has anyone actually asked a pool store owner/employee what they think about this method? I still get a lot of strange looks when i describe it to friends and family, but i wonder if any pool store owners actually admit that it works ok. I thought about this yesterday as I bought a replacement O-ring..I wanted to ask the guy there what he thought of it, just for ships and giggles, but I opted not to.
Pool Store opinion on bleach method
- Thread starter Mattyssox
- Start date
A lot of folks who work in pool stores don't own their own pool, so they only know what the chemical reps tell them. However, it was a pool store clerk who told me about using baking soda to raise TA which led me to google to see if it was true, and google led me to TFP!
Don't you know that bleach is the "Red Ryder BB gun" for pools?????????? You'll ruin your liner with that stuff!!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (tongue in cheek)
I called a few pool stores last week looking for a deal on higher concentration liquid chlorine. I was told by Leslies that liquid chlorine is illegal in Texas..................
i figure any pool store that sells liquid chlorine would need to explain why that is different than bleach before they threw stones.
I have heard a few of those stories. They are hilarious. Some people will say anything to try and make a sale.relling2245 said:
I sat in on a local "pool school" with a friend who just put up a pool, and the pool store started him on the Mineral Springs product. I told him about BBB, and he told me to come with him to Pool school to learn about Mineral Springs. When the Rep would get to a point to take questions about each product like Mineral Springs beginnings, or renewal, or other product...I would raise my hand and say, "but isn't that just basically chlorine whether is Sodium Hypochlorite, or Dyclor or Tri chlor....he was pretty dumbfounded, and said...UH...WELL..YES, BUT our product also has essential stabilizers, minerals and conditioners......and I was like..oh you mean like Cyanuric Acid which you can buy separately, or you mentioned water buffers, do you mean like Sodium Bicarbonate..and the guy says YES...and I said...well that is simply baking soda right? and again he was tripping over his own tongue trying to come up with an answer as to why Mineral Springs was better. So did I convince anyone, over the slick salesman pitch? probably not..but I do know there were LOTS of people asking questions if what I was saying was true, and they could really treat there own pool with simple chlorine bleach, baking soda and borax...as opposed to the $15.00 a week Mineral Springs additives. 
flyweed said:I sat in on a local "pool school" with a friend who just put up a pool, and the pool store started him on the Mineral Springs product. I told him about BBB, and he told me to come with him to Pool school to learn about Mineral Springs. When the Rep would get to a point to take questions about each product like Mineral Springs beginnings, or renewal, or other product...I would raise my hand and say, "but isn't that just basically chlorine whether is Sodium Hypochlorite, or Dyclor or Tri chlor....he was pretty dumbfounded, and said...UH...WELL..YES, BUT our product also has essential stabilizers, minerals and conditioners......and I was like..oh you mean like Cyanuric Acid which you can buy separately, or you mentioned water buffers, do you mean like Sodium Bicarbonate..and the guy says YES...and I said...well that is simply baking soda right? and again he was tripping over his own tongue trying to come up with an answer as to why Mineral Springs was better. So did I convince anyone, over the slick salesman pitch? probably not..but I do know there were LOTS of people asking questions if what I was saying was true, and they could really treat there own pool with simple chlorine bleach, baking soda and borax...as opposed to the $15.00 a week Mineral Springs additives.
another thought.. if trichloro and cal hypo pucks are so bad, how do the majority of pool owners keep thier pools clean (majority dont use bbb yet). i thought these two options raised your cya or calcium levels to problematic levels..
in fairness, I know about 5 people with in grounds (decent sizes) and they never have to drain it or take extreme measures..they just use pucks and away they go
im content with the bbb method, I'm just curious as to how the world is able to successfully maintain a pool without it.
im content with the bbb method, I'm just curious as to how the world is able to successfully maintain a pool without it.
About half the world isn't actually able to maintain their pool in a way that most of us would find acceptable. They get algae, they ignore the pool for weeks at a time, they spend a lot of money trying to "fix" things for a pool party, and so on.Mattyssox said:
Mattyssox said:
If used correctly you CAN keep your pool clean using these products. I know a few members on this board who use pucks as their source of chlorine and have very little problems. The main issue comes when you have a CYA level of 100 and all of a sudden you end up with an algae outbreak. All of a sudden you're looking at a shock level of over 25FC to hit your mark. Often rather than shocking the pool correctly, people then spend hundreds of dollars on Super Shock ,Floc, pool clarifier, and the list goes on and on. While each of these items DO something, the best and cheapest way to use them.....is by not putting yourself into a spot where you need to use them.
I would say the build up of CYA and the associated problems can vary a great deal from pool to pool, for example with a shaded pool in a northern location there may simply may not be enough time during the swim season for the CYA to build up to truely unmanageable levels, particulalry if the pool in question gets a lot of water exchange, for example it may have a sand filter that gets backwashed often or the owner vacuums to waste then these may be additional factors. Then during the winter the pool turns into a swamp, and bacteria convert the CYA into amonia and the whole cycle starts again the next year. The thing is even when this happens if you get to talking to these owners you will often find that as the swim season progresses they have more and more issues with the pool and typically "shock" as a preventative measure every week or so, just to try to keep everything in check and not have it all come tumbling down. You will also likely hear complaints about the water burning peoples eyes, and the "chlorine" smell around the pool, which as we know are signs of an out of balance pool.
JamesW said:
100 Gallon Minimum - almost a lifetime off Chlorine for my 13,000 gallons (or at least the useful lifetime of the Chlorine). For now Costco is the best deal I've found with 6% Clorox. I wish I could find somebody local that sold 10% or 12% in 10 or 15 gallon containers........
My family owns a janitorial and cleaning chemical supply business, and I can tell you your best bang for the buck is often on comodity 6% bleach. Larger higher concentration packagings often have a price premium associated with them until you get up to the larger drum and tote sizes, I blame this partly on the paperwork and handling overhead 12% bleach and possibly 6% in larger containers is considered Haz-Mat, which requires extra training, paperwork and licensing for warehouse workers and delivery drivers. Standard 6% bleach is considered a consumer comodity and is exempt from the Haz-Mat handling requirements as an ORM-D product (note it is still considered Haz-Mat and is banned from air transport, etc. but that is another matter.
Mattyssox said:
Since you are in the New England area you and your neighbors usually drain below the returns to winterized every year. That probably averages 1/4-1/3 of the pool volume being drained and there is likely some displacement from snow that reduces water volume a little more over winter. Combined with frequent vacuuming to waste and back washing they probably replace just enough water during the season to stay out of trouble. Likely every few years they do have some high CYA issues to deal with.
My understanding is that bbb/TFP method is not so much about using a specific set of chemicals, but about understanding the affects of those chemicals on your pool, and their associated costs on your wallet.
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