BBB method--from the WalMart guy!

A couple of months ago I went to WalMart and bought a dozen of the large jugs of bleach. The guy stocking the area threw me the usual "you're crazy" look and asked me what I was going to do with it--so I told him. He asked me a few more questions about the BBB method, and I answered and went on my way. So today I went back to buy some more, and when I approached the area where the bleach is stocked, I overhear the same stock guy explaining to someone asking why the bleach was out of stock that "yeah, it's the best kind of chlorine you can put in your pool, lots of people use it because it's cheaper."

I wonder if that's why the store is always out of stock? The large bottles are much harder to come by these days! :)

Janet

what exactly is the 'larger' bottle? What size?

How much is it?

At the Malwart here in Honesdale, PA the big jug (174 Oz) is $2.54 and the smaller jug (96 Oz) is $1.52 They were out of the big ones so did a little math and the big jug equivalent of small jugs works out to be $2.75 so it pays a little to get the bigger jugs.
Al

Yep, they are the same prices here--but the bigger jugs are almost always out of stock lately. Went back today and they had restocked the smaller jugs but still no big ones, and none in the back................

Janet

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Originally Posted by Poconos

At the Malwart here in Honesdale, PA the big jug (174 Oz) is $2.54 and the smaller jug (96 Oz) is $1.52 They were out of the big ones so did a little math and the big jug equivalent of small jugs works out to be $2.75 so it pays a little to get the bigger jugs.
Al

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is ultra bleach walmart brand ok or no?

Yes, the WalMart ultra bleach is what I use--comes in a white jug with a green and blue label. Just make sure it's not the scented kind.

Janet

I recommend everyone do themselves, the environment, and the local economy a favor and use the 5 gallon jugs of 12%. Find it at a local Mom and Pop pool store. The jugs are returnable and when you're working with such high volumes (15 gals. of 12% in the week I opened) concentrating it makes it much easier.

I've still got 36 empty Clorox bottles out in my shed (it's a big shed) from the first time I opened my pool 3 years ago. Anyone need boat mooring buoys?

C.

Great suggestion. That's what I do by buying 12.5% chlorinating liquid in gallon jugs that come 4 in a milk carton crate and they are returnable (they have a small deposit). I've thanked my local pool store for being environmentally responsible as well as reasonably priced. The chlorine concentration always seems correct so their turnover is good.

Richard

I would suggest everyone avoid the high concentration stuff. You have no idea if it was left out in the sun and it degrades quickly. A few hours out in the sun and it may be down to 6% or less. I buy the 6% 96 oz bottle at Walmart here in NJ and they go for $1.17 a bottle.

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Originally Posted by cleancloths

I would suggest everyone avoid the high concentration stuff. You have no idea if it was left out in the sun and it degrades quickly. A few hours out in the sun and it may be down to 6% or less. I buy the 6% 96 oz bottle at Walmart here in NJ and they go for $1.17 a bottle.

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No offense cc, but I think that's pure conjecture. It's definitely not been my experience. Using the PoolCalc I can always predict the rise in Cl in my pool when it's added which pretty clearly shows that it's concentration is as advertised. This includes using an unopened 5 gal. bottle that sat in my unheated garage all winter. Measured Free Cl before adding, calculated the amount to bring up x amount and then after one hour of circulating measured again and all's going according to plan.

Do you have evidence Cl will degrade in a sealed container? It's volatile and will evaporate in the open air, but actually degrade?

C.

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Originally Posted by ChuckD

No offense cc, but I think that's pure conjecture. It's definitely not been my experience. Using the PoolCalc I can always predict the rise in Cl in my pool when it's added which pretty clearly shows that it's concentration is as advertised. This includes using an unopened 5 gal. bottle that sat in my unheated garage all winter. Measured Free Cl before adding, calculated the amount to bring up x amount and then after one hour of circulating measured again and all's going according to plan.

Do you have evidence Cl will degrade in a sealed container? It's volatile and will evaporate in the open air, but actually degrade?

C.

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Well the evidence I have is I am a chemical engineer and used to work in a manufacturing facility that made the stuff. If there is the slightest amount of trace metals in the bleach (which their almost always is) high temp will cause it to degrade. Low temp in your garage will not impact it.

This effect of metals on the rate of degradation is true and described here where there is a nice table of half-life of chlorine at various concentrations and temperatures near the bottom of the page. Roughly speaking, the product degrades 4 times faster with a doubling of concentration and degrades about twice as fast with a 10F rise in temperature.

Most manufacturers of chlorinating liquid, including Odyssey and Hasa, make a good product as far as I can tell from many different reports on multiple pool forums. I've tested the strength of my chlorinating liquid both via direct dilution and via the effect on the pool of known volume and they are always near the correct strength -- in the range of 12-13% where the claim is 12.5%. Once I got something that might have been 11.5%, but that was the worst I had.

Bleach degrades much more slowly because of its lower concentration, but I wouldn't shy away from chlorinating liquid. Just try it out and see if it behaves as expected.

Richard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChuckD

I recommend everyone do themselves, the environment, and the local economy a favor and use the 5 gallon jugs of 12%. Find it at a local Mom and Pop pool store. The jugs are returnable and when you're working with such high volumes (15 gals. of 12% in the week I opened) concentrating it makes it much easier.


C.

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That would be great if you could buy it that way in Louisiana-- but you can't, so bleach is the next best alternative for us.

Janet