Bleach vs Chlorine Help.

[MaxxFusion]

My wife thinks I am crazy that I am going to use bleach in our pool. I keep telling her thats its not a problem and will do the job just fine. Can anyone provide me with some info on this so I can so her that I am not doing anything crazy here and it wont hurt anyone? That would really help me win this discussion.

Thanks in advance
Frank

[duraleigh]

Frank,

The best answer is the simplest one...Cl is Cl..period. You can put it in your pool with pool store stuff (along with junk you probably don't need) or you can put it in your pool with bleach (and, essentially, nothing Added).

There's a good chance ya'll use it in your laundry at about 200ppm. If you haven't grown any extra arms or legs, it oughta' be okay at 3-5ppm in your pool. :)

[prh129]

My first thought would be go buy a gallon of liquid chlorine (or liquid shock) from wal-mart, k-mart or wherever. Check the label to see it lists Sodium Hypochlorite and the concentration (should be 10.5 or 12%). Then buy a gallon of ultra bleach and you should find the same ingredient listed but at a lower concentration (5.25 or 6%). Now you show her that laundry bleach is the same stuff only weaker so it is even less dangerous than what pool stores sell.

Peter

[aylad]

YOu can also let her know that of the roughly 2000 posters here, 95 + percent of us use bleach in our pools!

Janet

[waterbear]

Sodium hypochlorite is sodium hypochlorite whether it is labeled liquid bleach, liquid chlorine, or liquid shock. The only difference is the concentration and therefore how much you use. Laundry bleach is either 5.25% for regular or 6% for ultra and the pool store stuff is either 6%, 10% or 12.5%. Also be aware that the stronger the concentration the faster it loses strength. So that botttle of 10% or 12.5% you bought at the pool store might only be around 6-8% by the time it goes into your pool but that bottle of ultra bleach is probably going to be at 6% unless you've been storing it for a year in your garage.

[CrisL]

One other reason to use bleach as opposed to the other types of chlorine is the byproducts. Show her the chemical name for trichlor or dichlor. The other stuff going in beside the chlorine is not good to be putting in the pool continually - a buildup of cyuranic acid can cause chlorine to not kill the bacteria and viruses at the same concentration of chlorine. The only other reaonable chlorine sanitizer is calcium hypochlorite. The byproduct makes the water harder. The water doesn't feel as good, and can cause staining and buidups at the water line and in the plumbing of heaters. Bleach byproduct is simnply salt - This makes the water softer (although not by much at the levels used for sanitation).

[Rangeball]

I fought Maxx's fight last year. Just getting ready to start a new battle.

Problem is, even though all this advice is right on, some people you just can't confuse with the facts.

I just do it. It's hard for her to argue with the results.

[CToon]

Maxx , like Rangeball said , I had the same reaction but its hard to argue with the results...

The only problem I REALLY had was getting the levels right after years of "pool store" abuse. Using the information I found here , I was able to overcome a CYA of 100 , ph that was always wacky , and working way to hard to keep things in check.

But now that I have it in order , she loves the crystal clear water and I love Ben and the fine folks here :)

[CarlD]

"My mind's made up. Don't confuse me with facts!"

(seen on a co-worker's desk)

Just do it. It's always easier to apologize than get permission.

[sevver]

How much bleach should you add then? I have a 18' pool, around 8000 gallons if I am not mistaken. I have a Nature 2 system, and since getting it, the pool has become alot less of a chore, we used to spend a lot of time fighting the algae and cloudy issues that would spring up out of nowhere.

I think that using bleach would save a ton of money, so how much do you use, a gallon at a time til you get used to it, or is it less than that?

[aylad]

Take a look at mwsmith's bleach calculator at http://www.hal-pc.org/~mwsmith2/BleachCalc262.exe
It will help you figure out how much bleach to add based on your pool gallonage.

Janet

[nickapo]

How much bleach should you add then? I have a 18' pool, around 8000 gallons if I am not mistaken. I have a Nature 2 system, and since getting it, the pool has become alot less of a chore, we used to spend a lot of time fighting the algae and cloudy issues that would spring up out of nowhere.

I think that using bleach would save a ton of money, so how much do you use, a gallon at a time til you get used to it, or is it less than that?

There are recipes on the Nature 2 website for the low-chlorine system recommended when using Nature 2. I've been doing it and it works great. So does the Bleach Calculator that was already mentioned.
There's a lot of opinion on this forum re the Nature 2 system, nearly all of it negative. Take it for what it's worth and make up your own mind.

[sevver]

Take a look at mwsmith's bleach calculator at http://www.hal-pc.org/~mwsmith2/BleachCalc262.exe
It will help you figure out how much bleach to add based on your pool gallonage.

Janet
Very handy, thanks, it appears that there are other conversions possible as well.

[CarlD]

There are recipes on the Nature 2 website for the low-chlorine system recommended when using Nature 2. I've been doing it and it works great. So does the Bleach Calculator that was already mentioned.
There's a lot of opinion on this forum re the Nature 2 system, nearly all of it negative. Take it for what it's worth and make up your own mind.

Yup. I just do the arithmetic and I cannot see how the initial cost plus the $90 or more per season for N2 cartridges are not more costly than just using sufficient bleach. $90 buys a LOT of bleach each season. Even at $1.50/gallon of regular bleach, that's 60 gallons worth. I won't use that much in a summer, so where's the savings?