Normal chlorine loss?

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Pepperdinegal

Well-known member
Mar 20, 2021
158
Las Vegas, NV
Pool Size
32000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool RJ-60
Relatively new to this and trying to make sure I’m on the right path..

I’m losing an average of 1.5ppm chlorine over a 24 hour period. Weather has been 90+ and the pool gets full sun from about 10am to sundown. Is that considered too much?

I try to keep my pH at 7.6 but it raises to 7.8 on about 3-4 days. I think it’s bc of my spa overflow and all the aeration, but not sure if that’s excessive.

Also, when I’m adding my chemicals, I’m putting any required MA in first, waiting 30 minutes and then adding the chlorine. Usually in the evening. Is that 30 minutes important or can I do it all at once?

Thanks!
 
Pepperdinegal said:
I’m losing an average of 1.5ppm chlorine over a 24 hour period.
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That's fine. I am losing a bit more than that here before putting on my solar covers to retain the heat in the pool for the next couple months.
Pepperdinegal said:
but not sure if that’s excessive.
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Very normal. You are also adding more high TA fill water as the evaporation rate increases.
Pepperdinegal said:
I’m putting any required MA in first, waiting 30 minutes and then adding the chlorine.
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That is fine. As long as you are putting them in at a return jet with the pump running, and slowly adding them, then you can cut the wait time between down if you like. Just do not put them in at the exact same time.
 
1-4 ppm loss per day is the typical range, depending on water temperature, how much sun you get, cloudiness, etc. My pool gets full sun until 5 pm, and I lose 4 ppm per day in the summer. Right now I lose around 2-3 ppm.
 
So if the FC loss increases to 3-4ppm per day, that would mean adding around a gallon per day. Does that sound right?? That’s like $35 in chlorine a week. Yikes.
 
You have a large pool. In our climate, I would not be surprised for you to peak at a 4-5 ppm FC loss per day in June, July, and August. Your CYA will need to be 50-60 ppm to achieve that. Especially if your pool will be used. Ours gets there easily and it is just us two using it.

To cut down on that? SWCG. You can cover it but that will mean warmer water temperatures. You will be able to use trichlor tablets in a floater as your CYA will degrade some due to the higher water temperature. But you will still need to use a considerable amount of liquid chlorine during the peak summer months.
 
Okay, so just saw that my local Walmart has this...is this what is referred to as 73% Cal-Hypo in Pool Math? If so, it looks like I would only need to add 12oz of that versus 84oz of the 10% liquid chlorine from Home Depot. That would make it much less expensive.
 
Calcium Hypochlorite should be outlawed here in the desert southwest. Your fill water has 250 ppm CH. You will add enough fill water over the summer to replace close to your entire pool volume. So your CH will rise by at least 250 ppm over the span of the summer. Adding more calcium via Cal Hypo is not a good idea.
 
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Pepperdinegal said:
That’s really good to know, thanks. So really, the 2 gallon pack of 10% chlorine at Home Depot for $10 is my best bet?
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Most likely. It would be in your interest to find if any pool supply stores in Las Vegas will sell to the public chlorine in reusable containers. It is done in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and many places in Texas. HASA is one dealer I know of.

But at the end of the day, a SWCG is the best tool in our area to ensure the addition of chlorine to our pool water.
 
We definitely want to go the way of a SWG, but after dropping $1600 for a new pump last month, it’s just not in the budget. Hoping for next spring. After looking, I think the generator will cost about $1500 plus the salt. Does that sound about right?
 
Pepperdinegal said:
We definitely want to go the way of a SWG, but after dropping $1600 for a new pump last month, it’s just not in the budget. Hoping for next spring. After looking, I think the generator will cost about $1500 plus the salt. Does that sound about right?
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Probably. You have a VS pump so running it 24/7 is not a costly issue. So a Circupool RJ60 would work very well.
 
I just saw that Ace Hardware has 10% on sale for $2.99 a gallon. I think I’ll go over tomorrow and load up. My issue is storage. Will it degrade sitting out in the sun? What about in a hot garage?
 
Or find a local PS that stocks Hasa chlorine in the reusable 4 gallon pack. Strength is 12.5% - about 25 percent stronger than the 10% stuff. In the Phoenix area, it goes for around $18 for 4 one gallon jugs. They don't refill on site - you exchange them. It's a one time deposit.

Check the date code on the Ace offering. Sometimes its older stock.

Storing outside or in a hot garage will cause it to degrade faster. Any chance you can store it in a laundry room or similar?
 
I can definitely store it in the laundry room inside. When looking at dates, how old is “too” old? I’m definitely going to call a couple of the Hasa retailers tomorrow and see what that cost is. Even at $18 for 4 gallons, that’s cheaper than HD.
 
For me, anything more than 3 months old.... the date code is the Julian date. Today, April 4th, is day 94 of 2021. You would see todays julian date listed as 21094 or similar. If the Ace offering is fresh, that's a good price for 10%.

I usually store two of the Hasa crates with four 1 gallon jugs in my laundry room during spring/summer/fall. The crates stack well - once a crate is empty, it goes in the garage. Sometimes, I need to rinse the jugs and/or crate off before bringing them inside as they may be dirty. The Hasa refillable jugs don't have date codes on the bottles - but mine has always seemed fresh. My supplier gets two shipments per week directly from the plant.
 

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