Bleach,baking Soda,borax?

[randypape]

hello, i read somewhere that this is all you need to take care of my inground pool. i can't find where this was where it talks about these and how to use them. any help. thanks Randy

[Pool-newb]

The links are in my signature, you'll probably need a little bit of muriatic acid.

Read through the pool school first to understand the concept, then use the pool calculator to determine how much of everything you need.

Enjoy!

[imnay]

I guess there are a lot of different ways to express the simple basics of pool water management.

Our over 20 year experience of VERY successful pool water management based on what we were originally told by our pool installer all those years ago.

Use a simple test kit.

Keep the PH in good range - if a bit low add bicarb of soda - if a bit high add muriatic acid.

Keep Alkalinity in good range - if a bit low add soda ash - if a bit high add muriatic acid.

Thoroughly shock with liquid chlorine - on the rare occasions that the available chlorine gets bound up it will take more liquid chlorine to achieve a true and complete shock reading with the test kit - once shocked you are okay.

Keep sanitizer of choice level always in the good range - our choice is chlorine via tabs in our in-line chlorinator.

Never fail to regularly add algaecide and if you fail here and algae begins to bllm then just do a complete shock.

We choose to use liquid chlorine from our hardware store instead of grocery store type bleach - your choice.

We buy bicarbonate of soda in 50 lb bags at our nearby hardware -store for $ 19.00 which is a lot less expensive that buying grocery baking soda.

We buy soda ash in 50 lb bags at the hardware store for $19.00 - way cheaper than borax.

We use two week rated algacide - some say three or six month is even more cost effective - your choice.

Add algaecide to your forumla of bleach, B.soda and borax and you are onto the very simple formula of successful pool water management. We have never had to add any other substances to our 20k plus gallon pool and we always have crystal clear water.

[chem geek]

As I noted in the other thread, the use of algaecide, especially PolyQuat 60 which doesn't foam, will prevent algae growth even if your chlorine level (or FC/CYA ratio) gets too low. This is extra cost, but around $2-3 per week or so for a typical pool. Also, Trichlor pucks are acidic so require pH Up or baking soda (or a combination) to manage the pH and TA. In my own pool where I use only chlorinating liquid, my pH is stable enough to only add a small amount of acid every month or two and the TA is stable as well.

However, you HAVE to use the algaecide weekly without fail. In my own pool when I started out 6 years ago, I used Trichlor pucks in a floating feeder. After just 1-1/2 seasons of use and only around 0.8 ppm FC per day chlorine usage during the 7-month summer seasons, I ended up with 150 ppm CYA and I got an unusual chlorine demand where I couldn't keep up with the Trichlor pucks. Shocking only temporarily solved the problem and eventually the water started to turn dull. This was impending algae getting ready to bloom. I was only using algaecide every other week. Had I used it every week, I would have postponed the problems perhaps for another year or so, but at some point I suspect the higher CYA level would have been a problem. I have a cartridge filter so no backwashing and at the time I had a pool cover pump and did not have the winter rains overflow the pool to dilute the water.

For those with cartridge filters and who cover their pool and have a pump cover so don't have rain overflow, the water may not get diluted very much so eventually over the years one can run into problems. That's why I asked whether you backwashed a filter or had rain overflow or otherwise diluted the water periodically.

I think you got your baking soda and soda ash backwards since baking soda is used mostly to raise the TA while soda ash is used mostly to raise the pH, though it raises TA as well (to raise pH with half the rise in TA, one can use 20 Mule Team Borax).

Speaking of Borax, an alternative algaecide is to have 50 ppm Borates in the pool, but it's not clear if it's as effective as a regular weekly algaecide -- I suspect it's better than nothing, but not as good as a regular algaecide.

[randypape]

thanks for all the great info :-) and replies Randy