KMart Chlorine

[DaveInPA]

KMart is having a sale on 182oz of American Fare chlorine - 5 bottles for $10. This appears to be a great sale - cheaper than Sam's Club, the cheapest I've found. The only problem is that the American Fare chlorine bottle has no markings on it regarding the chlorine percentage or if it has other bad things in it you wouldn't want to put in your pool.

Does anyone know if this chlorine is okay for the pool, and its percentage of chlorine?

[Sumo1]

It's probably OK unless it's scented but I would call KMART's home office and ask specific questions. If their answers don't satisfy you, tell them you'll just stick with the WM brand. They'll either ____ or get off the pot.
Hal

[aylad]

Or you can take the ad to WalMart and have them price-match it.

Janet

[DaveInPA]

I did not see an ad. I only saw it at the store.

What are the right questions to ask regarding additives?

[CarlD]

You can test it yourself. All you need is a glass eyedropper that measures 1 ml, a 5 gallon bucket, and an empty 2 liter soda bottle.

1) Fill the soda bottle (to the normal fill level) and pour it into the bucket. Do this five times until you have 10 liters (less than 5 gallons).

2) Use the eyedropper to add 1 ml of bleach to the water.

3) Mix

4) measure the bucket's FC--that number (say, 5.25ppm) will be EXACTLY the same as the bleach's strength--5.25% in our example.

[jstonemo]

Aldi's is still cheaper in my neck of the woods. $.99 for 96 oz. Not much cheaper, only about a few cents. Aldi's bleach is labeled as 6% strength.

Aldi's Bleach = $.0103 per oz.
KMart = $.0109 per oz.

I like Aldi's 96 oz. size because one bottle gives me exactly 3.5 ppm of FC in my pool. Downside is all of the bottles I have sitting around.

[Spensar]

I did not see an ad. I only saw it at the store.

What are the right questions to ask regarding additives?

I would really want to know the % of sodium hypochlorate. I would really be surprised if it isn't listed somewhere on the bottle, maybe not very clearly. Some grocery store generic brand bleach around here (Ottawa, Ontario) have 3.5% content and aren't cheaper than the Javex with 5.25%. I don't know if that nasty bit of marketing is in the US or not but I would be wary of a good price without knowing the strength of the product.

[CarlD]

I would really want to know the % of sodium hypochlorate. I would really be surprised if it isn't listed somewhere on the bottle, maybe not very clearly. Some grocery store generic brand bleach around here (Ottawa, Ontario) have 3.5% content and aren't cheaper than the Javex with 5.25%. I don't know if that nasty bit of marketing is in the US or not but I would be wary of a good price without knowing the strength of the product.

So, if you think it might be a good price, buy the smallest amount they have (like a quart or a half-liter) and test it as I indicated. At worst you are risking, what, 2 or 3 dollars? A best you'll find a cheaper source of chlorine and save a lot more.