Cheap bleach for those in the midwest.

[OOsever]

Just thought I'd shoot this out there for the bargain hunters. Menard's Home improvement has their house brand 6% bleach on sale for $.99 per 96oz. jug.

[aylad]

That's a great deal!! Wish we had them here in Louisiana....

[OOsever]

And now this week they have 15% one gallon LC for $2.50...

[Watermom]

Wow, that's cheap! (If it is in fact 15%.) You can test it to find out .....

Copied from something CarlD wrote a while back:

Put ten liters of tap water ( That's 5 soda-bottles full) in a 5 gallon bucket.

Test that water for chlorine using the FAS-DPD test to get a chlorine baseline (you may have some).

Then I take a 1 ml eyedropper full of the LC or bleach I'm testing and put it in the bucket and mix it up.

(1 ml in 10 liters of water is the same as putting 1 gallon of LC in a 10,000 gallon pool -- it's 1/10,000th. )

I then measure the bucket with the FAS-DPD test just like pool water. Of course, subtract any chlorine you measured in the tap water.

I use a glass eyedropper so it will hold up. Pharmacies sell them.

[OOsever]

Seems like an awful waste of reagents to test it that way. That would give a result of 100 ppm and would take 200 drops to verify. Knowing that 96oz of 6% gives me about 1.5ppm boost in my pool a half gallon sample would raise chlorine by 1.0. If I use a half gallon of the 15% it should give me 2.5. Even if the testing is not supremely accurate as long as it results in 2.0 its at least 12%, which is still a pretty decent deal at just over 16¢/oz of active chlorine. (Versus 13¢/oz if its 15%)

[BigDave]

100ppm, How do you figure? If it's 15%, then you should have 30 drops - 15ppm.
Great deals on the bleach, thanks!

[OOsever]

Ah yes, forgot to factor that only 15% of the 1ml would be chlorine.

[33feet]

Thanks for the bleach tip. I have a "sorry slip" for 50 gal of bleach to use over the next 90 days
What is LC? I tried to search but came up empty

[aylad]

LC means "liquid chlorine". In some states, pool stores sell liquid chlorine, which is actually sodium hypochlorite (bleach!) in 12% strength, instead of the 6% strength we get at WalMart. If it is available to you this way, it is actually cheaper in most cases to buy the liquid chlorine. Unfortunately, in Louisiana it's illegal to sell it.....

Janet

[OOsever]

Ran the bucket test tonight and came in between 14% and 14.5%. (very lightest tinge of pink left at 28 drops)
So... Yay for cheap bleach!!

[7sanders]

Thanks for the tip! I'm getting tired of the 6% bleach from Aldi's only being about half strength despite having an expiry date 5 months away. I'm heading to Menards today!

[33feet]

If they are out, or you want to buymore than they have, get a raincheck which they call a Sorry Slip.the raincheck lasts for 90 days and you can use part at a time if they do not have the full amount. My raincheck is for 50 gal.my store only carries 42 a a time. I'm hoping to spread thi price out over the next 90 days by buying 12 or so at a time.

[waldreps]

And now this week they have 15% one gallon LC for $2.50...

The label on these at Menards says 15% available chlorine and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. I'm assuming that means it's 12.5% concentration for our PPM calculations. I'm not sure what the available chlorine part means but maybe somebody can explain.

[7sanders]

I used the Menards Pool Chlorine a couple of days this week and a strange thing happened: I had some brownish colored foam in my skimmer basket the next morning... weird.

[OOsever]

Bucket test gave me approximately 14.5%. The sale ends today Btw.

[gogolion]

I went to Menard's this evening to buy some of this stuff and I couldn't find it. What section is it in? I looked near laundry detergent and pool supplies. I found some "outdoor bleach cleaner" with the cleaning supplies, but I couldn't find anything on the label that said what the chlorine content was, or what other ingredients were in it, so I decided not to take a chance on it.

[7sanders]

It was near all of the pool supplies at our Menards... It's labeled "Clear Extreme Pool Shock" (white and blue label) Look for the bottle of neon yellow colored liquid.

[waldreps]

Bucket test gave me approximately 14.5%. The sale ends today Btw.

I bought some of it and did a bucket test and mine showed 10%. I wish somebody could explain the 15% available chlorine and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. I really think the 12.5% number is the one it's supposed to be. I'm confused by your 14.5% result since I think 12.5% should be the highest you should get. I could be wrong though....it's happened before...lol.

[BigDave]

I believe the difference in the label of 15% available chlorine and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite may be difference in units - weight vs concentration.
The difference in test results has to do with freshness. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite solution) degrades very quickly when exposed to warm temperatures and sunlight. The manufacturer / packager bottles it at a higher concentration than the label in the hopes of still having the label concentration when it gets to the store.

[OOsever]

The stuff I bought was still in the 4 pack cardboard carrier. There were several loose bottles floating around the display but since chlorine can degrade under sunlight I opted for those in the boxes. Mine had manufacturers date stamps of June 2012, so they were relatively fresh.

[gogolion]

It was near all of the pool supplies at our Menards... It's labeled "Clear Extreme Pool Shock" (white and blue label) Look for the bottle of neon yellow colored liquid.

Oh, I did see that neon yellow stuff but assumed that wasn't what you were talking about. I didn't even look at it. Next time I guess.

[waldreps]

The stuff I bought was still in the 4 pack cardboard carrier. There were several loose bottles floating around the display but since chlorine can degrade under sunlight I opted for those in the boxes. Mine had manufacturers date stamps of June 2012, so they were relatively fresh.

Yeah, I guess yours was fresher than mine. There were no cardboard boxes at my store. They were all loose and on display. I got the ones in the back hoping that they would be better.

[Pipecrew]

How would a gallon of 6% bleach compare to a 1lb bag of shock?

[OOsever]

Would depend on the contents of the "shock". If it was dichlor then as far as chlorine goes its pretty close to the same dose as a gallon of 6% bleach. (Though bleach normally comes in 96oz containers) If it was cal-hypo then it would depend on the percent concentration on the packaging. However both dichlor and cal-hypo have effects on other areas of pool chemistry. Dichlor will raise your cya and cal-hypo your calcium hardness. If you need a boost in these areas then it's probably not such a bad thing to use them occasionally but not as your primary source of chlorine, even if you do find some super cheap.

[bobbydarn]

[Have Menards, Will Travel]
Nice tip. I will bring the truck. 25K pool, 95 deg. F, still. Usage maybe a gal. a day?? Just curious. Using up my last granular tonight. BIG SHOCK NIGHT! Then on to less work, better results.
Tanks Guys, or Dolls.

[Spensar]

I bought some of it and did a bucket test and mine showed 10%. I wish somebody could explain the 15% available chlorine and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. I really think the 12.5% number is the one it's supposed to be. I'm confused by your 14.5% result since I think 12.5% should be the highest you should get. I could be wrong though....it's happened before...lol.

Weird that it gives the two numbers. I buy liquid chlorine from a bulk supplier who guarantees 12%, but it is higher when he has it delivered. As the higher concentration loses strength quicker, maybe the 15% is the strength when packed, but the 12.5% is what they are certifying to the customer? Seems like odd labeling.

[33feet]

for our 25k pool, uncovered, we have been using 1 gal 6% bleach per night.