Bleach vs Pucks

[rollinrock]

I am new to site and I am confused as to whether I can use pucks on daily basis and use bleah to shock once a week. I do this now and everyitng is ok. Am i heasde for trouble doing this?

[Rangeball]

What are your CYA levels now?

The problem with continued puck use is that they continually add CYA to your water. As these levels increase, the bleach becomes less effective at sanatizing your pool, requiring you maintain higher FC levels (see Ben's "Best Guess" chart). If your CYA gets too high (and it can get their quickly, recent info pegged the CYA content of the pucks/sticks at about half) the only way to lower it is a partial drain and refill, leading to pool downtime and possibly added expense.

Pucks are also very acidic so you need to keep a close eye on your PH levels.

[rollinrock]

I should have posted my numbers which are as follows:
FC 3
TC 2
PH 7.2
Cya 50
Alk 100
IG plaster 23000 gals DE filter

A problem I have is I cant figure my CC becasue the FC is higher than TC.
If I dont use pucks than what do I use as daily maintenace? Bleach? I thought the bleach was only to shock. I am probably reading these posts wrong but it seems like everyone is putting a lot of bleach in their pools. Could someone explain the basic amt and when bleach shoud be used and if it is used as a shock or maintenace? Hope I made myself clear. Sorry if I didnt

[iardon]

Pucks are also very acidic so you need to keep a close eye on your PH levels.

I had a low ph problem, shut off my automatic chlorinator (loaded with pucks) and my ph got higher and now stabilized. It was really tough trying to raise my ph when using the pucks. So, at least for me, they caused problems and I wouldn't recommend them.

[Rangeball]

FC can never be higher than TC, as TC= FC plus CC. What testing method gave you these results? Did you do it yourself or where they from a pool store?

Your CYA is at the uppermost recommended range. Your PH is at the lowest end of the recommended range. Chances are good you are head towards the problems I posted above.

If it were me, I would stop using the pucks right now. I would verify my chlorine readings as something is wrong there. I would consult the "Best Guess" CYA chart (it's a sticky at the top of the chlorine forum), download Michael Smith's excellent "bleach calc" program (it's in his sig line when he posts), figure out how much bleach I need to add to get my FC to the upper end recommended in the best guess chart and keep it there by adding the required amount of bleach every night after dark.

This year I opened my pool, shocked it, then I've added .75 gallons of 6% bleach every night (adds 2.1 ppm to my pool). Water has been crystal clear, haven't had to shock again.

[prh129]

FC can never be higher than TC, as TC= FC plus CC. What testing method gave you these results?


I would guess that the TC reading came from an OTO test and the FC came from a different test so even though in theory TC = FC + CC, when you measure different parameters with different tests, the results might not (and often do not) match up.

Peter

[rollinrock]

I have been using a Taylor kit, Ill take readings tonite and post tomorrow. Many thanks to everyone for their help.

[PhantomAndy]

I have done both Bleach Only, TriChlor Pucks Only, and Pucks with Bleach for Shocking.

For my pool Trichlor Pucks with Bleach for shocking works best. Our pool has a low bather load (just my wife an I mostly) and I only use about 3 pucks per week. (22,000 Gal IG Vinyl).

I just turn the feeder flow rate to zero when shocking with bleach - and wait for the level to fall back where I want it and set it back to the normal flow rate.

Here is what happens when using all 3 of the methods.

Trichlor tabs are acidic, which will cause your pH to drift down. This will require that you add borax occasionally to adjust it. I check mine every day or two, and usually have to add borax once a week or so.

Bleach is basic, which will cause your pH to drift up as you add bleach. This will probably require that you add either dry acid (aka pH Minus) or Muratic Acid. When I used bleach last year I was adjusting my pH down about once every week and a half or so.

My preference is to handle the Trichlor pucks once a week, versus bleach bottles every 1 to 2 days. I also prefer adding borax to the skimmer to adjust the pH, versus having to deal with mixing Muratic Acid with a bucket of water before dumping in the pool. Muratic Acid is fowl smelling (before diluted) and nasty stuff.

If money were no object - I'd have a Salt Water Chlorine Generator, but I'm too cheap to put one in this year - but it may be on my spring shopping list for the 2007 season.

[rollinrock]

FC can never be higher than TC, as TC= FC plus CC. What testing method gave you these results? Did you do it yourself or where they from a pool store?

Your CYA is at the uppermost recommended range. Your PH is at the lowest end of the recommended range. Chances are good you are head towards the problems I posted above.

If it were me, I would stop using the pucks right now. I would verify my chlorine readings as something is wrong there. I would consult the "Best Guess" CYA chart (it's a sticky at the top of the chlorine forum), download Michael Smith's excellent "bleach calc" program (it's in his sig line when he posts), figure out how much bleach I need to add to get my FC to the upper end recommended in the best guess chart and keep it there by adding the required amount of bleach every night after dark.

This year I opened my pool, shocked it, then I've added .75 gallons of 6% bleach every night (adds 2.1 ppm to my pool). Water has been crystal clear, haven't had to shock again.


Last night I tested wiht the Taylor KIt and as follows:
FC3
TC3
CYA 40
PH 7.5 Had drifted down and two ights ago i added PH increase to move it up from 7.2
Alk 100

Please clarify? You use bleach every night but do you use the same kind of bleach to shock? I guess my question is, is ther a diffence between dailyl bleach use and shock bleach?

Thanx everyone. This site is fantastic.

[cwstnsko]

The difference between daily bleach and shock bleach is only in the amount you add. For daily, you add just enough to maintain the proper chlorine residual for your level of CYA. For shock, you add enough to bring it up to the proper shock level for your CYA level. That can be a lot of jugs of bleach depending on your pool size and CYA level.

[Rangeball]

rollinrock, just like cwstnsko said :)

However, as long as I add my nightly maintenance dose of bleach, I've not had to shock, and my pools been open for several weeks now.

Stay ahead of your pool and for the most part shocking becomes a rare occurence versus a weekly event :)

[PhantomAndy]

I rarely have to shock regardless of method used. The only time I've had to shock is when I let my water get away from me, or when opening the pool.

[rollinrock]

Thanks to eveyone for clearing up the bleach issue fro me. From what I read on this site I woud like to use the BBB mehtod but I am spolied by the habit of just placing pucks in the pool once a week as opposed to putting in bleach everyday. If my pool water is OK and I have a 16 x 32 plaster pool how much bleach would I normally have to put in everyday?

Thanx

[aylad]

That depends on your stabilizer level and pool usage. Read the sticky note at the top of the Chlorine forum for the Best Guess Table that you can use as a guideline for what your chlorine levels need to be based on your CYA levels.

Janet

[rollinrock]

One other question. Are we talking about regular clorox bleach? I'm guessing here but if I put in a gal a day I have to buy 7 gals a week. The amount of trips to buy the bleach and placing it in the pool everyday seems like a lot of work compared to dropping in the pucks once a week but I see everyone here has great results from the bleach. I think Ill probably keep using the pucks and then curse myself after I see the first algae bloom. LOL

[Rangeball]

My pool has 21,200 gallons of water. My CYA is about 15-20. I have 2 ppm FC at dark, when I add .75 gal of 6% bleach, yes, generic regular clorox. This puts me to 4 ppm overnight, and I lose 2 ppm through the day, regular expected loss.

It takes me about 30 seconds to walk to my garage and get a bottle of bleach, about 5 seconds to get to the skimmer and remove the lid, 5 seconds to open the bottle and remove the seal, 12 seconds to slowly pour the bleach in, and about another 30 to replace the cover, put the jug back in the garage and get back into the house :) My pool stays crystal clear.

When I used pucks, I still had to put them in daily for best results, so this isn't an issue for me.

[aquarium]

I have a 15,000 gallon plaster pool and add 3 cups bleach in the evening. This takes it up by 1ppm (to about 2ppm total) and I lose about 1ppm the next day. That's 24 ounces a day, so the 174 ounce jug of bleach lasts a week. CYA is about 25ppm.

One cup (8 ounces) of muriatic acid each day holds the pH steady at 7.4, so one gallon (128 ounces) lasts two weeks.

Clear blue so far. :D

TW