the water, hoses to get it away from the house solves the crawlspace issue. Or there is always the neighbors yard!