How To Add Chlorine Tablets To Your Pool
Owning a pool means spending a lot of time keeping the water clear of unwanted intruders. Whether youre learning how to keep ducks out of your pool, skimming away leaves and bugs, or researching how to kill algae in your pool, keeping things out of your water can seem like the most important job you have as a pool owner.
But as it turns out, its something you add to the water that makes the biggest difference. Sanitizer is one of the cornerstones of basic pool chemistry, and adding chlorine tablets is an easy way to introduce this essential chemical to your pool.
How To Use Chlorine Pucks
01/ 10/ 2016
Chlorine pucks have been a popular way of chlorinating your pool for quite some time now. By using chlorine pucks it reduces your chance of forgetting to add chlorine since the pucks slowly dissolve over time. This ensures that your pool keeps a constant chlorine level without much effort. All though this chlorination system is a life saver for some people, when not executed properly it could cause your pool more harm than good. Don’t worry though in this blog we will show you how to use chlorine pucks efficiently as well as a few tips and tricks that might be handy.
How Can You Test The Pool To Assess Its Chlorine’s Levels
There are 2 main ways people test their chlorine levels. The easiest method is to use test strips, and the most accurate way is to use testing kits.
Test Strips:Test strips usually consist of small containers with colour charts on the outside that are used to compare to the corresponding meaning found on the box. A test can be done by collecting a small amount of water in the cylindrical container and reading the chart. There is almost always a manual in the box that will indicate how much water to collect and how long to leave it before checking the scale for results. In order to use this to assess chlorine levels you will need to compare the colour that appears on the tube with the scale chart written on the box or in the instructions. These colours are usually just a guide and might not match the shade perfectly. The colour will then come with a scale of ppm that coincide with your chlorine levels and will indicate how much chlorine to add.
Test Kits:
For anyone looking for a reusable way to check chlorine levels, an electric tester meter is a mostly easy and automatic way to check a pools health. There are several affordable electronic devices available on the market that can check multiple readings at once, and do not need reagents, however, they are not as accurate at detecting chlorine levels as either test kits or test strips.
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One To Proper Chlorination: Choosing The Right Chlorine
This is where it gets technical. The ideal chlorine combination of your pool is between 1 and 3 parts per million . In order to kill pathogenic viruses, youll want to make sure your chlorine concentration doesnt fall below 1 ppm. Go above 3 ppm and while youre sure to wipe out bacteria, youre also vulnerable to that irritation in your eyes, nose, lungs, and throat. Now that youve got the numbers, its time to choose between stabilized or unstabilized chlorine for your pooland trust me, it wont take more than sixty seconds to find out.
Where To Buy Liquid Chlorine For Swimming Pool
Across the United States, you can purchase the liquid chlorine on Walmart and SamsClub. Other locations to look out for this product within the US include Alabama, Alaska, and Arizona.
You can also check for a local HASA dealer into the general sales of bulk liquid chlorine, even at a reasonable price. Some other locations are Arkansas, California, and Connecticut.
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What Happens If You Put Too Much Chlorine In A Hot Tub
If your chlorine level gets too high, it can irritate your skin, eyes, and respiratory system. It can also damage your hot tub by corroding its components, or bleaching the shell.
Since you can’t exactly remove chlorine from a hot tub once it’s been added, you might find it easiest to just wait until the level lowers naturallychlorine dissipates on its own pretty quickly.
But if you’re impatient, there are a couple of things you can do to speed up the process:
- Leave your cover off for couple hours: This will allow more water to evaporate into the air.
- Replace some of the water: You don’t need to drain all of the waterjust remove enough to allow for a couple inches of fresh water to be added. This should be enough to get your chlorine levels down.
Whether you decide to try these suggestions or just wait it out, you should avoid using the hot tub until the chlorine levels have come down enough to be safe.
Did you know? Chlorine should have barely any odor if used correctly. ‘Swimming pool smell’ is actually the result of chloramineschemical compounds released when the sanitizer mixes with unwanted contaminants.
If you ever experience a chemical odor from your chlorine spa that smells overpowering, it’s a sign you need to shock your water. This will kill the contaminants your chlorine has encountered, and convert it back to ‘free chlorine’ so it can be effective again.
How Much Chlorine To Add To A Pool
Having a crystal clear pool is great. But how much chlorine do you need exactly, and more importantly how often should you check it? Here’s what you need to know about pool maintenance and chlorine levels. Chlorine is one of the most important chemicals in any pool since it is used for sanitizing your water. But adding too much chlorine to your pool can have adverse consequences such as an uncomfortable swimming experience, dry skin and eyesight issues, which is why you need to know how much chlorine to add.
Chlorine is an essential tool in the fight against germs and bacteria, and keeping it at the right level ensures that your swimming pool is clean and sparkling.
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Leave The Pool Uncovered During Sunny Weather
Sunlight is chlorines number one enemy. Why? Because it burns chlorine right out of your water. Sometimes, faster than you can replace it:
Sunlight is so effective in reducing chlorine that a bright sunny day can reduce the chlorination level of a pool by 90 percent in just two hours.Sciencing
This is the exact reason why cyanuric acid exists. Its a chemical commonly added to chlorine that acts as a sunscreen against UV rays. With CYA, chlorine can withstand solar heat without immediately burning up.
With that said, the sun is also the same reason why many pool owners use solar covers. Covers help insulate pools and reduce chemical loss caused by evaporation.
Of course, if you dont use a cover, then your pool is at risk of both heat, and water loss. Which is exactly what you want when youre trying to lower swimming pool chlorine naturally.
So leave your pool uncovered on the hottest, sunniest day possible. Then retest your chlorine every 6 hours to keep track o changes.
You might need to refill the pool a little bit after, but only if your water line drops below mid skimmer level.
Should I Add Chlorine To A Saltwater Pool
Before I changed my non-saltwater pool to saltwater two years ago, I used to shock regularly.
Basically, a chlorine-based pool needs more maintenance than a saltwater pool. Unless there is an algae outbreak or a build-up of contaminants such as oil and soil, a saltwater pool does not need much treatment. This is because saltwater pools use chlorine generators to produce a chlorine compound similar to the chlorine in shock treatments.
Chlorine generators can be adjusted to increase the amount of chlorine in the pool, for instance, before heavy usage. However, this technically isn’t shocking. It is just a way to maintain chlorine at the recommended level.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the authors knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
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What Is Liquid Chlorine And What Is It Used For
Liquid chlorine is a form of chlorine where a very high level of chlorine gas is mixed with caustic soda to create a liquid product. The liquid chlorine is very highly concentrated because of the difference in the production of this product. Although some pool owners will use liquid chlorine at their homes, this pool sanitizer is used in commercial pools most of the time.
In a commercial pool, the liquid chlorination would come in large drums, and it would be administered to help keep chlorine levels stable in a large and high-use pool. Since it is a bit stronger, it can be smarter for a pool with higher bacteria levels.
Should I Check Water Chemistry During Winter
In most cases there is no need to test the water on a covered pool, with exception to a pool with new plaster or whitecoat, which tends to rise in pH level during the first year. In such cases, pull back the cover and test the pH and alkalinity each month, adjusting as needed before covering the pool again. Pool covers with drains to allow rain and snow melt to pass through may wish to check pH once or twice during winter, to prevent possible etching or scaling issues.
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When The Free Chlorine Level Goes Below 3 Ppm
The quantity of free chlorine in the water should be 3 ppm, which is also what the total chlorine level should be around. The combined chlorine level should always be maintained below 0.5 ppmor at 0.0 ppm, if possible.
- Free chlorine is the chlorine content that is unused, or “free” to do its job: cleaning and disinfecting your pool.
- Combined chlorine, or chloramine, is the result of the chlorine’s sanitizing action. Chloramine is formed from the combination of free chlorine and sweat, body oils, and urine, creating the infamous “pool smell” that people often attribute to chlorine. High levels of combined chlorine means there is less free chlorine to kill bacteria, parasites, and algae.
- Total chlorine is the sum of the free chlorine and combined chlorine contents.
Most test strips available on the market only measure free chlorine, but you also need to know values of total and/or combined chlorine before shocking your pool.
I use the Lamotte ColorQ Pro 11digital pool water test kit. I like this equipment since it is accurate, easy to use, and measures other pool chemicals and properties such as pH, bromine, cyanuric acid, and calcium hardness.
Important: Improper maintenance of pool chemistryespecially pH and cyanuric acid levelschanges the efficacy of chlorine, so make sure you use accurate equipment and frequently check your pool water’s chemistry.
If you find that the free chlorine level is lower than 3 ppm, it is time to shock your pool.
Do I Need To Use A Winter Pool Algaecide
Many good algaecides for summer use may not perform as well as our Winter Algaecide, which is formulated to hibernate until water temperatures rise again next spring. Copper algaecides should be avoided as overuse can lead to staining, and other summer algaecides are not long lasting. Algaecide 60 Plus is a lone exception, the polymer is a good alternate choice to our Winter Algaecide.
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The Key To Lowering Swimming Pool Chlorine
In short, high pool chlorine levels can be fixed in two major ways:
- Using up the excess chlorine
- Diluting your water
And in this post, we showed you 7 different ways to do that. So pick a method that fits your budget and timeline, and follow through. Youll be surprised how easy it is to fix this common mistake when you have the right approach.
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Pool Chlorine: What It Is How It Works & How To Use It
- |March 11, 2019
Lets face it, pool maintenance is no walk in the park, especially when it comes to learning the processes and ingredients that contribute to a clean and friendly pool.
If youre reading this, you probably know that chlorine is one of the most important ingredients so understanding what it is, how it works, why you need it, and how to use it effectively is a high priority.
This guide will arm you with all the pool chlorine knowledge you need to keep your pool water in pristine condition, so lets get right into it.
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When To Use Liquid Chlorine
Liquid chlorine is mostly used in pools that have a high level of swimmers. This type of chlorine will get your pool chlorine levels back to where they need to be faster than other types of granular chlorine. Even though this chemical may seem like the best choice, there are a few things about it that could cause you to think twice about using it.
The first problem is that liquid chlorine has a high pH of 13. When you add products with a high pH to your pool, you will need to add cyanuric acid to your pool to help lower the pH and bring it into range. The cyanuric acid works as a stabilizer to ensure that the products you just put in the pool will stay in place and truly clean it.
Another issue with liquid chlorine can be pits potency. With the choices you have on the market, the liquid chlorine will be one of the strongest, and therefore it can be a bit damaging. If you have a vinyl liner pool, you may notice that the continued application of liquid chlorine is starting to stain or fade the pool walls.
In addition, liquid chlorine has been known to erode and break down pool walls. Typically if you follow the proper procedures when putting the liquid chlorine in the pool, you shouldnât have these issues. Itâs just important to know the downsides of the liquid chlorine before making this the choice for your pool.
How Much Liquid Chlorine Needed For 20000
The general and ideal measure of the pool water balance against chlorine is always expected to be between the range of 1 to 3 Parts Per Million .
It implies that whether for a 20000-gallon pool, for 15000-gallon pool, or a 10000-gallon pool, you will be required to have chlorine of about 0.00013 ounces per gallon of pool water.
You will also need to calculate the amount of chlorine required to chlorinate your swimming pool super since different pools have various kinds of sizes.
Since most of the products you will purchase at the store will be mostly best suited for the swimming pool with the 10,000 gallons of pool water capacity, it simply means for a 20000-gallon pool you will buy a double of the products.
Doing this is just the wisest and most rational decision to make. You will not need to rack your brain and disturb yourself about calculations on the amount of liquid chlorine to use for this kind of large pool.
Just in case you are feeling or getting confused, follow the instructions on the product on how much liquid chlorine to add to raise the treatment level to your taste, especially to the volume of pool water available to you. It would be best if you did this after calculating the size of the pool, as this will help determine the number of gallons it contains.
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First Things First: What Exactly Is Chlorine
Chlorine is basically a household nameand for a reason. Its by far the most popular pool sanitizer, mainly because its both wildly effective and wildly inexpensive, a combination anyone should love. Its also exceptionally safe, as long as the dosage is right. Its even used for drinking water when dosed down. Basically, if youre in the ballpark of the right amount of chlorine for your pool, youll kill all the bacteria you need to and wont irritate your skin, eyes, and throat.
Chlorine is a chemical compoundbut that doesnt mean you had to have aced high school chemistry class to understand it. The solid form of chlorine is sodium hypochlorite, and the liquid form is calcium hypochlorite. And despite popular misconception, you dont need a different type of chlorine for an above ground versus in-ground pool. Sound good? Lets move on.
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What Is The Best Chlorine For A Hot Tub
There are different types of chlorine you can add to a hot tub, but the safest and most effective form is concentrated granules specifically designed for spas, like this Chlorinating Concentrate from SpaGuard:
This kind of granular chlorine is readily available online or at most pool or spa stores, and it’s what most people will recommend you use.
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What Is The Best Way To Add Chlorine To A Pool
Since it kills bacteria and viruses, chlorine is an essential pool additive. It comes in four different forms: tablets, sticks, granules, and liquid.
Granular chlorine may be spread over the pool or added to a skimmer. Dichlor chlorine comes with a small grain size and will rapidly dissolve, so there is no need to dissolve it. Before adding to your skimmer.
Cal-hypo chlorine is bigger grains and has to be dissolved in water, or your pool lining will be bleached.
If you are adding chlorine granules into your skimmer, you can do so with these steps
