Using the K-2006

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Originally Posted by CarlD

Where I live, Baking Soda is about $.80/lb, but Alk Up and similar products run up to $3/lb. What's the difference? The package and the price! Both are Sodium Bicarbonate (but the pool store version calls itself Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate--to fool you into thinking it's not the same as Bicarb...it is).

pH Up! Balance Pak 200(or is it 300?) runs at least $3/lb. It is Sodium Carbonate. Sodium Carbonate is sold as Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (in the yellow, not orange box) and costs again, about $.80/lb.

"Liquid Chlorine" is frequently sold in 6% concentrations at pool stores. It is identical to Ultra Bleach (6%). If the pool store's is cheaper per gallon, buy it. If not, don't. They also sell "Liquid Shock" which is between 10% and 12.5% concentration. Basically double the price of bleach. If it costs less than half as much per gallon, buy it. If more, then go with bleach.

It's all about labeling and pricing and trying to confuse you into paying more.

Carl

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So if the pool guy says I need 5 lbs of alk up, then I buy 5 lbs of A&H? There's no fillers to worry about?

I've never used liquid chlorine so how do I figure the dosage using bleach?

Thanks Carl.

If the pool store guy says add 5 lbs of Tot Alk increaser, DON'T DO IT! And, if you do, yes, use A&H Baking Soda. It's 100% sodium bicarb.

I NEVER add more than 1 lb of baking soda and I have nearly over 19,000 gallons, near 20k. With your pool, AT MOST add 2 lbs at a time.

You have 36,000 gallons. So the forumula is: (1,000,000/gallons_in_pool)*(Bleach concentration)*# of gallons of bleach.

So....(1,000,000/36,000) * .06 * 1 = 1.67. That means one gallon of 6% bleach will add 1.6ppm of free chlorine to your pool. (.06=6%)
If you use 12.5% then 1 gallon of it will add 3.5ppm of free chlorine to your pool
Bleach and Liquid Chlorine are the same stuff. Sometimes the pool stores sell it in 6% strength but also as "liquid shock" at 12.5% or in 5 gallon carboys as liquid chlorine, also 12.5%. That's what I use, and the guy I get it from turns it over so fast it usually tests at 14%.

Carl

I buy generic Walmart Ultra bleach 6%.

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Originally Posted by CarlD

If the pool store guy says add 5 lbs of Tot Alk increaser, DON'T DO IT! And, if you do, yes, use A&H Baking Soda. It's 100% sodium bicarb.

I NEVER add more than 1 lb of baking soda and I have nearly over 19,000 gallons, near 20k. With your pool, AT MOST add 2 lbs at a time.

You have 36,000 gallons. So the forumula is: (1,000,000/gallons_in_pool)*(Bleach concentration)*# of gallons of bleach.

So....(1,000,000/36,000) * .06 * 1 = 1.67. That means one gallon of 6% bleach will add 1.6ppm of free chlorine to your pool. (.06=6%)
If you use 12.5% then 1 gallon of it will add 3.5ppm of free chlorine to your pool
Bleach and Liquid Chlorine are the same stuff. Sometimes the pool stores sell it in 6% strength but also as "liquid shock" at 12.5% or in 5 gallon carboys as liquid chlorine, also 12.5%. That's what I use, and the guy I get it from turns it over so fast it usually tests at 14%.

Carl

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I understand. The dosage is determined by the water test. The number of gallons to achieve the required dosage is based on the Chlorine percentage. Brilliant!

Thanks a million – ha ha.

Now my task is to interpret the test correctly in order to know the dosage.

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Originally Posted by Watermom

I buy generic Walmart Ultra bleach 6%.

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I can get to Walmart in 5 minutes. Well, I guess anyone could. :)

Thanks Watermom.

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Originally Posted by Manslick

Now my task is to interpret the test correctly in order to know the dosage.

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And to get the dosage, go to the Pool Calculator. You can save this as a file to your HD or a stick and use it offline as well.

You input the volume, your test results, and your targets (goals) in ppm and it returns to you the amount of product to add. It can be adjusted for type of sanitizer, for instance 5.25% bleach or 10% bleach, and it will calculate for you the effect of adding any number of compounds. A very nifty tool, play with it a little to see what it can do for you.

With the exception of bleach, where adding too much isn't a crisis, you want to go easy when you adjust chemistry. Most of us add 1/2 to maybe 3/4 of the suggested or calculated amount, wait a while for it to mix in, and test again before adding the rest. It's a lot easier to put in more than it is to take some out :)

And I've never used the Pool Calculator. The formula for bleach is easy to use and there's even a short-cut, a rule of thumb so you can do it in your head:

1 gallon of bleach adds exactly its concentration to 10,000 gallons of water
So a gallon of 6% adds 6ppm of FC to 10,000 gallons
A gallon of 12.5% adds 12.5ppm of FC to 10,000 gallons
Therefore a gallon of 6% only adds 3ppm of FC to 20,000 gallons.

For everything else I usually start with a quarter of what I think I'll need. I can always add more, much more easily.

Carl

The Pool Calculator is an excellent tool for any and all additions and/or calculations for pool maintenance. While doing bleach is easy and pretty much idiot proof, calculating baking soda or borax or muriatic acid or CYA isn't quite that simple and the PoolCalc is a huge help.

AnnaK thanks for the link to the pool calculator. I love to crunch numbers and that thing looks very cool.

It's kind of funny to me that after all these years I suddenly want to be proactive instead of reactive to pool maintenance. I was on vacation last week when I opened the pool and with a little extra time on my hands I found this place. Some years I'd get lucky and some years it'd be a nightmare. Now I'm going to fix It before it breaks.

I was even thinking of catching rain and testing it and if knowing the rainfall amount and the chemistry I could head off potential problems due to rain.

I'm keeping records for the first time too hoping to spot trends and again head off potential problems.

We'll see. It feels good to know that when I do get in trouble I have a place to go for help.

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Originally Posted by Manslick

It feels good to know that when I do get in trouble I have a place to go for help.

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You bet! We'll be right here. Glad you joined us this year!