Test results

[kathgilliam]

Here are my first clear water test results: (Leslie's did them.)

FC: 0

TAC: 0

pH: 7.6

TA: 90

Calcium Hardness: 200-400

CYA: 80

Salt--she didn't test, but my generator says 2600 and is not asking for more. It is set at 80%. I think it's still dissolving and generating from salt addition last night.


I have buttloads of bleach in my car, but I've suddenly gone squeamish after being barraged with incredulity from various pool company personnel (one and all) upon hearing I have put Clorox in my pool!!!!!!!!! I mean, they have seriously demeaned me. But it's probably time to put in more bleach, huh?

One lady told me I was probably blowing holes through my DE filter grids with the bleach. Turns out the filtering problem is a bad gasket, and the whole shebang is covered under our home owners' warranty, all fixed tomorrow. But even before they get here, my water is now clear and we're on the road to recovery, FINALLY.

You guys are sure....Bleach, right?

Kath

[waterbear]

Tell them you are using sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine). It is exactly the same thing. Liquid chlorine from the pool store comes in 12.5%, 10% and 6% strength. Bleach comes in 6% (ultra bleach...note that this is EXACTLY the same as some of the pool store liquid chlorine, usually for much less money) and 5.25% (regular bleach). All of these are sodium hypochlorite! The only differeces between them is how much you need to add to get a given chlorine level in your pool and the fact that the more concentrated ones will lose strength much faster than the weaker ones! (12.5% sodium hypochlorinte is going to be around 8% two weeks later....a jug of 6% should be good for several months!)

[kathgilliam]

And when they say you are putting enormous amounts of metal in the pool with bleach??? How would you respond to that?

K

[waterbear]

I would RUN and not walk away from that person since they do NOT know what they are talking about! Bleach does not put metals in your pool....Ionizers, Nature 2, copper based algaecides, and some fill water do!
Tell them they need to brush up on their pool chemistry and learn some facts!
Your salt water generator is manufacturing sodium hypochlorite in the salt cell.....BLEACH!

[kathgilliam]

Many thanks, I am armed with replies now! And I'm on my way to perfect pool water, thanks to all of you!

My family is scheduled to take a "Pool School" next week so we can better understand the plumbing and how the filter, pump and booster pump all work. Plus, our equipment needs some work, and we will get that tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for helping me!!!

K

[KurtV]

I would RUN and not walk away from that person since they do NOT know what they are talking about! Bleach does not put metals in your pool....Ionizers, Nature 2, copper based algaecides, and some fill water do!
Tell them they need to brush up on their pool chemistry and learn some facts!
Your salt water generator is manufacturing sodium hypochlorite in the salt cell.....BLEACH!

Except for the sodium.:D

[waterbear]

Except for the sodium.:D The sodium comes from the addtion of salt. If you want to get technical the cell is manufacturing chlorine gas which then forms hypoclorous acid and hypochorite ions. There are already sodium ions in the water. In effect the pool water is a very dilute sodium hypochorite solution no matter what form of chlorine is added if there are sodium ions in the water. (a bit oversimplified)

Let's not confuse a newbie with semantics!:eek:;)

[KurtV]

Evan,
Just a joke. I don't want to get technical (and certainly not with you, that wouldn't be a fair fight).

[PatL34]

K

I tried to explain what happens in a SWCG in the post below, and Waterbear gave you a pretty good picture. I wrote it for the newbies with SWCGs. Been running one since April 1998.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1226

Hope this helps.

Pat

[west1745]

I have added liquid bleach from Walmart on a few occasions - and it works great!! So yes - trust us!!

The worst thing to add in my humble opinion, is that crazy dry stuff for shocking that contains stabilizer. Because it is easy to get too much stabilizer in the pool - this happened to me and I had to do a partial drain and refill.

Now that I have Ben's Kit and the Taylor drop salt test, I am never setting foot in another pool store. Home Depot and Walmart have everything I need. And of course with this forum I have confidence, too!!

[CarlD]

Kath,
We can back up our advice with facts, figures and empirical evidence of it working in thousands of pools.

The pool stores are merely parrots for the pool chem companies who lose INCREDIBLE amounts of money from our advice.

Here's the first thing to know about chlorine: ALL chlorine is exactly the same in the water.

The various stuff they sell may or may not add unwanted chemicals. Bleach does not.

Many pool stores sell "Liquid Chlorine 6%". This is IDENTICAL to generic Ultra Bleach. Identical. Only the package and label are different. Both are 6% Sodium Hypochlorite, 94% salt water.

Read our stickied posts. Go to our sister site, PoolSolutions.com and read the tips. Follow our advice and your pool will be clean, you will have minimum of work, and you will save money.

Hey! That sounds like all the snake oil salesmen! But the difference is that WE can back it up!

[waterbear]

Carl,
I would gladly buy a huge bottle of the snake oil this forum is selling because it works!;)

[kathgilliam]

Pat, I have read and reread your post. It seems with each day's experience, more and more of your post sinks in and the light dawns!

I am convinced. I really want to be self-sufficient in caring for our pool. It may take quite a while to get me to that point, but that is my goal. I especially like the idea that I don't have to rely on the pool store for supplies or advice!!!!!!!

K

[PatL34]

Glad you are seeing the light. Took me close to 8 years to get there. It's like trying on a dress or suit, and adjusting it until it feels comfortable.

The only thing I do basically is add muriatic acid to keep the pH from 7.2 - 7.6
and add a small amount of CYA after a backwash.

Pat