How much bleach do I add to above ground pool?

Question

We just filled our above ground pool (15'x42"). No where in the manuals does it have a chart or anything to go by for adding the chemicals. I bought a gallon of bleach, a box of borax, and a 4lb box of baking soda. Can anyone tell me..do I add the whole gallon for the first time? Do I need to add borax or baking soda? here are my levels from the test kit

total hardness: 400
free chlorine: 0/0
pH: 8.4
Total alkalinity: 240(maybe little higher as it looks slightly darker, but the highest color is 240)
CYA: is between 30-50 and 100.

Thanks!

I found the bleach, borax, baking soda idea at www.poolsolutions.com. What do you think chlorine is? Bleach. They contain the same ingredients. pH up is the same thing as borax....If your alkaline levels are too high, baking soda is the same ingredient as pH minus. Doesn't anyone read labels?

Answer 1

You have more problems than just chlorine for the pool.

Your alkalinity is way too high and needs to come down. Your pH is way too high and needs to come down. Your CYA is way too high and needs to come down. And you need to boost your chlorine levels to 3-5ppm (3 gallons of household bleach.. non scented.. will bring your levels up to 4-5ppm).

Poolsolutions is a good website. I wish I had known Ben when he was doing pools on a regular basis. I've been using household bleach, borax, baking soda, and various chemical adjustments in my pools for over ten years. Imagine my surprise to find that there was someone else out there extolling the virtues of using these every day food grade chemicals to maintain pools.

Drop me a line at [e-mail] and I'll give you a hand with your pool.

*EDIT*

To debunk the folks above me who've all received a thumbs down. Sodium hypochlorite is the ingredient in household bleach and it is in a 6% solution. Liquid pool chlorine is sodium hypochlorite in a 10% solution. The shock that everyone recommends is calcium hypochlorite with a 65% yield. The deal with pools is that it doesn't matter what metal the hypochlorite is bonded with to deliver chlorine to the pool. The metal becomes an inert salt in the water and the hypochlorite is converted to hypochlorous acid which is the sanitation and oxidation agent of ALL pool water that runs on chlorine. It doesn't matter where the chlorine comes from (gaseous Cl2, salt water chlorine generators, granulated calcium hypochlorite, or liquid sodium hypochlorite).

So please, if you don't have any clue as to what you are talking about, then please don't address the situation.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Alkalinity increaser from the pool store is sodium hydrogen carbonate..... guess what, that's the proper chemical nomenclature for sodium bicarbonate. Why would you want to add a pool store baking soda into your pool if you wouldn't cook with it?? Frankly using the food grade bicarb makes a LOT more sense, is cheaper, isn't subject to taxes, is far purer, and is of a finer grind so it dissolves quicker than the stuff from the pool store. Not to mention that you can treat the water with this even when people are swimming... no having to close the pool down if you need to add it..... it's just BAKING SODA!

Borax is sodium tetraborate decahydrate. Pool water Conditioner is sodium tetraborate pentahydrate. Pool pH conditioner is sodium tetraborate pentahydrate. Since the hydrate portion and the metal portion of the molecule do not make any difference in the pool water the only portion that matters is the tetraborate. Tetraborate is a common ingredient in many commercial algaecides, it is the recommended anti-fungal for use in killing black mold or any other household molds, and is used as a water conditioner in many municipal water plants around the world. It changes the electrolytic composition of water, buffers pH against changes, raises pH far superior to sodium carbonate (Soda Ash), is an anti-microbial and anti-fungal agent, and is not harmful at all in pool concentrations.

Again, please understand that there are alternate pool chemicals available that don't make you rely on the pool store themselves. Yes you can pick up this stuff at WalMart or other places, but you must understand that most of the pool chemicals are manufactured by only a few companies. It is then sold to the pool suppliers who repackage it, dilute it, and sell it to the public under hundreds of different brand names. But it is ALL the same chemical!

Answer 2

We also have a pool the same size as yours. We got the gren algae in our pool. We puored one bottle of bleach in it and within a couple hours it turned white (but the green was all cleared up). We bought new filters and change them out everyday and keep it running all day also. It's ben two days now and it's starting to clear up some. We go out everyday andvacume it and wipe down the walls before we rechange theflter. When you are vacumng it...le tthe water run out of the pool. Thn ad little mre water each time to te pool when you do this.Keep your head up. It takes alittle time doing tis and it WILL take a fe days but don't give up. (Once ou hae it cean agai,put in 3 cups of clorox bleach every 2 weeks andlet thepump rum about 8 hours a day (everyday). Thisis jst as good as any expensive pool items you can buyand t's cheaper o your wallet. OH! wen you put in te bleach every month....you can swim in it after four hours of putting it in--it's safe.

Answer 3

Obviously, most of the commenters didn't get past high school chemistry nor can comprehend that pool stores are ripping you off with outrageous prices for the same chemical you can buy at Wal Mart. I strongly suggest a lot of you "pool store die hards" take a basic course in chemistry and then rethink your obvious uneducated comments.

Answer 4

Borax And Bleach

Answer 5

I wish I could help (my dad takes care of our pool) but we only have a 12' above ground pool, what we do for ours is probalby different because your's is bigger. I wish I could help!

Answer 6

how much baking soda and blench do i add to a green pool that is 2700 gallons?

Answer 7

Don't add borax, baking soda or bleach to a pool. Instead buy a couple of jugs of POOL SHOCK. They have it at Walmart or Fleet Farm. You also need a color testing kit (look for chlorine and pH testing kit- NOT strips, usually in a small blue plastic box with 2 bottles of testing fluid). Add about 1/3 of a gallon of pool shock if your chlorine level is low, or 1/5 of a gallon if it is just slightly low. You should have a bottle of ALGICIDE too.

Answer 8

PLEASE DON'T PUT BLEACH INTO A POOL! I know, it cost you money, but I don't think your life is worth a bottle of bleach and baking soda. honestly, I can't tell you what will happen is you mix bleach with borax or baking soda, but mixing any acid based house cleaner with bleach causes toxic gases. I wonder were you hesrd to use borax? Agreed, it is harmful to aquatic vegetation, but if dispersed in the air it can be harmful, especially for kids. Go the safe way, PoolShock works very well, I use it in my soft side pool. The test kit you have right now is fine for use, and I hope you get many years of use from your pool.

Answer 9

Sounds like a scary mix of chemicals! I have never heard of anyone putting bleach in a pool...why would you do this? If it's dirty, you should be able to just scrub it with a scrub brush and water.

Answer 10

you don't add bleach to a pool