My coworker just revealed to me his method of pool care....

[easttn]

I would say that he went to the pool store so many times that he got used to what they were telling him to do that he just does it on his own now. Somebody had to tell him what to use. I am curious to see his test results. Ask him for a water sample and test it.

Lets compare the two only with chlorine:

His pool, his way
HTH Super Shock N Swim. $27.97 for 5 - 1lb bags, so thats a box every two weeks.
You guess 10 trichlor tablets every two weeks. Trichlor tablets looks like they average $2.25 a piece. Thats $22.50 every two weeks.
That totals up to $57.47 every two weeks on chlorine.

His pool the TFP way
If he had the ideal water chemistry and used 3ppm of chlorine from 8.25% bleach per day, he would use 1260oz of bleach every 2 weeks which is 10.4 121oz jugs. 11 jugs at $3 apiece thats $33 dollars for chlorine every two weeks.

Which one sounds cheaper now. If he just used 2 trichlor tabs, it would be an equal amount assuming my math is correct. Does he drain the whole pool when he winterizes or have to drain alot?

 

[mr_gunite]

I was also wondering what the consequences of maintaining a pool this way might be.

He recently told me that his 14 year old daughter contracted MRSA in her armpit areas. This may be completely unrelated, but I know she spends a lot of time in that pool. Are there more serious threats to low chlorine levels than just algae build-up? (that's my assuming that his pool may be on the low side of chlorine effectiveness)

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I would say that he went to the pool store so many times that he got used to what they were telling him to do that he just does it on his own now. Somebody had to tell him what to use. I am curious to see his test results. Ask him for a water sample and test it.

I think you're absolutely correct easttn. I actually went with him a few times to LPS on our lunch break back before I even considered buying a pool. (4-5 years ago) He brought in quite a few water samples to them, and they screwed him over pretty hardcore for years with expensive suggestions of chemicals to buy that he didn't need or just didn't work out properly for him.

I think he's now an advocate for the "don't listen to anyone else" club when it comes to maintaining a pool.

 

[Abigail K]

Lower chlorine levels (in relation to CYA levels) would mean that there is lower sanitising of the pool.
It may or may not be related, there are various risk factors for MRSA.
Taking age, gender, and infection site into account, one of the risk factors is shaving.

 

[kimkats]

AND think about this. His water sample sat in his car until he took it to be tested SO the test results would be way off due to temp., time, sun exposure, etc.

TFP works. It is best to look around and find the best price for chlorine that is easy to get. See I could drive an extra 7 miles to a few pennies cheaper BUT the time and gas just does not make it worthwhile.

Kim

 

[easttn]

Once your chlorine gets to 0 it really doesnt stop there it goes into the negatives. Thats the way I look at it anyway. The longer there is no chlorine the more negative it goes. It could take 1/2 gallon of bleach to get to a stabil 1 ppm or it could take 30 gallons. There is no way of telling after it gets to 0. Clear pools can suck alot of chlorine as well as green ones. So really your friend could have 0 chlorine after the first week and the second week he may or may not get in positve chlorine with the HTH shock and swim. So yes the daughter could be swimming in bacteria and who knows what. Pretty foolish to not check chlorine levels at all.

If he does keep enough tablets to keep the chlorine up his CYA is way up there. CYA will make his chlorine level stay longer, but the chlorines effectiveness is reduced. The pool store way is almost always related to high CYA levels from what Ive seen in this forum. CYA is like suntan lotion for chlorine. It protects it from the uv rays but blocks the chlorine from santizing as quickly.

He sees the pool as being clear so all is good, but that definately is not always the case.

 

[chem geek]

I buy Clorox from Sam's Club for about $28 for roughing 8.5 gallons of 8.25% proof. I do this about every 1.5 weeks. I've also spent quite a bit on muriatic acid, baking soda, salt, CYA, and borax. I realize most of that cost is from first time startup, but I do find that I'm probably going to be spending about $100 per month on sanitizer and MA alone.

I also run my filter for 6 - 8 hours per day, so I'm planning on a hit to the electric bill of about $100 per month from that as well.

8.5 gallons of 8.25% in 25,000 gallons is 29.4 ppm FC which over 1-1/2 weeks (10.5 days) is 2.8 ppm FC per day which is on the high side of normal. If you are in a sunny hot area then perhaps you need a higher CYA level with a proportionally higher FC target. 2 ppm FC per day is more typical though some pools do use more. Of course a pool cover can cut down that chlorine loss as well as evaporation.

His pool probably has high CYA levels so lower chlorine loss and his is 20,000 gallons instead of 25,000 gallons so it may be less expensive for him. If he was doing comparable chlorine levels to prevent algae growth then it would be roughly comparable in cost when accounting not only for the Trichlor tabs but also the pH Up he is likely using to adjust for pH, though if he's never testing I wonder how he knows the pH of his pool. If he never adds any pH adjustment product, then the acidity of the Trichlor will lower both the pH and the TA to the point the pH will crash below 4.5 and his equipment may be damaged (and long before then swimming will be irritating to the eyes). If he has 2 ppm FC per day chlorine loss, then for 20,000 gallons that would take about 5 3" Trichlor tablets per week.

As for your pump runtime, if your pump is high speed and you are getting more than one turnover of the water, then you'll likely be able to lower your pump electricity costs either by using a lower speed (if it's a 2-speed or variable speed pump) or by lowering your pump runtime perhaps to 4-6 hours per day instead of 6-8. You can adjust that down and see the clarity of your water.

 

[freqz]

If he has a sand filter then he is replacing water whenever he backwashes a couple of times. That probably keeps the CYA from getting too high from the tabs. Since he has a vinyl liner it will not be as sensitive to all the calcium he is dumping in his pool with the massive amounts of cal-hypo he is using every couple of weeks, and the tabs will keep his pH low enough to prevent calcium scale from forming. He is getting by on dumb luck and nothing else. TFP is full of threads by folks who used his exact same methods and ended up with a nasty mess!

If you ever get a chance to look at his pool it will likely have a wrinkled liner and dull looking water. It is also possible that it goes green over the winter and he drains and refills to clean it up every year, so the CYA doesn't have a chance to get outrageous during the season.

I'm convinced this is the only reason my dad was able to keep his pool in any manageable state back when I was a kid-- he'd backwash the tar out of that filter once a week or so. It was really a 10-15% water replacement weekly. I don't think that's the worst way to manage a pool if your water is cheap enough...

 

[timerguy]

Wow, that's a long backwash. Mine usually takes less than a minute.

 

[schertzy82]

Well if that works for him, then great. You should do what works for you. You already described your pool as if you were "swimming in diamonds," so obviously the method you're using is working. You're certainly welcome to try his method and if you like it better, then more power to you. If he never checks his pH though, then it's got to be very low if he uses trichlor tabs. Low pH can make swimming very unpleasant, so if you're going to switch to tabs, then you should at least keep a watchful eye on your pH so it doesn't fall below 7.2.

 

[Kilgore]

Hah, this thread reminds me of my stubborn cousin-in-law, who I have nicknamed "Chemical Ali", and has taught me not to argue about religion, politics or pool care. Sorry about the rant to come, but to get some of it off my chest here it goes:

He uses trichlor tabs in a feeder, and has an ozone system (useless, IMO). He is constantly fighting super high CYA levels, and draining and filling. He ignores my advice on why his CYA goes so high, and the pool store is his god. He does not do his own testing, except basic OTO with pH, and relies on the pool store for their "expert" advice, his words. His garage is filled with a large amount of the gimmick additives, and he spends a small fortune on them, for water worse than a public pool experience. His equipment drains down when his pump is off, and he wonders why his filter cartridges disintegrate in a season. I heard loud gurgling for several minutes when his system goes off, and told him his issue is probably his triclor feeder letting his drained-down equipment get CL into it from the feeder. I also once noticed his pressure gauge at less than 10 psi, and he ignored me when I said his filter was once again bypassing: his reply was he had already changed the filter cartridge once this year, so it was OK, yet can't tell me what his pressure normally is!

Swimming in his pool is a horrible experience, my wife once ended up with a UTI infection after a visit which I assume is from the high CYA levels preventing his CL from doing its work. Super itchy skin, bloody red eyes, and the smell of a bleach factory are also some of the pleasantries of swimming in his pool, even if it's a relatively quick dip.

Last time we visited in the summer, he got a bit insulted when we refrained from swimming, so now we only visit in the off season to avoid the issue. His lousy pool has actually caused some friction in the family, since when they visit his wife is always commenting on how nice our pool is.....go figure.

You can lead a horse to water......Rant over.

 

[hyperionguy]

Funny rant. I know someone with the exact same personality... just no pool.

I had a coworker that wanted to build a pool for his family but "it is for sure going to be a saltwater pool because I'm allergic to chlorine. When I swim in a chlorine pool my eyes get red and puffy. When I swim in a saltwater pool, I'm fine". Me: "but saltwater pools generate.... oh, never mind" If I had the know-how I have today it would have been much easier for me to explain that it isn't the chlorine but rather mismanaged pools causing his problems.

 

[momofmany]

OK, here's my funny story about the BBB method and what others think. I am part of a moms group online and one of the moms was asking for advice on her pool. So, I told her about bleach, gave her a link to this site and the pool calculator, and another mom jumped in and told me and all of the others on the thread how bad it is to put bleach in your pool and how I am poisoning my family. I argued only for a little bit, and realized I was fighting a losing battle and this lady is just clueless. I got a good chuckle out of it and thought you all might too

 

[astronaut888]

I did it his way (pool store way) for 10 years with "acceptable" results.

Prematurely ruined my liner and certainly had a few algae issues and for sure never really knew what was truly going on with my pool chemistry.

Upon liner replacement, I have adopted TFPC/BBB exclusively and couldn't be happier.
I wouldn't care if it DID cost more than the poos store nonsense, worth it to me.

Truly knowing the chemistry of my pool water and how to properly manage it MYSELF is priceless.
Couldn't be happier!
Long live TFP.com!

 

[mr_gunite]

OK, here's my funny story about the BBB method and what others think. I am part of a moms group online and one of the moms was asking for advice on her pool. So, I told her about bleach, gave her a link to this site and the pool calculator, and another mom jumped in and told me and all of the others on the thread how bad it is to put bleach in your pool and how I am poisoning my family. I argued only for a little bit, and realized I was fighting a losing battle and this lady is just clueless. I got a good chuckle out of it and thought you all might too

Ha! What did she prefer to sanitize the pool with?

 

[Sulteric]

I use a 3" tab auto feeder and have never had high CYA levels but there could be a couple reasons for that. I also don't use an expensive test kit and have crystal clear water every year. That said I need to read up on salt water conversions.

 

[jblizzle]

I use a 3" tab auto feeder and have never had high CYA levels but there could be a couple reasons for that. I also don't use an expensive test kit and have crystal clear water every year. That said I need to read up on salt water conversions.

Short season, lots of rain, partial drain for winter ... all of those combined can allow this method to work. It will NOT work in areas where the pools stay open year round with little rain.

 

[HouTex]

FWIW, my father used pucks (back then they were tubes) to chlorinate our pools for about 15 years without an algae problem. The water was always crystal clear. He and I vacuumed the pool quite often and backwashed it immediately after vacuuming. We replaced a lot of water, and yes, I'm sure it was cheap. Also, the pool was used quite often with young kids/teenagers so there was significant splash out and more water replacement.

That said, I have a cartridge filter and pucks are not an option. My CYA level approached 100 very quickly and I installed a SWG. I love it and I would not have a pool without one.

 

[engrav]

Short season, lots of rain, partial drain for winter ... all of those combined can allow this method to work. It will NOT work in areas where the pools stay open year round with little rain.

This may be profound advice for me in WA State as well. I too have short season, rain, backwashing to prevent overflow, etc. Maybe tabs would work in this environment. Provide sufficient FC but not excessive CYA.

 

[jblizzle]

This may be profound advice for me in WA State as well. I too have short season, rain, backwashing to prevent overflow, etc. Maybe tabs would work in this environment. Provide sufficient FC but not excessive CYA.

As long as you track the CYA rise and maintain adequate FC you will be fine. There are other considerations as well, like keeping the TA a little higher to prevent the pH from dropping too fast.

Of course, this is not necessarily the cheapest method either ... bleach is usually cheaper.

 

[engrav]

Of course, this is not necessarily the cheapest method either ... bleach is usually cheaper.

thank you very much

$$ is of course an issue
but then hauling full bottles in, storing full bottles, hauling empty bottles out is also an issue
but then fiddling with the Rainbow is also an issue, stuff in there is nasty

but I am going to seriously think on your comments as they could be the key to the puzzle up here