Dichlor vs liquid bleach cost

[LS1M]

Can someone check my math? I have a 5900 gallon above-ground pool. If I use Dichlor, each 10oz puck will raise my FC by 7 ppm and my CYA by 5 ppm. So, over the course of a month, consuming 3 ppm FC daily, let's say I use 13 pucks. That will give me 91 ppm of chlorine and will raise my CYA by 65 ppm. Since I started at 50 ppm CYA, I'll need to drain & refill at least half of the pool water to get the CYA back to 50-60 ppm CYA. That's at least 3000 gallons of water. Based on recent water bills, at $28 per thousand gallons (includes sewer and taxes), that comes to $84 per month, not including the price of the pucks. Last time I bought a 25-lb bucket of Dichlor it was $100 (price has gone WAY up since then), that's 25 cents/oz, so 13 10oz pucks would be $32.50? Total monthly cost is $84 + 32.50 = $116.50 per month?

If I use liquid bleach, I can get a gallon of 10% chlorine at the local Walmart for about $6. Each gallon of bleach will raise my pool 17 ppm FC, so I'd end up using 5.35 gallons of 10% bleach to get the same 91 ppm of chlorine, at a total cost of $32. Unless something happens, likely the CYA will stay at 50 ppm, so no need for further chemicals.

If my math is right, I'm saving $84.50 a month MINIMUM by using a Stenner vs buying Dichlor and dealing with massive water changes. Or is there another way people deal with the CYA buildup? I see a *lot* of pools with Dichlor feeders.

TIA
-Mark

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Of course you didn't include the cost of the stenner pump? Which you can do without, of course.
I'd say Liquid Chlorine is the way to go for simplicity. What you add is the only thing you add....no unwanted chemicals that build up and cause problems (CYA or Calcium).
Shop around for the Liquid Chlorine- farm stores, hardware, Walmart pool section, Janitorial supply stores.....

Maddie

 

[Bperry]

Can someone check my math? I have a 5900 gallon above-ground pool. If I use Dichlor, each 10oz puck will raise my FC by 7 ppm and my CYA by 5 ppm. So, over the course of a month, consuming 3 ppm FC daily, let's say I use 13 pucks. That will give me 91 ppm of chlorine and will raise my CYA by 65 ppm. Since I started at 50 ppm CYA, I'll need to drain & refill at least half of the pool water to get the CYA back to 50-60 ppm CYA. That's at least 3000 gallons of water. Based on recent water bills, at $28 per thousand gallons (includes sewer and taxes), that comes to $84 per month, not including the price of the pucks. Last time I bought a 25-lb bucket of Dichlor it was $100 (price has gone WAY up since then), that's 25 cents/oz, so 13 10oz pucks would be $32.50? Total monthly cost is $84 + 32.50 = $116.50 per month?

If I use liquid bleach, I can get a gallon of 10% chlorine at the local Walmart for about $6. Each gallon of bleach will raise my pool 17 ppm FC, so I'd end up using 5.35 gallons of 10% bleach to get the same 91 ppm of chlorine, at a total cost of $32. Unless something happens, likely the CYA will stay at 50 ppm, so no need for further chemicals.

If my math is right, I'm saving $84.50 a month MINIMUM by using a Stenner vs buying Dichlor and dealing with massive water changes. Or is there another way people deal with the CYA buildup? I see a *lot* of pools with Dichlor feeders.

TIA
-Mark

You save even more using a salt water chlorine generator to generate your “liquid” chlorine onsite.

 

[LS1M]

The cheapest I’ve been able to find is the pool chlorine liquid at Walmart. And by now, that Stenner has paid for itself

 

[LS1M]

You save even more using a salt water chlorine generator to generate your “liquid” chlorine onsite.

You know, I haven’t had luck with the salt water generators. I originally had an Intex unit and it kept messing up. The Stenner is great. I have it on a timer I can set with my phone, and it never doesn’t work. Well, except for the time the tubing rotted in the heat, but I replaced it with the black UV tubing. And I suspect the salt water has made the pool poles rust earlier than if I had used plain water.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have not seen dichlor pucks.
Only trichlor which is what I think you mean. Generally dichlor is in granular form in the US.
The two chems are similar but not the same.
Dichlor adds more cya per ppm of fc than Trichlor does.
They are both quite acidic so most people also need to add baking soda regularly to prevent tanking their ta & ph when using these products.
Most trichlor 3” regular pucks are 8oz. Jumbo’s are usually 10oz.

The only way to reduce cya is to replace water.
It is much easier to control each parameter one at a time than it is to deal with the aftermath of using a product that affects multiple parameters all at once which is why liquid chlorine or a salt water chlorine generator is recommended for daily chlorination.

 

[Donldson]

I originally had an Intex unit and it kept messing up.

You get what you pay for: compare the price of the Intex to every other SWG on the market.

And no, your pool didn't rust faster because of there being salt in the water. Chlorinated water always has salt in it.

 

[Mdragger88]

You know, I haven’t had luck with the salt water generators. I originally had an Intex unit and it kept messing up. The Stenner is great. I have it on a timer I can set with my phone, and it never doesn’t work. Well, except for the time the tubing rotted in the heat, but I replaced it with the black UV tubing. And I suspect the salt water has made the pool poles rust earlier than if I had used plain water.

All forms of manually added chlorine add salt to the water. Many who don’t drain their pools for the winter/have little water exchange or are in an arid enviornment with lots of evaporation find that they have swcg levels of salt in their pool after a few seasons.

 

[Mdragger88]

All my intex units lasted around 3 seasons or so. I found them to be a good value for what they provided for the cost at the time.

 

[Newdude]

I found them to be a good value for what they provided for the cost at the time.

Some members used to hunt them on $99 clearance at the end of the season. It would have to be alot less perfect @ $99 for me to still be happy.

 

[Mdragger88]

Some members used to hunt them on $99 clearance at the end of the season. It would have to be alot less perfect @ $99 for me to still be happy.

The good ole days of getting one randomly for $75 are likely behind us but rest assured I am always keeping an eye out!