Bleach same as Chlorine

[cleancloths]

Does the source of the water matter in this discussion...i have a nice clean stream on my property and I cant see a reason why I shouldn't pump my 20K gallons out of it since I am going to zap it with chlorine. I ask this about the source because you two have different results...

Don't do it, there are micobes and all sorts of stuff in that water you cannot see. I did this once with the stream on my property that feeds our local lake. Boy was it a mistake. My water got cloudy and it took about two weeks to clear it up which included backwashing my DE filter about 10 times in that period.

[Poconos]

I think it's perfectly OK to use stream water for a fill under certain situations and conditions. I have done it for years, including Spring 2005 when I had to top with 10,000 gal while chasing a leak. I have a small stream on my property and have never had a problem. I agree that the water should be tested if possible, right before a massive fill. I don't. However, no fertilizers as nobody upstream uses fertilizers and most of the stream is fed by ground water. Also depends on the flow. In the Spring mine flows a lot so anything undesirable is probably flushed. Next, for the massive fills like last Spring, I pumped the stream into the waste line with the sand filter set on backwash so the water came out of the skimmer, after going through the filter in the right direction. For small top offs I pump right into the skimmer with the pool pump running. Then...shock like crazy. Again, it all depends on specific situations.
Al

[mas985]

That is really strange, because if you tested the pH of bleach you would find it off the chart (to the high side). I find that my pool stays at a perfect pH level if I use a mix of 3" pucks which drop the pH and Bleach which raises it.

Sorry to have jumped into this one so late but even if the PH of chlorine is at 11, it will not affect the pool that much. The resultant PH of 1 gallon at PH 11 and 20,000 at 7.5, assuming no buffers (i.e. worst case):

ph = -log10 [(1 * (10^-11) + 20000 * (10^-7.5)) / 20001] = 7.500022

Virtually no change at all. Acid is a different story. Because it is close to 0 and the formula is logarithmic, it has a much bigger impact on PH.
ph = -log10 [(1 * (10^-1) + 20000 * (10^-7.5)) / 20001] = 5.3

A big difference. Unfortunately, these formulas are for solutions without buffers but they do give you an upper limit on PH swings.