Owning a pool is great, it means hours of fun in the sun with friends and family. However, it is also an investment that requires maintenance and care. Without proper maintenance and care, chances are you will have problems with your pool, which can not only be costly but can keep your pool out-of-service for periods. Pool chemicals are expensive and not everyone lives right by a quality pool supply store. Are there any alternatives to using pool-specific chlorine to keep your pool sanitized?
Can You Use Household Bleach In A Pool?
Technically, you can use household bleach as a means to sanitize your pool in a pinch, but it is best to use pool-grade chlorine in your pool as it has higher concentrations of chlorine, giving it the sanitizing capabilities needed to keep your pool clean and safe. If you are simply using straight chlorine bleach, you will need to take some additional steps to ensure that the water maintains proper levels and keeps your pool water clean.
Using Chlorine to Sanitize Pool Water
Chlorine is the most important chemical used in a pool. This is what keeps the water sanitized and free of potentially-dangerous pathogens and other nasties. Failing to keep your water properly chlorinated can make it dangerous to swim in and can even cause damage to the physical components of the pool system. Chlorine is a pretty simple chemical. It is negatively charged, this means it can destroy the outer membranes on microbes, which then kills them. This renders the bacteria, algae, mold, or other substances inert and completely harmless where they can then be filtered out of the water via the filtration system.
Household Bleach Versus Pool-Grade Chlorine
Traditional household bleach is a much weaker form of chlorine like that used in your pool. The biggest difference between household bleach and pool-grade chlorine is the strength of the chlorine in the solution. Household bleaches may also have other additives including fragrance, which is bad for your pool system. Pool-grade bleach is stronger and designed to stay in your water as long as possible, amplifying the sanitizing power of the chlorine.
If you use erosion tablets rather than liquid chlorine, these might contain other substances such as algaecides and something usually called dichlor or trichlor. Dichlor and trichlor are substances added to the erosion tablets that help the chlorine stabilize. This stabilizer can, at times, lead to problems. It can build up in your water over time, which can cause any chlorine added to the pool to bind with the stabilizer, making it unable to sterilize the water. This is why many pool experts recommend using simple pool-grade liquid chlorine and not these erosion pucks that have a ton of other additives in them.
- Eliminate bacteria, algae, and other organic contaminants, keeping your pool clean and clear all season long.
- 99% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione and 90% available stabilized chlorine.
- Dissolve slower helping you to avoid inconsistent chlorination.
- Sun-stabilized protecting it from the sun's harmful rays.
- Ideal size for floaters or automatic feeders.
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The Importance of Stabilizers
Stabilizers, which we discussed above, can cause some issues, but they are also pretty important for your pool. A stabilizer will help keep the chlorine from breaking down in the sunlight. Sunlight is a well-known contributor to killing chlorine in pools. Long periods of intense sunlight may even require you to adjust your chemical levels and increase the amount of chlorine being pumped into your pool to keep up with chlorine degradation. You can tell if you need to adjust based on regular water tests. If your water has been showing low chlorine for days on end when it has been super sunny, there is a good chance you need to up your levels and add a bit of stabilizer.
You will need to use a bit of stabilizer along with your liquid chlorine bleach. This will make it easier for the chlorine to stay active in the water, keeping it clean and safe. Unlike erosion tablets, you have control of the amount of stabilizer you put in the water, meaning you are less likely to end up with really high levels of stabilizer that make it difficult to keep your chemical levels in balance. Most experts recommend adding chlorine to your water daily after sunset if you do not have an automatic feeder system. There are tons of calculators available online that will let you put in the exact measurements of your pool to determine the amount of chlorine that you will need to add.
- Stabilizes chlorine to maximize sanitizer performance
- Prevents chlorine loss from sunlight degradation
- Enables chlorine to last longer
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The Bottom Line
Yes, pool supply stores are out to make money: that is what they are there for. This means that some of the products they sell are unnecessary and maybe even counterproductive. It takes some time and knows how to know what you need and what is a waste of money. However, it must be said that the bleach you can buy at the local grocery store is not the same thing as what you get from a pool supply store. Household bleach is a much weaker form of bleach and may have other additives that are not safe for pool systems. It also simply takes a lot more household bleach to sanitize a pool than it does pool-grade chlorine. Any savings you might glean is likely to be offset by how much extra household bleach it takes to keep things sanitized.
I have seen a lot of articles out there claiming that household bleach is just as safe and effective as pool-grade chlorine and that simply isn’t true. Yes, it is cheaper, but that is due to the reduced strength of the chemicals. Using household chlorine might seem cheaper, but chances are it will lead to constant chemical management or an inability to keep your levels in balance. Household chlorine may work in a pinch but it should not be used as the primary means of keeping your pool safe.
Liquid pool-grade chlorine bleach is the best way to keep your pool safe and sanitized. There is no “set it and forget it” with pools. They will always require care and adjustment with changes in condition such as long periods of intense sunlight or long periods of rain. Regular water tests, pool cleaning, maintenance, and the like are imperative.
No matter what you use to keep your pool clean and sanitized, you must regularly test your water to make sure that your chemicals are in balance. Changes in the weather, the number of swimmers in your pool, and more can have a huge effect on the chemical needs of your pool and it is vital that you keep it sanitized or it will not be safe to swim in.