Bleach

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
GottiJr
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Bleach

Postby GottiJr » Mon 07 Aug, 2006 09:25

Is clorox bleach the same as chlorine. A neighbor told me to just add that to my 13x30 pop up pool to save money. Im not sure about this, is it really the same thing as chlorine tablets? Thanks

P.S. I posted this under a different section (chlorine alt.) but since no one visits that really and I needed a answer i posted it here. Sorry.


HABS_SD

Bleach

Postby HABS_SD » Wed 09 Aug, 2006 08:05

Hi,

I am a pool owner as of last Monday, and everything was working fine. Last Friday and Saturday following huge rain spells, I woke up to a green pool Sunday morning, which has been getting consistently darker since.

I did some research on the topic, and bleach does work. Down side is it can be messy, but they were selling 2gallons for $1 at my local store here, so I opted for the bleach.

I’ve read that you should use 1 gal of bleach for 1000 gal of water. However you should not use bleach for regular chlorination, only shocking purposes.

Keep in mind I am not an expert and base all this info on my research. I have a 16,000 gal above ground pool. I dumped 18 gallons (just to be safe) of bleach last night in to it. This morning when I woke up it was much clearer, but not yet clean. I’m hoping that when I get home all that will be left will be the dead algae to vacuum off the bottom. I’ll let you know how it works tomorrow.
GottiJr
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Postby GottiJr » Wed 09 Aug, 2006 15:23

Cool. please let us know how it worked. Im curious did anyone tell you why you shouldnt use bleach as an alternative to chlorine? Thanks in advance.
HABS_SD

Bleach

Postby HABS_SD » Wed 09 Aug, 2006 15:59

Some reasons are that it can be very messy, and it can cost more than chlorine if you're buying an expensive brand at full price. I was lucky and got it at 0.50cents CDN per gallon, so definitely cheaper.

Main reason why you can't use it for regular use instead of chlorine is simply because it dissolves completely, unlike chlorine tablets or granules that dissolve slowly. This is why it is good for shock treatment, but poses too much work and grief for daily use.
GottiJr
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Postby GottiJr » Wed 09 Aug, 2006 16:21

Hi, oh ok cool. I just wanted to make sure they didnt say anything about it being harmful to swimmers if you used just bleach instead of chlorine.
HABS_SD

Bleach

Postby HABS_SD » Thu 10 Aug, 2006 08:17

GottiJr wrote:Hi, oh ok cool. I just wanted to make sure they didnt say anything about it being harmful to swimmers if you used just bleach instead of chlorine.


Well keep in mind not to swim while you are shocking. Wait until chlorine levels are back to normal.

GottiJr wrote:Cool. please let us know how it worked. Im curious did anyone tell you why you shouldnt use bleach as an alternative to chlorine? Thanks in advance.


And now to answer the big question. I got home last night and checked the pool (at this point it had been 24hrs since I put a little over 1gal of bleach per 1000 gal of water).

Behold blue water! I was amazed at how much it had changed since the morning. All the dead algae had sedimented to the bottom. I immediately back-washed the filter and rinsed. I did this before vacuuming the bottom, because I wanted the filter to be clean to catch all the dead algae which would stir in to the pool while vacuuming.

When I finished vacuuming, I checked the chemistry of the water. Had good alkalinity, stabilizer and ph, and the chlorine was just above the acceptable range (which was great because I knew I still had free chlorine in the pool to work with to get the straggler algae!).

There was so much dead algae in the pool that when I vacuumed the bottom, a lot of it stirred back in to the pool and the water became a lagoon shade of blue. Knowing I was close to perfection, I didn’t want to chance it and gave it another dose of shock (but kept it to a lower amount since I already had significant free chlorine in the pool).

Pump ran all night and I woke up this morning to crystal clear water. Before I left for work I back-washed and rinsed the filter again, and tested the water. Chlorine levels were at same level as before the shock, which means there was still some algae left to combat (good call about the shock the night before!). By the time I get home tonight all should settle down, and pending a chemical test, I am looking forward to enjoying my beautiful and inviting pool, which I have not done in 5 days.

Hope my story helps. If you have any other questions about bleach or algae problems, just let me know.

This is one happy pool owner signing off :D
pk4217
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Bleach

Postby pk4217 » Fri 18 Aug, 2006 23:05

GottiJr wrote:Hi, oh ok cool. I just wanted to make sure they didnt say anything about it being harmful to swimmers if you used just bleach instead of chlorine.


bleach = sodium hypo = liquid chlorine in pool store, the difference is the concentration of chlorine. normally 12% or 10% being sold in the pool store, and 5% or 6% in grocery store.

1 gal bleach of 6% will give 10000 gal water 6ppm of chlorine, and 60ppm on 1000 gal water.

bleach will give you problem because it has a pH value above 11 and it'll raise your pH. so you need to add dry acid or muriatic acid to adjust the pH after using bleach.

calcium hypo also have high pH, but the effect on the pH of water is less than bleach, mostly because the amount being used.

trichlor has pH value below 3, and it'll lower pH of water after used. and trichlor has 55% of cyanuric acid, it'll raise CYA of the water.
rdw

yes bleach can be used to maintain your pool

Postby rdw » Tue 05 Sep, 2006 19:02

I would recommend you household products to use.


My pool looks the best it has all summer, just using bleach!
the pool doctor

bleach

Postby the pool doctor » Wed 04 Oct, 2006 19:02

chlorox or liquid pool shock are both sodium hypochloride. the thing about sodium hypochloride is it does not contain stabilizer or cyanuric acid which prevents the suns uv rays from breaking down or dissipating chlorine so it can sanitize water.it should be used after dark for best results.the liquid pool shock sold in yellow jugs is several times stronger than regular bleach.hope this helps
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Postby srobidoux » Sun 09 Mar, 2008 19:34

Shouldn't he have used 1.8 gal and not 18? Seems like 18 would drive the neighbors away.

pk4217 wrote:
GottiJr wrote:Hi, oh ok cool. I just wanted to make sure they didnt say anything about it being harmful to swimmers if you used just bleach instead of chlorine.


bleach = sodium hypo = liquid chlorine in pool store, the difference is the concentration of chlorine. normally 12% or 10% being sold in the pool store, and 5% or 6% in grocery store.

1 gal bleach of 6% will give 10000 gal water 6ppm of chlorine, and 60ppm on 1000 gal water.

bleach will give you problem because it has a pH value above 11 and it'll raise your pH. so you need to add dry acid or muriatic acid to adjust the pH after using bleach.

calcium hypo also have high pH, but the effect on the pH of water is less than bleach, mostly because the amount being used.

trichlor has pH value below 3, and it'll lower pH of water after used. and trichlor has 55% of cyanuric acid, it'll raise CYA of the water.
chem geek
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Postby chem geek » Sun 09 Mar, 2008 20:27

The 1 gallon of bleach per 1,000 gallons, if the bleach were Clorox Regular or an off-brand Ultra at 6% concentration, would raise the FC to nearly 62 ppm so would be WAY too high. You are correct that it probably should have been 1 gallon of bleach per 10,000 gallons which would raise the FC by 6.2 ppm which is far more reasonable (assuming there is some CYA in the water).

Also, it is not true that bleach or chlorinating liquid will raise the pH permanently. It does raise it upon initial addition, but the usage of chlorine from breakdown from sunlight and oxidation of ammonia/urea and organics is an acidic process that exactly compensates for the pH rise (except for a SMALL rise from excess lye). Technical details of this may be found here.

If the pH rises when using bleach or chlorinating liquid on an ongoing basis, then it is due to outgassing of carbon dioxide (pools are intentionally over-carbonated to provide a pH buffer and prevent dissolving of plaster) and the solution is to lower the TA level which reduces the tendency of the pH to rise. I only use 12.5% chlorinating liquid in my own pool (no other chemicals) and my pH is rock solid over time. I also have an opaque electric safety cover so the outgassing of carbon dioxide is minimized (and I keep my TA at 80). Even with use 5 days a week, I only need to add chlorine twice a week as it only uses around 1 ppm FC per day (since the opaque cover keeps out the UV rays of the sun when the cover is closed).

Richard
slprncess

Bleach

Postby slprncess » Sat 24 May, 2008 20:13

I have posted another post about algae in my pool and I am trying to get rid of. I have purchased new system 3 filters and am wondering how i should tackle this. Should I drain or try to clear up with the new filters and chlorine or bleach? I have read that bleach is much less expensive then liquid chlorine. How much bleach should I use to clear up my pool? It is between 15-25,000 gallons. Sorry havent exactly measured. I really dont know how to measure. This is just a assumption.

Please help!!
chem geek
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Bleach

Postby chem geek » Sun 25 May, 2008 05:42

Use The Pool Calculator to figure out how much chlorine to add. Chlorinating liquid is not always that much more expensive than bleach. First of all, you should only be looking at bleach that says its concentration such as 6% for Clorox Regular or off-brand Ultra (off-brand Regular is sometimes 3% or less). Second, realize that 12.5% chlorinating liquid at $3.65 per gallon (the price I pay for what I use) is equivalent to $1.35 per 96-ounce (3/4 gallon) jug of bleach.
slprncess

Bleach

Postby slprncess » Sun 25 May, 2008 15:07

chem geek wrote:Use The Pool Calculator to figure out how much chlorine to add. Chlorinating liquid is not always that much more expensive than bleach. First of all, you should only be looking at bleach that says its concentration such as 6% for Clorox Regular or off-brand Ultra (off-brand Regular is sometimes 3% or less). Second, realize that 12.5% chlorinating liquid at $3.65 per gallon (the price I pay for what I use) is equivalent to $1.35 per 96-ounce (3/4 gallon) jug of bleach.


Would you suggest just trying to clear up with chlorine or should i drain if it is that bad? i dont want to spend all this money on chlorine for it to do nothing!
sqompy

pool turning green already

Postby sqompy » Wed 16 Jul, 2008 08:37

I have just replaced my liner and started filling my pool (27Ft round). It is not even half full and already has a tint of green. This happens every year no matter what I do the darn thing turns green. The pool place just keeps telling me to use the shock (granules) and it does nothing. Should I try to put bleach in the pool now before it gets any worse? How much bleach should I put in 18,400 gal water?

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