Can you use Clorox to clean an above ground pool?

Answer 1

<ul><li>We have used regular bleach for many years on our 28 foot round above-ground pool. We recently bought a house with a 20 x 40 in ground pool. We are using regular bleach upon opening this year too. The above ground had a a "torpedo" filter with accordian (sp) filter. This one has the round sand filter. So far so good. All of our testing came out good as well.</li></ul><br /> More input from FAQ Farmers: <ul><li>My opinion is yes. The reason is that liquid shock is 12.5% sodium hypochlorite. Clorox bleach is 5.95% sodium hypochlorite. It's the same stuff just a lower concentration. I also use it myself.</li></ul><ul><li>NO, please do not do this, I did it 2 years ago and the pool people could not figure out why I could not get the green out of my pool, I finally had to break down and tell them I used household bleach, so they never knew to look for ammonia in the pool, well, when they tested for ammonia, the levels were to the roof, because the heat makes it go even higher, had to drain whole pool and start over.</li></ul><ul><li>The above is 100% WRONG. There is no ammonia in bleach. If you had any Cl in the pool, the ammonia would have been instantly oxidized to a combined chlorine. Sounds to me like you let your Cl run out and had something peeing in the pool, like a horse or cow. :D</li></ul><ul><li>Dont be so cheap. Clorox is less than half the concentration of liquid shock. use the real stuff and you wont have problems.</li></ul><ul><li>The various brands of "pool" chlorine are at best just concentrated calcium hypochlorite atworst they add a bunch of "enhancers" which seem ot only enhance their bottom line.</li></ul><ul><li>It takes a little more work using household chemicals but the cost savings are significant.</li></ul><ul><li>We have an in-ground pool about the size of the one mentioned above. This is just my two cents, but usually the people that tell you <b>not</b> to use Clorox are pool supply stores or maintenance people! They call this the <i>"hillbilly solution"</i> primarily because granulated shock can run up to $200 a bucket whereas the same amount of Clorox might cost you $15... they make no money if you are buying Clorox at the Dollar Store. That being said, <b>we personally</b> only use Clorox in the fall and winter months when nobody is swimming. In my opinion... if your intention is just to keep the water clear, by all means use Clorox. If someone is actually going to be swimming I would use the real stuff. There's no evidence that using Clorox during swimming months will harm anyone, and it by no means harms your pool or equipment... but we just feel safer with the real stuff. <b>That being said, don't let your pool guy talk you into buying hundreds of dollars worth of chemical from him in the winter when Clorox does the same thing!</b></li></ul><ul><li>Having worked in the pool industry for many years, here is my opinion. Yes, pool companies are out to make money. It's a fact, but it is business. Second, I would NOT recommend using standard Clorox as a sanitizer because it is as best a 10% aqueous solution of hypochlorus acid. Normal pool shock, Calcium Hypochlorite, is on average 67% concentration. I sold 1Lb bags for $3.99, or 25LB buckets for $87.99. 1 LB per 10,000 gallons per week, along with 1 chlorine tablet per 5,000 gallons per week. This in conjunction with a proper algaecide, 24/7 filtering, and proper water balance (pH, Alk, calcium hardness, phosphate levels, and conditioner) you should have no problems keeping you</li></ul><ul><li>There is a ton of misinformation in the posts above. Clorox is roughly 6% sodium hypochlorite and the rest is water with a tiny bit of salt. Liquid pool chlorine is normally 10-12% sodium hypochlorite and the rest is water with a tiny bit of salt. THEY ARE IDENTICAL except for strength. Clorox is and has been used in thousands of pools daily. It's not neccesarily cheaper, but frequently more convenient. More importantly, Sodium hypochlorite is, by far, the BEST thing you can sanizite a pool with. Simply because nothing gets added to your pool except the little bit of salt. All other forms of chlorine add other things to your pool....many of which can accumulate over time and cause unwanted side effects.</li></ul><br /><br /> Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite, just not as strong as pool shock or pool chlorine. <br /> It takes 3 to 4 times as much bleach to equal one gallon of pool chlorine in our swimming pool. This means you need to add 3 to 4 gallons of Clorox for every gallon of pool chlorine you normally add. Really, it is not cost effective, but will work, in a pinch. <br /><ul><li>Bleach will work fine (chlorine is chlorine, after all). However, bleach is very basic, and will raise the pH of the pool. I use it occasionally in my own pool, but only if I want to raise the pH at the same time. Don't use it if your pH is already too high, or you'll have to add some acid to bring the pH back down. Other chlorine sources, such as tablets or powder, don't increase the pH significantly.</li><li>First let me say that I have worked in commercial pool maintenance, retail pool spa sales, and have been a moderator on two different pool and spa forums and currently still a moderator on one. Second, let me say that chlorine bleach is fine to use in a pool, it is actually fairly pH neutral in use ( alkaline when it goes in and acidic when it sanitizes so the net effect is pH neutral. Most pH rise in pools is caused by outgassing of CO2).</li></ul><br /><br /> Ultra bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite, standard bleach is 5.25%, bargain bleach around 3%. Liquid pool chloirine or shock is sold in 6%, 10% and 12.5% strengths with the last two being most common. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE AMOUNT NEEDED! <br /><br /> There are basically two groups of chlorine used in pools): the chlorinated isocaynurates (trichlor and dichlor) which often result in ovestabilized pools and the subsequent problems (persistent algae and cloudy water often treated with algaecide, phosphate remover, and clarifier -which would be unnecessary if proper water maintenance guidelines are followed by limiting the cyanuric acid buildup by periodic draining and filling but it would also cut into the retailer's bottom line!) These are both acidic so the eat up total alkalinity and pH crashes are not uncommon. <br /><br /> Unstabilized (Inorganic) hyopchlorites (sodium, lithium, calcium) which have the least impact on pool chemistry. However, the last one will cause calcium hardness to increase, which can be a problem that leads to scaling and staining. <br /><br /> As far as cost comparison...One gallon of 6% household bleach will raise the FC by about 6 ppm in 10k gallons of water. One pound of 43% cal hypo shock (the most common kind sold these days) will raise the FC in 10k gallons of water by the about same amount. The price differential is great, however with the bleach costing about half as much in most localities! <br /><br /> One thing to realize if using unstabilized chlorine sources in an outdoor pool. You MUST add stabilizer to the water to around 50 ppm to keep the chlorine from being destroyed by UV from the sun. IF you don't the chlorine will not last very long in the pool (you will lose about half of it every 30 minutes) and this could cause algae outbreaks to occur and other problems. However, having a proper stabilizer level in the water and testing for it on a regular basis is just a normal part of proper pool maintenance, whether using a stabilized or unstabilized chlorine source! <br /><br /><ul><li>First let me say that I have worked in commercial pool maintenance, retail pool spa sales, and have been a moderator on two different pool and spa forums and currently still a moderator on one. Second, let me say that chlorine bleach is fine to use in a pool, it is actually fairly pH neutral in use ( alkaline when it goes in and acidic when it sanitizes so the net effect is pH neutral. Most pH rise in pools is caused by outgassing of CO2).</li></ul><br /><br /> Ultra bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite, standard bleach is 5.25%, bargain bleach around 3%. Liquid pool chloirine or shock is sold in 6%, 10% and 12.5% strengths with the last two being most common. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE AMOUNT NEEDED! <br /><br /> There are basically two groups of chlorine used in pools): the chlorinated isocaynurates (trichlor and dichlor) which often result in ovestabilized pools and the subsequent problems (persistent algae and cloudy water often treated with algaecide, phosphate remover, and clarifier -which would be unnecessary if proper water maintenance guidelines are followed by limiting the cyanuric acid buildup by periodic draining and filling but it would also cut into the retailer's bottom line!) These are both acidic so the eat up total alkalinity and pH crashes are not uncommon. <br /><br /> Unstabilized (Inorganic) hyopchlorites (sodium, lithium, calcium) which have the least impact on pool chemistry. However, the last one will cause calcium hardness to increase, which can be a problem that leads to scaling and staining. <br /><br /> As far as cost comparison...One gallon of 6% household bleach will raise the FC by about 6 ppm in 10k gallons of water. One pound of 43% cal hypo shock (the most common kind sold these days) will raise the FC in 10k gallons of water by the about same amount. The price differential is great, however with the bleach costing about half as much in most localities! <br /><br /> One thing to realize if using unstabilized chlorine sources in an outdoor pool. You MUST add stabilizer to the water to around 50 ppm to keep the chlorine from being destroyed by UV from the sun. IF you don't the chlorine will not last very long in the pool (you will lose about half of it every 30 minutes) and this could cause algae outbreaks to occur and other problems. However, having a proper stabilizer level in the water and testing for it on a regular basis is just a normal part of proper pool maintenance, whether using a stabilized or unstabilized chlorine source!

€Someone names Lazarus deleted this entire post so I broguth it back to as close to the original as I could. )

Answer 2

We have a four foot above ground Intex pool and used just bleach in general and it was clear within 3 hours. We put 8 gallons in our pool. Make sure to check your levels on everything else too!

Answer 3

Yes!!!! I've owned and maintained pools for over 30 years. The last 5 years I've used baking soda and Chlorox for sanitizing and it works the best. I have a 16,000 gal pool with a sand filter. Every three days or so I add one gallon of bleach. If we are away for a week or longer I do use Chlorine Tabs in the skimmer then add 2 gallons of bleach when I return. the water is crystal clear. I used baqucil one season about 9 years ago. Very expensive and water was always cloudy. I found this was because the pool was topped off with township water which contains Chorine. If chorine is added to a baqucil pool you get green cloudy water. Hope this was helpful.

Answer 4

Yes, except that Clorox bleach (or any other grocery-store liquid chlorine bleach) is not very concentrated. It would cost a LOT to add enough Clorox to be effective in a swimming pool.

The chlorine granules sold specifically for sanitizing water in hot tubs or Swimming Pools are much more cost-effective.

For the record, chlorine is poisonous in high concentrations, whether in the form of gas, granules or liquid. But when properly diluted in a swimming pool (or municipal water supply), chlorine is safe.

Answer 5

In a word, NO!!!!!

The ONLY Clorox product you can use in a pool is plain, unscented, unthickened chlorine bleach with NO additional additives (like outdoor bleach which contains detergents or some of their other 'specialty" bleaches)!

To removes stains from a vinyl liner pool you have to first determine if the stain is metal (from algaecides or other sources) or organic (from leaves or algae) since they are treated very differently and what will help one can make the other worse!

Answer 6

No, under no circumstances should one use bowl cleaner in a pool.

Why, did someone take a dump in the pool?

Answer 7

yes but the amount you will need makes it worth buying shock

Answer 8

Probably not get proper pool supplies from your local manufactuar

Answer 9

Yes

Answer 10

Can I use bleach for chlorine in pool