Will bleach for chlorine harm a fiberglass pool or my pump?

[krdowns]

Our pool is still under construction, but I have been using bleach to chlorinate since the project has been dragging out. Is there any downside to using bleach with a fiberglass pool? Will it affect the gelcoat? What about the seals in the pump? I just want to make sure that I am not going to void any warranties. We have a SWCG, but it is not turned on yet....won't be until the stone coping is installed and the project completed. Thanks.

[BigDave]

Nope, no worries. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite as is liquid chlorine. In the water it's all the same chlorine - the only difference is what else goes into the water with the chlorine. With bleach (and LC), you get salt. With calcium hypochlorite, your get calcium. With dichlor and trichlor you get CYA.

[krdowns]

Thanks for the info!

[PoolDoc]

Just so it will be clear to Google-rs who read this post:

PLAIN laundry bleach = 3%, 5.25% or 6% sodium hypochlorite + water.

Pool store "liquid chlorine" = 10%, 12% or 15% sodium hypochlorite + water.


Two cautions:
+ Clorox bleach probably has the fewest impurities of any bleach BUT they add 'other' stuff to many of their bleach products. PLAIN Clorox Ultra is fine (contains a little PAA, but that's pool compatible) but any of the other Clorox products will MESS YOUR POOL UP! So we recommend private label STORE BRAND (not Nobody-brand!) plain 6% bleach.
+ Commercial bleach doesn't keep -- at summer time temperatures, 15% bleach can turn into 7% bleach in just one week. (I do know what I'm talking about - I used to buy 15% bleach by the tanker load: 4,000+ gallons at a time!) Highly purified bleach, like Clorox, will keep longer. But boxed bleach is often stored ALL summer in hot warehouses. In s. Florida, where many pool stores have their own bleach tank, and refill 2.5 gallon totes with fresh bleach . . . pool store bleach can be a GREAT deal. Elsewhere, it can be very expensive, and no stronger than Walmart bleach!