Cheap bleach for those in the midwest.

[gogolion]

It was near all of the pool supplies at our Menards... It's labeled "Clear Extreme Pool Shock" (white and blue label) Look for the bottle of neon yellow colored liquid.

Oh, I did see that neon yellow stuff but assumed that wasn't what you were talking about. I didn't even look at it. Next time I guess.

[waldreps]

The stuff I bought was still in the 4 pack cardboard carrier. There were several loose bottles floating around the display but since chlorine can degrade under sunlight I opted for those in the boxes. Mine had manufacturers date stamps of June 2012, so they were relatively fresh.

Yeah, I guess yours was fresher than mine. There were no cardboard boxes at my store. They were all loose and on display. I got the ones in the back hoping that they would be better.

[Pipecrew]

How would a gallon of 6% bleach compare to a 1lb bag of shock?

[OOsever]

Would depend on the contents of the "shock". If it was dichlor then as far as chlorine goes its pretty close to the same dose as a gallon of 6% bleach. (Though bleach normally comes in 96oz containers) If it was cal-hypo then it would depend on the percent concentration on the packaging. However both dichlor and cal-hypo have effects on other areas of pool chemistry. Dichlor will raise your cya and cal-hypo your calcium hardness. If you need a boost in these areas then it's probably not such a bad thing to use them occasionally but not as your primary source of chlorine, even if you do find some super cheap.

[bobbydarn]

[Have Menards, Will Travel]
Nice tip. I will bring the truck. 25K pool, 95 deg. F, still. Usage maybe a gal. a day?? Just curious. Using up my last granular tonight. BIG SHOCK NIGHT! Then on to less work, better results.
Tanks Guys, or Dolls.

[Spensar]

I bought some of it and did a bucket test and mine showed 10%. I wish somebody could explain the 15% available chlorine and 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. I really think the 12.5% number is the one it's supposed to be. I'm confused by your 14.5% result since I think 12.5% should be the highest you should get. I could be wrong though....it's happened before...lol.

Weird that it gives the two numbers. I buy liquid chlorine from a bulk supplier who guarantees 12%, but it is higher when he has it delivered. As the higher concentration loses strength quicker, maybe the 15% is the strength when packed, but the 12.5% is what they are certifying to the customer? Seems like odd labeling.

[33feet]

for our 25k pool, uncovered, we have been using 1 gal 6% bleach per night.