Phosphate testing

[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.

[CarlD]

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.

Actually, I wouldn't worry. When you maintain a higher FC level due to a higher cya, you'll probably find you add LESS chlorine to stay in the maintenance range. We actually recommend it for those who leave in steamy, sunny climates....Though these last few days in New Jersey, it's hard to imagine being in a steamier hotter place. Day before yesterday, it was 96 in the shade, and 112 in the sun. Yesterday nearly the same...and HUMID!