How much do pool chemicals cost, monthly?

Hello all,

I've been reading the forums for about three years and finally decided to register. The information here has been very helpful and has helped me understand how my pool works. Using the information here, I've been doing BBB for the last three swim seasons. I've only had the pool for four seasons. I spent the first season figuring out that the pool store employees knew less about pools than I did... and I'm a first time pool owner! :|

This season I've spent what I think has been too much money maintaining my pool so my question is...

How much is the average cost per month to run a 23,000 gallon, in ground, vinyl liner pool? I'm just talking about chemicals, not the cost to run the pump.

There was a "how low can you go" thread years ago -- now lost, I'm afraid -- and I recall figures around $35/month. Bleach was cheaper then, so I'm not sure what it would be, now. Carl may remember it more clearly; I seem to recall he was a participant.

I have an approximately 13K pool and I use $5.00 per week roughly on bleach. I seldom add anything else. Maybe once a month I add 1/3 of a box of Borax which is about another dollar. So, my monthly costs are probably $21.00 or thereabouts.

BTW -- Welcome to the Pool Forum!

I use approximately 4 of the large jugs of bleach from WalMart a week in my 29K IG. At $2.54/jug, that is just over $10 weekly. I don't add anything else, except a loading dose of CYA at the beginning of the season, if I need it.

I run an intentionally high CYA, so I don't have to add bleach daily--but I do have to maintain a higher baseline level than everybody else. Still ends up using less chlorine with high CYA in my climate.

Janet

It varies by pool size. A typical 2 ppm FC per day for 23,000 gallons would require around 3/4-gallon (so a 96-ounce jug) of 6% bleach per day. Prices vary but are usually in the neighborhood of $1.30, sometimes less. So that would be about $40 per month for your pool. Chlorine usage varies, but is usually in the 1.5 to 2.5 ppm FC per day range. If your pool is exposed to a lot of sunlight and you are seeing higher chlorine demand well above 2 ppm FC per day, then a higher CYA level (with a higher proportionate FC level) can lower your chlorine usage (or perhaps you need to shock your pool to get rid of nascent algae growth). Use of a mostly opaque pool cover really cuts down usage which is why in my pool the usage is less than 1 ppm FC per day which for 16,000 gallons comes to around $15 per month with the pool used (open) for 1-2 hours every day.

I estimate I'm spending about $40/month on LC this season--but that's due to needing an opening cleanup. I expect it to go down in July and August to about $25-$30--1/2 gallon of 12.5% every other day=15 days/month = 7.5 gallons /month. LC is costing about $3.40/gallon (equiv to $1.70/gal for bleach) so that's about $25.

Add in a couple of pounds of stabilizer (?), 1 quart of Polyquat over the whole season ($19), and a couple of boxes of Borax and one of Washing Soda (12# @ $.80/# = $9.60). That's it!

Carl

All,

Thanks for the responses! I'm not as far off as I thought I was. Right now my CYA is between 45 and 50 and I'm thinking of going up on that a little bit (maybe to 60) just to cut down on the LC a little bit. Right now I'm using 182oz of 6% bleach almost every day ($2.54 at Target). I had a couple of fights with algae in June which is why my chemical costs were a lot more than expected.

I'm in Alabama, 90 degrees and full sun on the pool most days.

You can try a little higher CYA and see if that helps any. But, in a 23K gallon pool, I don't think your chlorine usage is excessive. My pool is 13K gallons and I typically add 2 quarts of bleach per evening.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aylad

I use approximately 4 of the large jugs of bleach from WalMart a week in my 29K IG. At $2.54/jug, that is just over $10 weekly. I don't add anything else, except a loading dose of CYA at the beginning of the season, if I need it.

I run an intentionally high CYA, so I don't have to add bleach daily--but I do have to maintain a higher baseline level than everybody else. Still ends up using less chlorine with high CYA in my climate.

Janet

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What is your CYA level and what is your climate? When I ran my CYA in the 70's and 80's I still had to put bleach in the pool daily (96oz). I'm in Alabama where we have 90 degree summer days and I get full sun on my pool so I'm curious to know what your climate is like.

My CYA level is currently 90, after having brought it back up from 80-ish due to backwashing and splashout. The increase in chlorine useage was almost immediately noticeable when my CYA got below 90. My pool is in full sun from sunrise til about an hour before sunset, and I have no trees in the back yard, therefore, no shade. Our air temps have been over 100 almost daily since the beginning of June. Today the air temp is 106, humidity in the 85% range, so heat index is around 110. That's pretty much been the norm for the entire summer, this year. We've had very, very little rain, and a good bit of evaporation, so I'm topping off 1-2 inches every couple of days from our city water.

The pool water temp is 96 degrees today, so that's slowed the swimming somewhat, but I have an average swimmer load of 4-6 middle-school kids at any given time who swim almost everyday, and a 2 year old German Shepherd that gets in every chance she gets! :)

Janet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aylad

My CYA level is currently 90, after having brought it back up from 80-ish due to backwashing and splashout. The increase in chlorine useage was almost immediately noticeable when my CYA got below 90. My pool is in full sun from sunrise til about an hour before sunset, and I have no trees in the back yard, therefore, no shade. Our air temps have been over 100 almost daily since the beginning of June. Today the air temp is 106, humidity in the 85% range, so heat index is around 110. That's pretty much been the norm for the entire summer, this year. We've had very, very little rain, and a good bit of evaporation, so I'm topping off 1-2 inches every couple of days from our city water.

I have an average swimmer load of 4-6 middle-school kids at any given time who swim almost everyday, and a 2 year old German Shepherd that gets in every chance she gets! :)

Janet

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Your climate/bather load is similar to what I have (We have high school/college age instead of middle school kids) but our temps usually stay under 100 with the exception of a few very hot days. I bumped my CYA up from the 50's to the 60/70 range. I'm hoping that it helps.

Thanks for sharing the info. It eases my mind about how much chlorine I'm using. :)

Yeah, it seems like a lot but it's pretty much average usage for a pool that size in that climate. This year seems to be a high chlorine useage year across the country, not just down here--dunno if the summer is just hotter than normal everywhere, or what. You should start seeing a difference when you get the CYA up a little more.

Janet