liquid bleach to shock???

[frasermom]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum. I was wondering if it's okay to use liquid bleach to shock my pool when we just open and during the season? We're not new to the pool scene just tired of paying for boxes of shock! BTW we live in NJ so we need to shock often. I usually do it once per week all along the season and if we have rain we shock more frequently.
Thanks in advance for any answers that you may have.

 

[duraleigh]

Good morning,

Welcome to the forum. Not only is it ok to use, but most of us here actually prefer it because there are virtually no side effects.

Given some proper testing and management of the pool water, many of us shock the pool at opening and then perhaps not until closing. It sounds like you are shocking a little unneccessarily.

When you get a chance, read up in the stickies on pool water chemistry and ask lots of questions. We may be able to get your "shocking" costs to near zero for the summer.

 

[MikeInTN]

Hello and welcome to TFP!

Yes ma'am, it is most definitely OK to use bleach to shock. In fact, that's one of the B's in the BBB method - use bleach as your chlorine source. I would suggest reading the stickies at the top of the forum. You shouldn't need to shock all the time once you get your water chemistry right. I think I shocked maybe twice all summer last year. If you're having to shock all the time, I would bet that your CYA is high, and you're underchlorinating your pool as a result.

To determine how much bleach you need to add to reach shock levels of chlorine, use Jason's Pool Calculator. You'll need to know what your CYA (stabilizer) level is, and your FC (Free Chlorine) level is.

 

[frasermom]

I will definitely read up on the things that you mentioned.
The reason we are shocking so much now is that our water is still cloudy after running the filter 24/7 for a week now. We have a cartridge filter and we are cleaning almost daily and we have used two different clarifiers as well.
Our numbers are good according to the pool store tests just need to shock according to them to get rid of the cloudiness.

Any comments on getting rid of that? The water is clean just cloudy...

 

[MikeInTN]

Good post, Dave! :lol: Looks like I need to type faster!

 

[MikeInTN]

I will definitely read up on the things that you mentioned.
The reason we are shocking so much now is that our water is still cloudy after running the filter 24/7 for a week now. We have a cartridge filter and we are cleaning almost daily and we have used two different clarifiers as well.
Our numbers are good according to the pool store tests just need to shock according to them to get rid of the cloudiness.

Any comments on getting rid of that? The water is clean just cloudy...

Yep - Shock the pool, and keep running the pump/filter. My water was cloudy when I opened this year, and you would not believe all of the algae and dirt that I caught in my skimmer sock and filter. I was having to clean my skimmer sock about every two hours, and chunks of dead algae/dirt/other Crud that looked like dryer lint was coming out of the sock. Heck, there may have been some dryer lint in there as well! :lol:

For the record, pool store tests can be a bit misleading. It might be worth your time to invest in a good testing kit, such as a Taylor K-2006, or Dave's TF-100 kit here. Especially when shocking your pool, as you want to keep the chlorine at shock level until you don't lose any chlorine overnight, which means lots of FC testing.

 

[frasermom]

Thanks for the 411...seems like all that i read and all that the pool stores tell me jives...run the filter, clean the cartridges and pool socks! Is there anyone out there who wants to pay my electric bill after running my filter 24/7 all this time??? LOL LOL LOL
You've been very helpful and I'll definitely be back for more information as I need it!!!

 

[duraleigh]

Based on experiences on this forum, you probably have algae in your pool.

Cloudy water can be the caused by too many things to recite in one post but algae is by far the most common.

About the only way to track down your cause, is to post up a set of test numbers from the pool store or (best) get your own high-quality test kit so you can manage your own pool water and not depend on the often misleading pool store advice.

Post up those test results and you'll get lots of friendly advice from some good folks here. (best of all, it'll probably include the use of ordinary bleach to clear your pool.)

 

[chem geek]

Just remember that when adding most concentrated chemicals, especially chlorine and most especially acid, you should do so by slowly pouring it over a return flow at the deep end with the pump running and then after you've added it, lightly brush the side and bottom of the pool in the area where the chemicals were added. For some chemicals, such as Cal-Hypo, pre-mixing in a bucket of pool water helps. These tips are especially important for vinyl pools but are good advice for any pool.

 

[frasermom]

Thanks for reminding me. I have been doing that so far but sometimes we forget or are in a rush to get things done!!!

BTW...one of the previous posts mentioned algae may be causing my cloudiness...you're right. I was scrubbing the sides and bottom of my pool YET AGAIN and found that I was bringing up some healthy chunks of algae. Have been running my cleaner constantly since this am and have shocked twice today. Also just finished taking my filter apart for the MILLION'th time and cleaning the cartridges and I have to say that I may actually see a difference in my pool water this afternoon.

So, again folks...thanks for the advice and I look forward to checking back when I actually can see the bottom of my pool!

Happy swimming everyone!!!