Where to purchase bleach

[guitbusy]

I know all the familiar places, Walmart, Meijer, etc (whatever is having the best sale ). I have heard that there are places that you can get 10% or greater concentrations. Has anyone found other places that sell higher concentrations (chemical sales, etc.), with potential cost and storage savings? I also bad about having to recycle all those bottles. Thanks.

 

[chem geek]

Check your local pool stores. My local pool store sells 12.5% chlorinating liquid and has good turnover so it's always at full strength every time I've bought it. They also reuse the containers so you pay a small deposit (50 cents per bottle and $2 for the milk carton crate that holds 4 bottles) and then when you're done with a bottle you return it and get a new one. So this is better than recycling. Not counting the deposit, they charge $3.60 per gallon which is equivalent to $1.33 for a 96 ounce jug of 6% bleach (e.g. Clorox Regular or off-brand Ultra). So it's roughly comparably priced to the bleach in my area unless I go to a big box store that has bleach on sale, but I'd rather pay more for the bottle reuse. I also only use at most around 1 gallon per week so around $14 per month.

 

[JCJR]

Pool store in my area has the best deals. 2.4 gals of 10.5% for $3.99 plus a frequent card that after 10 purchases 11th free. That's another 10% off price when you do the math. Also, sometimes they run a buy 2 get 1 free. I calculated that once to around $.53 a gal of regular strenghth bleach. Now that's a bargain. Of course I have three containers that cost me $6.00 each but they buy them back if I want to return them.

 

[IkeRay]

^^ I wish more pool stores would get on the liquid chlorine wagon around here, but they know they can make much more money off the dichlor/trichlor CYA dance, so they push those.

If anyone knows of a chain type pool store or power washing/farm equipment place that does this kind of recycling or refilling, maybe they have one in my area.

 

[chem geek]

When I Googled "Houston chlorinating liquid", the first link is to the following source of chlorinating liquid called DIXICHLOR MAX. They say that it has 11.9% available chlorine but that would be equivalent to a Trade % of 13.8% which seems high. I suspect that the 11.9% they are quoting is really a trade %. In any event, it's in the ballpark of typical chlorinating liquid.

DPC Industries Inc. P.O. Box 24600, Houston, TX 77229
Telephone: 281 457-4888

There is also the following:

Global Treat, Inc.
Phone: 1.800.370.4410

though it seems that they provide feeder systems, not chlorine itself, but I'm sure they know of sources of chlorinating liquid in your area.

Richard

 

[Rangerman]

If you have an Aldi's store in your area . . . they sell 96 oz. bottles of 6% for 99 cents. :-D

 

[IkeRay]

thanks rich, I'll give those places a try.

I don't need any for a little while....I stocked up when it was on sale at grocery store, $1/96oz clorox, got 90 bottles at the time, still have a good 70 and a rain check good for another 50. and since 6% has a shelf life of almost 250 days even in 90* temps, I'm good until half way through summer, at least. btw, the clorox is kept in a 75* environment, a back room in my house that is a/c'ed.

 

[Titanium]

chemgeek,

Is the local store that you are buying 12.5% chlorinating liquid a Leslie's? I have been buying 2 gallon of 10% for $6 at Orchard Supply Hardware, but they recently raised the price to $6.50.

For some reason, we don't seem to have many pool stores around our area except for Leslie's.

Off-topic rant about Leslie's: I asked the local Leslie's if they carried the FAS-DPD test for chlorine (actually I asked if they carried the "powder test for chlorine" in order to keep it simple for them. Said they had never heard of it. THEN I find out through the Leslie's website that Leslie's carries a rebranded Taylor kit!?!

Off-topic praise about Leslie's: They did come through for me last week in that they had in stock the skimmer "float valve assembly" that I needed. Good for them. Although they did have the darn thing about $10 higher than it should have been. Bad for them.

Titanium

 

[Belldiver]

The Leslie's in Lafayette, LA does not carry any liquid chlorine at all. Only pucks or powder. FYI...

 

[19redwings]

Does anyone know what the concentration of the Chlorox "outdoor" bleach is? I was reading the label and all they gave was dilution recommendations for Strong/med/mild.

 

[JasonLion]

Clorox outdoor bleach contains additives other than just plain bleach. They don't list what exactly is added, something to thicken it and some kind of corrosion fighter. It isn't a good idea to add things to the pool that aren't well understood, so I would stay away from the outdoor bleach and all of their Plus line (which have extra things added).

 

[chem geek]

chemgeek,

Is the local store that you are buying 12.5% chlorinating liquid a Leslie's? I have been buying 2 gallon of 10% for $6 at Orchard Supply Hardware, but they recently raised the price to $6.50.

For some reason, we don't seem to have many pool stores around our area except for Leslie's.

Off-topic rant about Leslie's: I asked the local Leslie's if they carried the FAS-DPD test for chlorine (actually I asked if they carried the "powder test for chlorine" in order to keep it simple for them. Said they had never heard of it. THEN I find out through the Leslie's website that Leslie's carries a rebranded Taylor kit!?!

Off-topic praise about Leslie's: They did come through for me last week in that they had in stock the skimmer "float valve assembly" that I needed. Good for them. Although they did have the darn thing about $10 higher than it should have been. Bad for them.

Titanium

Titanium,

The Leslie's online kit is shown here and is identical to the Taylor K-2006 kit. You can get this at a lower online price here. Of course, there's also the TF100 kit from tftestkits.com here that has 36% more volume of reagents so is comparably priced "per test" to the cheapest online price Taylor K-2006 kit. The contents of the TF100 and differences to the K-2006 are listed here.

The pool store where I get my chlorinating liquid is not a Leslie's. It's a local pool store (Herb's Pool Service), not a chain, and services much of the North Bay (north of San Francisco). The price is $3.65 per gallons for 12.5% which would be equivalent to $2.92 per gallon for 10% or $1.35 for a 96 ounce (3/4 gallon) jug of 6% bleach (which is really 6.17 "Trade" %).

Richard

 

[19redwings]

Clorox outdoor bleach contains additives other than just plain bleach. They don't list what exactly is added, something to thicken it and some kind of corrosion fighter. It isn't a good idea to add things to the pool that aren't well understood, so I would stay away from the outdoor bleach and all of their Plus line (which have extra things added).

Thanks! I didn't buy it, was thinking it might be cost effective, but will pass!

 

[Titanium]

chemgeek,

Thanks for your reply.

So Orchard Supply is a little more expensive at $3.25 per gallon for the 10% chlorinating liquid, but not that much more than the $2.92 you are paying at Herb's. Although the part about Herb's reusing the containers is nice.

Perhaps I will try and call the smaller shops around the area in Pleasanton or Danville or Livermore.

Titanium

 

[acamato]

For those who live on Long Island, King Kullen has their own brand ultra bleach on sale, 96oz, 12 for $12. It is 6%.

 

[zinengineer]

chemgeek,

Thanks for your reply.

So Orchard Supply is a little more expensive at $3.25 per gallon for the 10% chlorinating liquid, but not that much more than the $2.92 you are paying at Herb's. Although the part about Herb's reusing the containers is nice.

Perhaps I will try and call the smaller shops around the area in Pleasanton or Danville or Livermore.

Titanium

Titanium

I live in Modesto and have found both Lowe's and Home Depot carry the "kemtek" (I think that's the one). 10% solution in 2X1 gal boxes for about $6.50. Unfortunately you end up throwing them away. I'm guessing the Lowe's around Dublin/Pleasanton would also have them.

If you're up for the drive over the Altamont - the Aqua Pool store there at the intersection of 120 and 99 has the HASA reuseable/returnable nominal 12% stuff. They sell it for $12.00 for a 4X1 container with a one-time deposit of $7.00. It's fairly convenient for me so I'm going that route.

If you go to the HASA website, they have a listing of dealers that carry their products. When I looked through it, it seemed to me that there were quite a few listed in the "northern california" area which should serve the Bay Area.

HASA website

 

[Gregc73]

I've been buying 5 gallon drums of 12.5% chlorinating liquid for $10 each from my local Ace Hardware. I'm not sure if all Aces carry it or not, but mine has been for the past 4-5 years at least. There is a one time deposit on the drums.