Chlorine Pucks vs Bleach

[jimgregory]

Joined forum last year, ordered kit and sure enough cya was way high. Started using bleach and upon opening my cya is 40-50.

Now here is the issue, it seems to me that the advantage of bleach over pucks is cheaper and no cya. I'll grant you the no cya, but I don't think its that much cheaper.

On the other hand, I miss my auto chlor. feeder. It seems an inconverience to have to add bleach every night or so. Also I have ot been able to keep my levels consistant.

It seems there should be an answer to this, either use pucks without cya. Are they available? Has anyone used them? Any reason not to use them?

Or, have an auto feed for bleach. Is there one out there? Has anyone used one with success or failure?

I am interested in all comments.

[JohnT]

Pucks without CYA aren't available. Pumps that can handle bleach and have a reasonable level of control are pretty expensive. The downside to any chlorinator is that chlorine demand varies widely from day to day depending on many variables.

Regardless of how you chlorinate, you should check your chlorine level often, and adding a shot of bleach as required doesn't really take any extra time over the testing. A Salt Water Chlorine Generator is the easiest method of chlorination that has few drawbacks. Initial cost is the main drawback.

[nater]

If you're willing to spend $500-$1,000, a SWC is a good option for "hassle" free chlorination. Spend some time searching the threads here for people's opinions on the benefits vs. drawbacks of SWC's.

[CarlD]

Peristaltic pumps for bleach with timers aren't THAT expensive and a setup should cost you a lot less than an SWG.

[crazimom]

jimgregory......although most people on this forum hate the pucks, I use them , and so far find them to be great. This is my second year with no trouble. I backwash about once a week, and use cal hypo shock, and baking soda. I personally don't think "their" way is the only way. everyone needs to do what is best and most convenient for themselves. ok I'm jumping off the high horse now !

[faithfulfrank]

Dear Jim,
I understand where you are coming from. I too feel about the same way. I need to decide what i'm doing this year with chlorine also. I used the pucks in the past, and they worked well, except having very high cya counts by the end if the year.

So the next year I got a great deal on shock, and used just that for one year, until late in the season when all of a sudden I had cloudy water. Lesson learned was that too much cal hypo was also bad.....

So the last two years, I've made a lot of trips buying tons of bleach from the dollar store, walmart, etc, and my recycling bins were overflowing.....

I do use pucks for the winter, and i'm now out, so I think i will buy another bucket, that will last me a few years, and do a combo of pucks and bleach, although I know not to use them at the same time.

Bleach seems to have gone up, and it is a pain to keep buying it, as opposed to buying one bucket of pucks every two years.....I could deal with high cya....just have to keep my FC higher.

Frank D.

[jimgregory]

Thanks,

For those great and quick comments. Please keep them coming.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one that has this issue. I will definetly check out that bleach pump. In the mean time I think that with my low cya numbers I will have to add less bleach, so I will try to develop a night time routine to keep the chlorine levels correct.

Wouldn't it be nice I someone develped a pump that took 10 gal. of bleach, with a contol dial, and would last about a month ( I know many different conditions require diff. use of chlorine).

Jim

[PhantomAndy]

I had used Tri-Chlor pucks in my Pentair feeder for 2 1/2 years until last year.

I decided to give the BBB a try. What I found was that for my pool (about 22,000 gallon Vinyl IG) that I had to add about 96oz (3/4 of a gallon) of bleach each day to keep my levels where they needed to be (about 1ppm of Cl by the end of the day, bumping to about 3 - 3.5 ppm after adding the bleach).

It only takes a second to add the bleach - but I just didn't like the hassle of having to remember to do it every day (I get lots of sun on my pool - from about 9am - 8pm during the peak of the summer).

I didn't have any problems with this method, except I almost never had to use the Borax - but instead ended up having to use either dry acid, or muratic acid to adjust my pH instead.

The other thing that I didn't like was all the bottles. For me the cheapest option for bleach was the 3/4 gallon (96oz) Walmart Ultra (6%) bleach for $0.78. As a result I had between 5 and 7 empty plastic bottles a week that I had to haul to the recycler ever few weeks.

Another draw back - this year - that same $0.78 bottle of bleach is now $1.28, making the cost over $1.70 / gallon, and the larger bottles work out about the same. I don't have any local sources for bulk bleach.

I'll have to keep an eye on my CYA this year - but it's so low starting the season I should be OK - and if it gets out of check, I can slow the feeder down, and supplement a few times a week with bleach to keep it in contol.

The pH should be more balanced this way as well.

To each his own - and maybe someday I'll go SWG, but for now - the Pentair Rainbow online feeder will do the trick.

Good luck - and test often

[CarlD]

OK, let's see if we can clear this up:

1) It's your pool. What you do with it is your choice. You are the ultimate king, queen, or despot in your backyard. It's also your responsibility when something goes wrong.
2) We advocate a particular philosophy of pool care because it is based on logic, experience and pool chemistry.
3) Our basic advocacy of the B-B-B strategy is the mainline. It is not the only one. For new concrete pool owners with new water I frequently recommend they use Tri-Chlor tabs in floaters because the side effects of Tri-Chlor will be beneficial. But for most people B-B-B works perfectly.
4) The side effects of Tri-Chlor on your water are real, measurable and drastic. Your CYA will continually increase, and your pH will be pushed into the acid range (these are great for new concrete pools, lousy for the rest of us).
5) There are virtually NO side effects of liquid chlorine on your pool water. It doesn't alter pH noticeably, and it doesn't add CYA. This is a fact. That is why we prefer it.
6) Higher CYA requires a higher residual level of chlorine to prevent algae. Many people who have used tabs for years find themselves with CYA levels of 100 or 120ppm. At these levels you MUST maintain your chlorine at a minimun of 8ppm--much higher than most test kits go. Otherwise you will get a an algae bloom. Not may, will. Sooner or later your CYA will rise from the tablets.
7) We do not advocate Bleach because we "like" it, but because it is the simplest, cleanest and most effective way to get chlorine into your water. It's also the EASIEST by far to calculate how much it will add (1 gallon of Regular Chorine--5.25% -- will add EXACTLY 5.25ppm of FC to 10,000 gallons of water)
8) We (PoolDoc, the moderators and the most experienced members) practice what we preach in our own pools. Our own, personal experience tells us our methods work.
9) We get lazy and make mistakes as well. When that happens, we give ourselves a kick in the rump and follow our own rules--and re-inforce to ourselves that they work. I had a minor bloom last summer. Cleaned it up in 48 hours--by dosing my FC up to 15 ppm and keeping it there.
10) If you have a problem, you can follow our advice, or the pool store's. Again, it's your pool, your choice. I know LOTS of people who insist pool care is a snap, insist they never have a problem and don't follow our rules. OK. Enjoy.

[faithfulfrank]

Dear Carl,
Thanks for your informative post. I do not disagree with anything you said..I agree that regular bleach has no negitive effects, and is the method of chioce here.
I do use pucks for winterizing, since I do not cover my pool, and I also use them during vacations, etc.
They are easier, but do not come without the problems you stated.

It is nice that we have options.

By the way....could you be so kind as to give me the definition of "BBB"
I'm guessing it stands for Bleach, borax and baking soda, but that is just a guess.
We have such long winters here outside of Buffalo, that by spring, my pool knowledge is rusty and I need to re-read everything here to get back in the know.

thanks, Frank D.