Liquid chlorine vs. alternatives

[poolmama508]

Hi. I’m new here. This is our second summer with an old 24,000 vinyl-liner pool built in the somewhere between the 70s and 90s, I believe. Last summer, my husband did the pool maintenance and care. He had no experience or knowledge and didn’t know what he was doing. This summer, I’ve taken it on, with only very minimal knowledge. I am working my way through “pool school” and decided to do a SLAM…

I started with a bunch of shock and then realized that I should be using liquid chlorine. I’ve bought roughly 30 gallons of it so far. My husband is losing his mind. He thinks I’m spending too much money and creating too much waste (he doesn’t want to have to figure out what to do with the empty jugs). He is pressuring me to buy powder. I told him that I need liquid chlorine for this SLAM and that i won’t be buying this much forever.

Please help me help him understand. What can I say to him to help him comprehend why it needs to be liquid chlorine over other stuff? What can I tell him to ease his anxiety about this not being the case post-SLAM? TIA.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Solid forms of chlorine either come with CYA or Calcium bound to it. Those items do not leave the pool unless the water is replaced with fresh water.
Some occasional use of solid forms of chlorine is fine if you know what effect it will have on your pool water chemistry.
During a SLAM, you should only use liquid chlorine as it is quick and safe to add large amounts of FC. Cal Hypo (calicum hypochlorite), a solid form of chlorine, can create localized scale and damage pool surfaces if used in large amounts over a short period of time.
I suggest you read through Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool

 

[Bperry]

I am working my way through “pool school” and decided to do a SLAM…

A SLAM is used to get rid of algae. Is the water green or algae visible?

 

[poolmama508]

A SLAM is used to get rid of algae. Is the water green or algae visible?

It was… my husband poured in some algaecide in before I got my test kit in the mail. I started testing on Thursday and have been doing a SLAM since then. So it’s not green anymore. It’s cloudy though. This morning, I brushed what I believe was a lot of algae off of the walls, floor, and steps… but I’m not an expert in what algae looks like, so I can’t say for sure that that’s what it was. We just uncovered the pool a week ago, so it was definite need of some care. I believe the SLAM is working, but we aren’t finished yet.

 

[poolmama508]

It was… my husband poured in some algaecide in before I got my test kit in the mail. I started testing on Thursday and have been doing a SLAM since then. So it’s not green anymore. It’s cloudy though. This morning, I brushed what I believe was a lot of algae off of the walls, floor, and steps… but I’m not an expert in what algae looks like, so I can’t say for sure that that’s what it was. We just uncovered the pool a week ago, so it was definite need of some care. I believe the SLAM is working, but we aren’t finished yet.

Here is a pic of the pool at present.

 

[newdude]

Tell the MR that you will be adding liquid chlorine one way or the other. There are no two ways about it. If you slack on the regular additions, the bill comes due at some point and you owe many at once to compenste. That's basically what's happening now. And the algae interest rate is ridiculous so you owe 4X more than you skimped on.

Also Welcome !!!!

 

[Bperry]

It was… my husband poured in some algaecide in before I got my test kit in the mail. I started testing on Thursday and have been doing a SLAM since then. So it’s not green anymore. It’s cloudy though. This morning, I brushed what I believe was a lot of algae off of the walls, floor, and steps… but I’m not an expert in what algae looks like, so I can’t say for sure that that’s what it was. We just uncovered the pool a week ago, so it was definite need of some care. I believe the SLAM is working, but we aren’t finished yet.

Ok good, was just making sure you werent doing it as a preventative thing.

 

[poolmama508]

I’m on day 3 of a SLAM. The past two days, when I tested, the FC was always very low, while the CC was quite high. This was to be expected, given that we just opened the pool for the season and have an algae problem.

Today, when I tested on two different occasions, roughly 3.5 hours apart, the FC was low (0.5), and the CC was also low (1.0 and 1.5). I had added 4 gallons of liquid chlorine right after the earlier of the two tests, as well as five hours before the first test.

What does this mean? Shouldn’t there have been more TC? Or does this mean that we are making progress and that the TC is being consumed quickly now? The water is looking better than when I started, but it’s still cloudy. I’m sure that I still have a ways to go with this SLAM.

 

[PoolStored]

What does this mean? Shouldn’t there have been more TC? Or does this mean that we are making progress and that the TC is being consumed quickly now? The water is looking better than when I started, but it’s still cloudy. I’m sure that I still have a ways to go with this SLAM.

You are killing stuff and it is consuming the chlorine. Keep at it. The more often you test and replace the better, no more often than every 2 hours...but the more often the better.