Phosphate testing

[Big Splash]

Turns out the Clorox phosphate remover is a seriously bad deal. A quart of the Kem-Tek predecessor product was labeled as removing 2 ppm PO4 from 10K gallons; the Clorox product is virtually the same price, but only removes 0.75 ppm from 10K gallons.

That means the Clorox product is actually 267% more expensive!

Well now... I did notice the "Clorox" brand is actually licensed by Easy 123 Pool Care LLC (whoever they are) on this stuff. I wonder if Clorox knows they're deluding their good name..

Any good alternatives? Is PhosFree a better deal?

[PoolDoc]

No, PhosFree is also over-priced.

I'm checking, this morning. I'll update later today.

[Big Splash]

Ok thank you.

My curiosity has gotten to me. Seems to be a case of brand re-engineering going on here. ..


KIK Introduces New Clorox Brand Pool Care Products (NYSE:CLX)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...go_c31RIOtXKsg

Ah the games people play :-\

[PoolDoc]

I haven't heard from them; looks like they are taking a long weekend. Can't blame them: April, May & June are killer months for pool manufacturers.

The best confirmed deal is the Orenda PR-10000 product, but you'll have to find it yourself. Vendors are spotty and in-and-out of stock. I checked whole sale prices (for myself) and just ordered a 5 gal pail @ $441 (incl local sales tax). Wholesale to me for a quart was $29.88 before tax, but I had to order a case. From what I'm seeing, that may be the wholesale price pretty much everywhere. (On some products there's a S. Florida and S. Calif price, and an everywhere else price.)

Probably anything under $50/qt + shipping is a good price. If you can buy it for under $80 delivered, it's still cheaper ($/ppm PO4 removed) than the OLD Kem-Tek product, and MUCH cheaper than the Clorox or PhosFree products.

But, it's VERY concentrated and will cloud your pool. Best to use a little, repeatedly, than a big dose at once. Use of a clarifier at the same time will help avoid lingering cloudiness.

[Big Splash]

Thanks much Ben for the reply and attention. I'm not certain the extra cost and testing is worth it to me as I know more now than before. $50 per qt. will buy lots of bleach and that mankinni I've always wanted...

On 2nd thought, I might as well stick with the extra bleach and skip the mankinni too

Splash

[PoolDoc]

and that mankinni I've always wanted...

.

.



Around my household, I try to keep the 'kinis strictly in my wife's drawer. She's within 12 pounds of what she weighed when we married, and I'm, uh-h-h, well, NOT within 12 pounds.

(My sons both still wear Speedos when swimming Masters . . . but at 6' 1" or more and 180 or less, I don't think anyone is complaining. I think there's something about swimming 4,000 yards at a time that makes those things fit better )

[Big Splash]

I just wanna scare the neighborhood kids when it's not Halloween lol. My wife is a saint to keep me around.

[CarlD]

Seriously, I'm wondering what the original poster thinks reducing phosphates will do to reduce chlorine usage. If you don't have algae in your pool, reducing phosphate levels should have little effect on the chlorine levels. Phosphates are algae food...but if there's no algae, there's nothing to feed.

I just don't see the mechanism.

[Big Splash]

Seriously, I'm wondering what the original poster thinks reducing phosphates will do to reduce chlorine usage. If you don't have algae in your pool, reducing phosphate levels should have little effect on the chlorine levels. Phosphates are algae food...but if there's no algae, there's nothing to feed.

I just don't see the mechanism.

I agree with you. It's not the amount of bleach used so much as the maintained level I was originally thinking of reducing. Right now and forever I'm going to have to keep my FC level at the higher end (relative to CYA) to keep the algae at bay. That's ok by me. I just wanted to explore other options. This thread is proof positive of the BBB method works best.