Seeing if the BBB method can work

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davevt98

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Apr 21, 2013
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We put in a 15,000 gunite pool with quartz last summer and have been using standard chlorine pucks with a chlorine feeders. I am interested in moving away from these and seeing if the BBB method can work. I do have a few questions:

1. Is there ever a need for "shock" or do you just add more bleach?
2. Can you use bleach and chlorine pucks? Basically, I would want to have pucks in the feeder and keep it off until I am out of town and need some chlorine to be automatically added?
3. Is there possible problems with doing bleach and pucks?
4. Is there any amount of time that you should not swim in the pool after adding the bleach?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help. This is a great forum. I wish I found it earlier before constructing the pool and after dumping hundreds at the pool store.
 
Welcome to TFP!

1) You can just use bleach. Chlorine is chlorine, regardless of what form it comes in. However, some forms include other things that you may or may not want in your pool. For example cal-hypo includes additional calcium, trichlor include CYA and lowers the PH. Bleach had the advantage that it only adds chlorine. Also, shocking is something you do, not a product.

2) If you want and your CYA levels aren't too high.

3) Not normally. Don't pour bleach directly onto undissolved tablets, that can create chlorine gas which is highly poisonous.

4) That depends on how much you added. As long as the FC level is below shock level for your CYA level there is no need to wait.
 
Thanks so much for answering the questions. Just so I am clear, shocking is done by adding a lot of chlorine / bleach instead of what is marketed as "pool shock". The product says to do it once a week. Do you add double the amount of bleach once a week or does the BBB method not require any "shocking".
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

A lot of your questions can be answered by reading Pool School (button at the upper right of the page).

The shock PROCESS is only done when there is a reason too (like algae showing up). Most members NEVER have to go through this process because they maintain adequate chlorine levels on a daily basis.
 
Correct, shock is correctly a process not a product and is only used in certain circumstances.

You should really read Pool School, the link is in the upper right corner, it explains all this.
You need a proper test kit and the pool calculator app is recommended. By the end of 1 summer you'll have it all down.
 
Thanks everyone. I did read pool school but just wasn't clear on a few items. I'm going to pick up some bleach and start this process. Much cheaper than the chlorine and sounds a lot better.
 

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Get the TF100 ... see link in my signature for a comparison. Recently we keep seeing post about quickly running out of reagent to do some of the tests with the K2006 ... that is why the TF100 is a better value, you get more of the reagent you actually need and not the same amount of each.
 
The TF100 from this site is your best bet.

And definitely re-read pool school a few times, I had to, after a bunch of tests and treatments you'll become one with your pool (for lack of a better term) and start to anticipate its needs....like a husband anticipates his wifes needs :lol:
 
cramar said:
....like a husband anticipates his wifes needs :lol:
Click to expand...

SAY WHUT?!!! :shock:



:mrgreen: Just had the best laugh! :lol:

P.S. BBB water is so much more cleaner and sparkly looking than puck water! :mrgreen:
 
I was a new pool owner last year and started off using the BBB method and it is a very simple and effective process and with the vast amount of knowledge on this site you will have no issues as long as you follow the procedures.it takes me 5 minutes a day to check pH and chlorine and add what is needed per the pool calculator so there is no guesswork it tells you what your pool needs and you add that. And then on Sunday I spend a hour to clean out the skimmer baskets and vacuum and test the water, it don't get any easier than that but the recommended test kit is a must to properly maintain you pool. And BTW I have never had to shock my pool either.......have fun.......Mike
 
Hi! Welcome! :wave:

The BBB method DOES work for almost any pool owner. Read, re-read, and then re-read some more. I even made a binder with tabs for each topic that I found myself returning to for clarification when I quickly needed it but couldn't easily find the thread I had first read it in. I print off certain threads or posts for each topic or key info from the pool school and use that binder like the bible. Every time I open it, I learn something new. And like the bible, re-reading the same sentence miraculously opens your eyes to something new each time; always worth the effort. I have a tab for test results and keep my spreadsheets in that section. It's so easy to record our test results to the spreadsheet in the binder and track things during the season. In addition, I read and re-read the posts on this forum. Even today I found four different posts that contained clear explanations to questions I had and I printed them and added to my binder. All-in-all this site is an OFFICIAL pool "school" and the studying is fun and interesting.

My advice on pucks is to spend some extra time in the pool school with the topic of CYA. It's worth it to understand its relation to your free chlorine. It's a little miracle. But constant use of pucks will only increase it to a level that is not helpful because pucks add Cyanuric Acid to your water in addition to chlorine. The higher that level, the higher FC you need to maintain in your water. And the only way to get rid of CYA is either to drain your pool down or splash a few thousand gallons out when swimming. That's why it's best to just use straight bleach and not add any CYA on a regular basis. Only add CYA in small doses when necessary as a correction, not a convenience.

There's a beautiful window of 30-60 CYA and if you stay within that, you have less problems.

Good Luck learning to believe! :angel:
 
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