Liquid vs Granule

[Pool Noob]

What's the best to use?

I am currently using a granule chlorine in my pool, that I buy from the supermarket, but I find it hard to dissolve when adding. I mix it up in a bucket with water before adding, but it seems to take forever to do this. What am I doing wrong?

I have read the BBB threads, but I think I will try that when I get a bit more competent at pool maintenance.

And whats the difference between liquid and granule, besides the obvious?

[Eric]

The granular chlorine you are using is most likely Calcium hypochlorite. Calcium hypochlorite is an excellent disinfectant, but does dissolve slowly in water. Adding the powder to a bucket of water is recommended. I find I need to brush the area where I pour in the mixture to mix things up. Allowing the powder to sit on the bottom of the pool for any length of time can will cause localized bleaching.

Also, you are adding calcium to your pool every time you add chlorine. This will eventually make the calcium level and total dissolved solids too high, which will cause problems with scaling, etc.

It is generally best to use Sodium hypochlorite (ordinary, unscented laundry bleach) for long term chlorination. Sodium hypochlorite does also add sodium to the pool. However, pools can tolerate much higher levels of sodium than calcium. So, the buildup of sodium is much less of a problem.

Let me anticipate the next question: There are many threads on the problems with using Trichlor tabs on this board. A quick should find several.

[Guest]

3" tablets in a floater. 1 floater for every 10, 000 gallons. Best bet would be to install a salt system.