How long after using bleach can I go swimming?

[Litoq]

I took the plunge and started using bleach instead of the tablets and such due to high CYA levels. I partially drained and refilled the pool and now everything is ok. Since Im using bleach now, should I be adding it at night and wait till the next day to go swimming or can I add it anytime like the tablets? If I can add it anytime, do I have to wait a few hours with the filtration system running before swimming? I have been adding it at night just to be safe but when I come home from work the next day (around 4pm), chlorine levels drop big time.

[Daniel mc Daid]

Is it a liquid bleac your using i will take it that you are . The prob with this is that it goes straight into your pool straight away and your levels will can sky rocket and leave it unsafe to use untill the levels come down. what you need to do is add in a smaller amount more often so it keeps your pool sanitised but thje levels are still ok to swim in.
To be honest i wouldnt recomend anybody using bleach at all as it can spill and if not stored correctly can be very dangerous and make sure the container you buy it in is air tight

[Guest]

Always add your liquid chlorine at night. If you're not making it past 4p.m. the next day, add more. I can usually make it to the second night but HAVE to ADD that night.

I (personally) allow people to swim the day after a shock. My dad use to let us swim in the public pool he once took care of at 10 ppm. We have never had a problem and do the same thing here.

As for not using bleach...
MUAHAHAHAHAH!
I'm going to go shock with liquid now!

[Backglass]

To be honest i wouldnt recomend anybody using bleach at all as it can spill and if not stored correctly can be very dangerous and make sure the container you buy it in is air tight

Your kidding...right? Perhaps you could explain what the safety difference is in using bleach in your laundry room and bleach in your pool area?

Liquid Chlorine ("Liquid Shock" from the pool store, "Bleach" from the grocery store) is the way to go. No extra stabilizers to mess up your pool, 1/4 the cost, available everywhere, does a fantastic job.

If you would rather pay triple at the pool store for the exact same thing however...go for it.

[Maggie33]

To be honest i wouldnt recomend anybody using bleach at all as it can spill and if not stored correctly can be very dangerous and make sure the container you buy it in is air tight

That's why I don let my kids go through the laundry detergent aisle. I also only buy Tide without bleach powder because I'm afraid of spilling it on my clothes.

[Pool Man]

To be honest i wouldnt recomend anybody using bleach at all as it can spill and if not stored correctly can be very dangerous and make sure the container you buy it in is air tight

You obviously have a lot of money to spend on pool store chemicals. BTW bleach is chlorine. If you use 6% concentrated bleach (on the shelf at Walmart) it is much safer to store than chlorine tablets, etc and doesn't need the dozen or so more chemicals that the pool store says you "need":evil: . I only have 3 "chemicals" stored at my house for my pool: bleach, borax, baking soda. All three are sold in the laundry aisle at Walmart. Stop believing what you are told in the pool store-they use you to make their money.

Litoq- If your chlorine levels are burning off quickly, check your CYA. If your CYA is to low or to high, your chlorine will burn off quickly. Also, if you are fighting something in your pool (algae, etc) your chlorine will burn off. Your CYA should be between 30-50 ppm

[chem geek]

Litoq- If your chlorine levels are burning off quickly, check your CYA. If your CYA is to low or to high, your chlorine will burn off quickly. Also, if you are fighting something in your pool (algae, etc) your chlorine will burn off. Your CYA should be between 30-50 ppm

More specifically, if the CYA is too low then the chlorine breaks down too quickly from the UV rays in sunlight. If it's too high and the Free Chlorine (FC) isn't proportionally higher, then the chlorine can get used up by fighting an impending algae bloom. In other words, the problem with too much CYA isn't the too much CYA itself, but too little FC for the higher CYA -- it is the ratio of FC to CYA that is the important number to manage. To keep away algae, you should maintain a minimum FC of at least 7.5% of the CYA level. A safer target is closer to 10% of the CYA level (I used to say 11.5%, but 10% is much easier to figure out).

There are a few people who have 60-70 ppm CYA, but with around 7 ppm FC and find their chlorine usage is lower (I'm still trying to figure out why that is since originally it was thought that the chlorine loss was proportional to the disinfecting chlorine level, but experiments have shown that it is not and that CYA protects chlorine in a non-linear way). However, the problem with this higher CYA level is that if for whatever reason you forget to dose with chlorine and algae starts to develop, it takes a higher level of chlorine to shock to get rid of it. So having a lower 30-50 ppm CYA target is usually easier to manage.

There are other more expensive ways to manage a pool and not worry about the CYA rising, but you then need to use an algaecide such as PolyQuat 60 on a regular basis or need to use a phosphate remover -- both costly solutions to a problem you can avoid by just using unscented bleach or chlorinating liquid and maintaining a sufficient FC/CYA ratio.

As for bleaching clothes, I have done that with Trichlor tabs/pucks where the powder was just as bad as liquid bleach. Just wear some old jeans (and shirt, if you splash a lot) when you add the chlorine to the pool -- that's what I do. You should always pour the bleach or chlorinating liquid slowly over a return flow with the pump running, preferably at the deep end of the pool. This ensures that it mixes well with the water. If you have a vinyl pool, then for extra safety (especially if you don't have a floor drain), brush the side and bottom of the pool near where you added the chlorine when you are done dosing to ensure none settles (chlorine is denser than water, but when mixed it won't re-separate).

If you want to minimize the frequency of chlorine addition (that is, your part of the maintenance), then consider using an automatic chlorine feeder known as The Liquidator which is also talked about here.

Richard

[chem geek]

Since Im using bleach now, should I be adding it at night and wait till the next day to go swimming or can I add it anytime like the tablets? If I can add it anytime, do I have to wait a few hours with the filtration system running before swimming? I have been adding it at night just to be safe but when I come home from work the next day (around 4pm), chlorine levels drop big time.

Chlorine is typically added at night since it won't get lowered much overnight since there is no sunlight so that way you maximize the amount of time at the higher chlorine level. If you added it in the morning, then it would get low at the end of the day and then be low all overnight so the average over the 24 hours would be lower. That's the main reason to add it at night.

You don't have to wait very long to go into the pool after adding chlorine assuming your pump is running and you add the chlorine over a return flow. A half hour is plenty of time, though I've done tests to find the chlorine well mixed after just 10 minutes, but this depends on your pump speed, number of returns, and outlet design for circulation.

Be sure to look at the end of my previous post where I talk about The Liquidator.

Richard