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Hi,
I have a 30,000 gallon IG pool and will be using the BBB method this summer. I have a chance to get a few cases of bleach at a great price, but I'm not sure how much to buy.
This will be coming straight from the factory store, so it should be fresh, and I expect to get a little life from it
How much bleach do you use in your pool per month? How much per week?
I'm in southern Ontario.
I'm back on Tri-Chlor tabs - I did BB(Acid) last year. I never had to add boarx, but was constantly adding acid to lower pH.
My Pool: 22,000 gal IG Vinyl
My Usage: 3/4 Gallon of bleach each day (7 days a week) while carrying about 50ppm of CYA in perfectly balanced water.
I was adding acid about once a week to lower the pH from the pH increasing effects of the Bleach.
At the time - it was economical for me - I could buy bleach in the 3/4 gallon bottle for $0.78, and that gave me the perfect single day dosage. I'd add the entire bottle each night after sundown.
Why did I stop? Well I have a trichlor feeder already, and the CYA levels have never presented a problem for me in the past. The feeder requires less maintenance (add a few pucks once a week), and we have a low bather load so consumption isn't too bad (other than the sun burning it out). I grew very tired of the Sunday night trip to the store to pickup 7 fresh bottls of bleach, and the Saturday trips to the recycling depot to drop off the empty bottles.
Finally - I quit using bleach for my main chlorine supply because of the cost. That same 3/4 gallon bottle of bleach is now selling for $1.28 (That's a 61% increase in cost). I can chlorinate with tricholor for less money - and less hassle.
Remember - everyone's pool is different, so your mileage may vary. Bleach may be a very good alternative for you. I would say you need at least 1 gallon a day, maybe less if you use your solar cover regularaly or have an automatic cover. To be sure do a search for the 'Bleach Calc' on the forum and use it to make your calculations.
Good luck - Stay Wet!
I'm now running a SWC, but when I was using bleach I went through right at three 0.75 jugs a week. For me, it wasn't about the money, but more of a way to prevent CYA from spiraling out of control.
Andy, I'm surprised that your pool would drop 2 ppm/day. It usually took 3 days for that to happen to me.
Michael
I have full sun on the pool from 9:30am until 7:00pm for most of the summer months. It was a little lower consumption on cloudy days, and I never had my pool covered last year (solar cover delaminated over winter).
I carried 40-50 ppm CYA - and it drifted from around 3-4 ppm after adding the bleach to .5 to 1 ppm in the evenings.
I was surprised about the speed of the loss as well, but I never had any CC in my pool last year - and the waster was crystal clear all year long.
Andy, this seems to be exactly where I'm at right now. I have measured CYA at 40ppm twice but I'm losing 3ppm - 5ppm of CL in the light of day - virtually nothing overnight. At 35,000 gallons, that's 3 gallons of bleach/day. No CC either right now and water is crystal clear. I got my CYA down from 100+ since last July and converted to bleach in August. Didn't have any trouble holding CL the rest of the summer - went through 1 gallon every other day to hold level required for my CYA.
But....Bleach becoming a real pain at this usage. :( Makes me think my pool "likes" or needs more CYA or I'm not accurate with my measurement. Will try to get pool store to test for confirmation.
When it is sunny all day, I use a 1.4 gallon jug each night. Less when it's cloudy. My pool also has direct sun all day and I don't use a cover. My CYA is around 40.
I purchased a SWG recently because I don't feel like dealing bleach.
This is my first full season. Granted, there's been a lot of junk in my pool this spring, but I'm adding about .75 gal per day to a 21,111 gal pool. That's a lot of trips to the store and empty plastic bottles.
It seems like keeping the pool covered is the trick.
Seeing as we're in Southern Ontario, and there's just the two of us using the pool I'm sure we'll have to keep it covered.
We just started using a solar cover ( the one that is blue with silver underside). I have noticed that keeping the cover on during the day really decreases the rate in which we have to add chlorine.
Im thinking the solar cover is doing me more good with chlorine stability than it intended use as a thermal blanket!
Hal
my cya is 30-40 and i use 2.5gallons of 10% bleach a week + 1 floating 3" tablet of trichlor. cost me about $4.50/week + cya once every 3 or so month.
hope that helps
-Arron