Trichlor+water exchange cost cheaper than bleach exclusively?

[jblizzle]

I believe that 40 lb bucket of trichlor from Costco for $70 is Clorox “blue “ that likely contains copper. You really don’t want to be adding copper to your water.

This was my exact thought too. I think every time I happen by the tablets at Costco I notice they contain copper.

 

[needsajet]

Crikey mate, you gotta know it's the upside down inline chlorinators. It's amazing water even stays in a pool!

 

[Katodude]

I use Trichlor pucks quite often to supplement my SWG. But I test frequent and know exactly what they are doing. If South Florida we get a lot of rain and my CYA drops frequently. I also burn through CYA in the middle of the summer. There is also a lot of aeration that happens in my pool so my PH rises quite a bit. So typically when I go away for a few days I put a couple of pucks in the Solar Breeze and it helps mitigate all the issues I mentioned. And there is a little less risk of having my FC drop while I am away.

But most importantly I follow the TFP advice of making sure I know exactly what I am adding and why.

 

[wogster]

I think it all depends on where you are, around here, if we check the CYA when we open, it will be around 5, maybe less, we are opening late this year, because the weather is a month behind normal, funny how spring and summer can be delayed a month, fall can be, but only by a week or two, but winter always seems to be on-time or early. Even if 90% of the chlorine over the summer is pucks, the CYA might be in the 70's by fall, so high, but not insanely high. It will then drop to about 10 by spring, and when we add water, it will be 5. I would rather skip the pucks, and just TFP this pool, but it's not my decision, it's the landladies decision, and she wants a pool company, and they use the pucks. I do know what the numbers mean, so I do keep an eye on it, it's always been nice clear water, so what they are doing, seems to be working. My kid is a blonde and no indication of green hair, although I think she would get a kick out if green hair, but then she is 7.

For those in places like Texas or Arizona, where the pool season is 12 months, instead of 3 when we are lucky, using the pucks, would not see an off-season drop. However I think that a lot of pool companies use the pucks, so that they don't need to check it all the time. There are other solutions though, swapping out a 40L (~10 Gallon) jug of chlorine, once a week, with a small pump, to keep feeding in chlorine, would likely work well, especially if you had a precision valve that allowed you to adjust the feed rate.

 

[spoonman]

In your cost model, the acid in tricolor would help your case by decreasing your purchase cost of acid.

Others have suggested cal hypo instead of tricolor, but increased CH may require increased acid use to maintain the required (lower) CSI for the given CH. In theory, a combination of dichlor and tricolor May be the most cost effective approach to your model. Half and half could max out your CYA at 75 (instead of 150) and the acid in the tricolor would be “free” and would help combat the CH.

Edited. Mentioned dichlor instead of cal hypo in error.

 

[proavia]

In your cost model, the acid in tricolor would help your case by decreasing your purchase cost of acid.

Others have suggested dichlor instead of tricolor, but increased CH may require increased acid use to maintain the required (lower) CSI for the given CH. In theory, a combination of dichlor and tricolor May be the most cost effective approach to your model. Half and half could max out your CYA at 75 (instead of 150) and the acid in the tricolor would be “free” and would help combat the CH.

Dichlor and trichlor both contain CYA
Cal-hypo contains calcium

 

[Wobblerlorri]

Just my two cents, but I only have to add chlorine every second or third day. I believe once you get your balance set, the TFP method is as hassle free as pool-keeping can be.

I also notice OP did not include a charge for brushing, vacuuming, maintaining a robot or other cleaner, and all the other little time-consumers associated with owning a pool.

I personally think OP is trying to justify sticking with pucks instead of putting in the time and effort to get his pool balanced with LC, CYA, and acid.

 

[duraleigh]

The notion that TFP “hates” trichlor is false.

A VERY big plus one to Matt's statement.

 

[AndyTN]

Keep in mind, my original numbers were based on getting Clorox brand trichlor pucks while they were currently on sale at Costco but as others have pointed out, the "blue" algicide stuff they put in it contains copper. I have had bad copper/iron/tannins stains in my pool before and want nothing to do with anything copper going into the pool. Excluding the Costco/Clorox trichlor now increases my cost by 20-25% to buy from the pool store. My "convenience factor" in the cost comparisons is always going to be different with everyone's perspective.

Just my two cents, but I only have to add chlorine every second or third day. I believe once you get your balance set, the TFP method is as hassle free as pool-keeping can be.

I also notice OP did not include a charge for brushing, vacuuming, maintaining a robot or other cleaner, and all the other little time-consumers associated with owning a pool.

I personally think OP is trying to justify sticking with pucks instead of putting in the time and effort to get his pool balanced with LC, CYA, and acid.

My intentions are to be able to use the TFP methods while also making it more "trouble free" in terms of maintenance. I just posted another article asking about higher CYA requiring less frequent chlorine additions with same overall quantity but all the TFP Experts said I should be adding daily. Well, I am not retired and work full time with 2 young kids so daily testing/adding is not always practical and I am currently adding a gallon of 10% bleach every other day, which is your approach. Brushing/vacuuming/cleaning is irrelevant to the discussion as I would have to do the same whether I use trichlor, bleach, or both and have my Polaris on a timer to run 6 hours per day. Justifying trichlor is not my intention but I did the math for available FC and wanted to get opinions if my cheap tap water would quantify the savings of trichlor+water exchange to come up with a good balance.

Higher CYA = less frequent chlorine adds??

Something which is making me curious since I use liquid chlorine as my main source but still run my Rainbow feeder on the lowest setting for the triclor to supplement as a buffer. If low CYA below 20 is going to burn off FC quickly and high CYA above 70 will lock it up, I am understanding the...

www.troublefreepool.com

Another big reason I posted this topic was for chemical maintenance while on vacation. During the 6 months my pool is open, we go on vacations of 4-8 days at least 5 times so relying on daily bleach adds doesn't help when you are gone with no one to help.

Just trying something crazy but has anyone tried using bleach jugs floating in the water as a vacation strategy? Since the bleach is more dense that water, the theory is that drilling a very small hole in the bottom of the jugs will allow the bleach to slowly seep into the pool. I had to pour out 10% of the gallon jug to get them to float and I know the sunlight will affect them a little bit but I am trying this out the next few days before going on vacation for 8 days. See picture and they are actually bobbing around the pool instead of just sitting by the skimmer. I know it looks stupid but if you are on vacation, it doesn't matter.

 

[AndyTN]

Also, as mentioned on another post, I will likely work on installing a Stenner Pump and tank for next year to eliminate my "convenience factor" for the triclor pucks. Trichlor is technically still cheaper purely on FC alone but the convenience is what I am looking for the most above all other factors mentioned in this post.

Thanks for everyone's comments.

 

[Teald024]

My intentions are to be able to use the TFP methods while also making it more "trouble free" in terms of maintenance.

Another big reason I posted this topic was for chemical maintenance while on vacation. During the 6 months my pool is open, we go on vacations of 4-8 days at least 5 times so relying on daily bleach adds doesn't help when you are gone with no one to help.

This right here is the perfect use of trichlor pucks in a floater!!
Use bleach during the normal maintenance then use pucks when you go on vacation. CYA stays within reason.
Once you get to know the FC consumption of your pool, there’s no reason you couldn't add enough bleach to carry over to a second day. As long as FC stays above minimum for your CYA. In the long run, you may use more chlorine this way, but it’s doable. Just don’t forget to test and add.

 

[needsajet]

The main thing, as previously mentioned, is that you know what you're putting in the pool and staying within a range that works for you and your pool. It wouldn't surprise me that you could add FC twice or three times a week. You'll consume a bit more, because the loss of FC will be higher when the FC level is higher than needed. The main advantage of daily is that you can keep the level closer to the minimum. With less frequent addition, you need to go a bit higher to stay above minimum. You can go as high as shock level and the pool will still be safe for swimming.

I do one pool where FC can only be added 3 times per week, with one of those being on my weekly trip there. I leave jugs for the off days and adjust the volume in each jug depending what I see in the FC test. I'm not saying that's TFPC; it's a method that works for me and my mother-in-law, and is based on TFPC principles of knowing what's being added, what's being consumed, and basing that on consistent water testing.

 

[ZcottD]

Its been stated before that the TFP method is meant to work for people in a large variety of climates. So adjusting the method to fit your region, and your use of the pool, might be needed or beneficial.

I'm in the north east, I use tablets regularly because the negative of adding more CYA isn't really a negative here. To close my pool I drain the water to just below the return jets, winterize, then fill the water back up to around 1-2" higher than ideal for skimming. When its time to open the pool the water level is either good or needs a touch more. The first water test of the season usually has my CYA levels around 15-25, and the highest I've hit was 70 at the end of the season a week to 10 days before winterizing.

If I had a longer pool season I would be having issues at the end, or would have to be adding liquid chlorine to overcome the additional CYA. And for areas that don't need to winterize or drain for any other reason, it would become a compounding problem. Plus in some areas the cost of water isn't just high, there can be restrictions or penalties for using so much.

You also have to pay attention to what your adding. You mentioned the chlorox blue tablets, theres other tablets that are 7 in 1 or 6 in 1 formulas that add in other junk. They try so hard to advertise these things as, drop these in the pool and the water is perfect, its like magic!

SWGs are widely viewed as the perfect creation around here. And they're awesome, but in some cases like my old and simple pool, the cost to have one installed and add automation to have it turn off when the pool is off, It would take decades for it to pay for itself, instead of like 1-3 years if I was in Florida or Texas.

The best part of this site/forum/people is the knowledge you can get to understand the system, understand how chemicals interact, and then decide how you want to maintain your pool. I've been able to understand why my dad struggled to maintain this pool and what to watch for to avoid the same problems.

Cliffnotes: I'm an evil tablet lover.

 

[duraleigh]

because I know all the TFP veterans hate trichlor.

I cannot emphasize how false that is. TRUE TFP followers understand the nature of trichlor and use it with that understanding in mind.

Cliffnotes: I'm an evil tablet lover.

Call it what you want but the folks who truly understand the TFP methodology would never call pucks evil.