First time poster - excited to use BBB method but have a question!

[PoolDoc]

PS. Do NOT 'toss' trichor tablets. Doing so would be a serious environmental violation, if you were caught. And given that trichlor might explode or catch fire if mixed with certain types of garbage, there's a good chance that "tossing" a 50# bucket would get caught!

[PoolDoc]

Oops. I must have accidentally closed this thread -- it's open now.

[rdbrya1]

haha thanks!! I tried to reply a few times but it was closed :-( I couldn't find a way to PM you either to say thanks! The answers were SOO helpful and I really appreciate it!! It is creeping up to 70 degrees here in Louisiana so my cholorine levels will stay a little higher soon. I just clicked to order my Taylor 2006 test kit and it says "Sold by Amato Industries, Inc. "...that is the correct store right? I want to make sure Pool Forum gets the credit.

[PoolDoc]

Yes.

Amato has been the most consistent seller on Amazon, and tends to be have more consistent stock. (Their store is not far from Taylor.) There've been a few problems with Amato, but I believe they've all been straightened out eventually.

Amazon started selling the K2006C directly last year, but not the K2006A, which is what you've ordered.

[CarlD]

1. T
Your tabs are 80% trichlor, 10% borax, and 10% aluminum sulfate. The borax is fine -- it will keep the pH from dropping so much. The aluminum sulfate (alum) is OK . . . IF you have a sand filter. If you have a cartridge filter, you will need to clean more often. If you have a DE filter, you may also need to clean more, but I don't think the alum will hurt the filter.

This formulation does NOT contain copper, which is what stains pools.

I am guessing they are cutting the tri-chlor with cheaper ingredients that are not as destructive as others. Since tri-chlor tends to be very acidic, the borax would offset that, and, as Ben says, borates can inhibit algae. I don't know much about aluminum sulfate, but I am guessing it is a pH raiser as well.

[PoolDoc]

Carl, aluminum sulfate is an old-line floc and filter aid. It used to be fairly standard on commercial pools to feed small amounts of aluminum sulfate upstream of sand filters. It has the fairly unique quality of being able -- under certain conditions -- to tie up or capture metal ions. But I've never been able to find out exactly what those conditions were.

[CarlD]

Ah! I bow to your superior knowledge!
I'd still bet it helps reduce the production cost of those tri-chlor tabs...but, then again, I do have a cynical streak!

[PoolDoc]

I wasn't trying to say alum wasn't cheaper -- I'm almost certain it is, and that you are correct about their motives for adding it. I was just explaining what it does, and why it's a comparatively benign additive.

[chem geek]

A decent online source is poolgeek.com and they sell the following (prices are for 25 pound size) GLB 3" Trichlor tabs at a decent price ($91.14) and these are 99% pure Trichlor. You'll save even more if you can find these tabs in a local pool store since shipping is extra ($9.99 for 25 pounds). Other brands at 99% include Omni ($102.25), Robarb ($86.57 that appears to be the cheapest), ProTeam ($117.08).

[CarlD]

I wasn't trying to say alum wasn't cheaper -- I'm almost certain it is, and that you are correct about their motives for adding it. I was just explaining what it does, and why it's a comparatively benign additive.

I was just exploring the rationale for combining Borax and the alum with Tri-chlor. I also don't know much about it chemically.