I recently got a house with a pool,I've been searching websites to see how the soda ash is best added,some say put it in rather water directly,some say in the skimmer and some say dilute the powder into a bucket of water first,so I'm not sure which is the right or best way.

Any help and advice would be most grateful for.

Thankyou...

You can add it direct to the pool. Don't add too much at one time though, as it will make the water cloudy for 2-3 days. BTW, soda ash is pH + , and you will know how much to add after knowing your water volume. Lots of online free calculators to calculate how many kg to add.

Gil

From what I have discovered by hard experience is that if you put the soda ash directly in the pool because as is the case with some Chlorine powders you will finish up with a grey and dirty looking layer of whatever bulking agent is added to the stuff on the floor of your pool.

People have advised me to use the skimmer tank but to me and I could well be wrong, water from the Skimmer tank water goes to the sand filter and from my sense of logic wouldn't this then filter out most of the soda ash or indeed chlorine if you are adding chemicals to the Skimmer tan and not directly into the pool

My answer for soda ash is to put it directly into the pool and then after a few hours when the pump is off vacuum the floor of the pool after the bulking power has settled, chlorine and soda ash should mix into the water and disslove but the bulking agent doesn't its just like chalk powder!

Cheaper Chlorine or soda ash chemicals may seem attractive at first but believe me they are not, only go to a knowledgeable supplier and buy the best stuff you can, it really is cheaper in the long run

Thankyou so much for your advise ...

From what I have discovered by hard experience is that if you put the soda ash directly in the pool because as is the case with some Chlorine powders you will finish up with a grey and dirty looking layer of whatever bulking agent is added to the stuff on the floor of your pool.

People have advised me to use the skimmer tank but to me and I could well be wrong, water from the Skimmer tank water goes to the sand filter and from my sense of logic wouldn't this then filter out most of the soda ash or indeed chlorine if you are adding chemicals to the Skimmer tan and not directly into the pool

My answer for soda ash is to put it directly into the pool and then after a few hours when the pump is off vacuum the floor of the pool after the bulking power has settled, chlorine and soda ash should mix into the water and disslove but the bulking agent doesn't its just like chalk powder!

Cheaper Chlorine or soda ash chemicals may seem attractive at first but believe me they are not, only go to a knowledgeable supplier and buy the best stuff you can, it really is cheaper in the long run

Can't say I noticed any problems with residue from the cheapish chlorine powder I previously used in my pool. 5,300 baht from a local Watsadu for 50kg is pretty cheap. Maybe the even cheaper Chinese powder does give the residue you talk of. Haven't noticed residue with Soda Ash either but I don't know how cheap/expensive it was as the pool builder left it for me.

Only had to use soda ash once (my pool tends to alkali) and as PoolDoctor implies a little seems to go a long way. I think I put in half a kilo and was surprised how noticeable the effect was so only another half kilo was needed.

Using the best stuff you can get when talking chlorine would probably lead you to small blocks, which will cost you 10 to 20 times as much as the bulk chlorine powder I mention. Complete waste of money IMO (albeit it easier/quicker to handle), but everyone has their own preference/value trade offs.

Not trying to slag off the poster - just offering a different balance. I reckon that there is a place for cheap chemicals in pool maintenance (apart from the leccy bill running a pool does not have to be a rich man's preserve) but I've only been going 3 years - maybe I'm not fastidious enough (my 'customer base' of Thai kids and village ladies certainly is not); maybe my pool will fall apart next year

Can't say I noticed any problems with residue from the cheapish chlorine powder I previously used in my pool. 5,300 baht from a local Watsadu for 50kg is pretty cheap.

5.300 Baht for 50Kg pretty cheap ?

How about 3350 Baht for 50 kg 90% Winchlor or 2550 for 40 Kg 70% Top Chlor.

Soda ash is dead cheap by the way at about 18 Baht a kg in 40 Kg bags.

So ... does that leave a residue or are we only into debating who has the biggest balls on buying cheap chemicals

So ... does that leave a residue or are we only into debating who has the biggest balls on buying cheap chemicals

I don't think there is any doubt on who's the biggest balls , but to answer your other question, I have used the granular version of the 90% Panda to shock the pool and it didn't leave any residue.

The Panda is slightly more expensive at 3650 for 50 kg, but it was the only brand they had available in 5 Kg drums.

It's important to know exactly what you are getting when shopping for pool chemicals. We know of a pool shop in Udon Thani for example, whose staff are so little informed that they recommend Soda Ash (or pH Plus) for reducing the pH. Shop around for prices (which don't always reflect the quality) which tend to be somewhat higher in areas with a high concentration of swimming pools. Often, buying swimming pool chlorine online from SwimmingPoolsThailand for example, even taking into consideration the shipping cost, may be a more economical or time/distance saving solution. With chlorine, there's not much to be gained by trekking to a physical store and looking or sniffing at what you are getting.

There is a recent ThaiVisa thread here concerning Panda brand chlorine.