Bleach same as Chlorine

[peggles0224]

so does replace chlorine tablets throughout the season? Just buy the bleach instead?

[CarlD]

That's a different question. My answer would be "yes".

All chlorination chems ultimately add chlorine and it doesn't matter the source.

HOWEVER, each chem has other effects: Tri-Chlor tablets lower pH and add lots of stabilizer.
Di-Chlor powder lowers pH too, but not nearly as much. It also add stabilizer--a lot but not as much as Tri-Chlor.
Cal-Hypo adds calcium and tends to raise pH.
Lithium and potassium chlorites empty your wallet INCREDIBLY quickly.
Only bleach/Liquid chlorine has almost no side effects.

[cleancloths]

Carl, that is not quite true. Most of what you said is 100% on, but bleach does tend to raise the pH quite a bit. At least in my experience.

[CarlD]

I've heard that some people have found that bleach raises pH. It is not my personal experience, though.

[cleancloths]

I've heard that some people have found that bleach raises pH. It is not my personal experience, though.

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.

[CarlD]

I know the pH of bleach is something like 11, but I rarely see my pH move when I use it (which is all the time). However, if I use pucks, it drops quite dramatically.

[Watermom]

Bleach does not raise my ph either.

[topnotch]

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...

[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.