Stabilizer (cyanuric acid) - Different type of Chlorine for the Swimming pool.

[oBjarne]

I have been a happy owner of a swimming pool for about 4 years.

After about 3 years my saltwater-chlorinator broke down. Yea, my pool-shop sold me a saltwater-chlorinator that as to small for my pool and i needed to run it to long time etc..

I desided to just leave it and start using regular chlorine, because it would be cheaper then changing the cell every 3 to 5 years.

So i starting to add some tablets, using Granular, and powder... i think i like the powder better since it easier to add to the pool.

Anyway.. here comes my problem.. as i keep adding this "stabilized" chlorine to my pool my stabilizer level are going waaaayyyyy to high.

So i needed to go and look for chlorine whitout stabilizer and here is the real problem, my supplier of chlorine says that you cant get it in Thailand, so it means i need to change a lot of my water to get the stabilizer level down? and then, how often?????? this cant be right ?

I didnt give up and found some granular Calsium Chlorine in a store in the city. Its then 65% chlorine, instead of 90% but a lot cheaper.... but.... i vill end up whit a calcium level that is waaaay to high whit all the problems thats comming whit this, so no, not so good idea...

I found i supplier of Liquid Chlorine in Bangkok, and order about 250 liter of Sodium Chloride 10% Not expencive at all, but i needed to add to much of it to my pool to get the chlorine reading up.

Look like i gonna buy a saltwater chlorinator again soon...

I should like to ask the pool professional like "The PoolDoctor" and "Swimmingpool Thailand" what they recommend me to do???

Adding PoolChloor whit Cyanuric Acid only vill raise the level to high in any pool in Thailand, and the pool vill need a lot higher ppm whit Chlorine.

A private pool like mine, i think a saltwater chlorinator is the solution, but for my friend that have a pool whit 450.000Liter of water and 50 swimmer a day it vill be to expensive and hard to maintain.

Any ideas ???

Bjarne

[PoolDoctor]

You certainly have an MBA now in chlorine types available in Thailand. Many of our clients try what you tried, only to find that a salt water chlorinator is often (not always) the most economical over time when factoring in costs, headaches, time spent trouble-shooting, new grout, etc. For small pools, they are an effective and hassle-free chemistry solution. Alas, the owner needs to understand the role of CYA, and why its so important.

There are alternatives though; keep adding stabilized chlorine manually, but you're correct, CYA will accumulate. You can do a partial drain, but this is more maintenance headaches and water cost. You will also have to watch the pH level, as stabilized chlorines are caustic, and will destroy the pool grout.

For some of our mid sized pools, (say, 300,000 liters up) we have had excellent results with liquid chlorine feed pumps. Either ORP controlled, or time controlled combined with manual testing. Liquid chlorine is safe, cheap, easily handled, and is un-stabilized so no CYA build up. You will have to adjust CYA manually.

For larger commercial pools like the one you mention, we try to steer clients away from salt water systems. The large surface area of the water makes the chlorine too prone to quick evaporation. There are large commercial units available for sale, but not readily available in Thailand.

[oBjarne]

Thank you for a good answer....

First, i don't understand what you mean by MBA ?

Look like i need to drain some of my water out as the cya level is over 100.

And i need to go to my friend to do the same, the problem is that my friend is an older thai-woman whit a 20 years old public pool.. she have no idea what cya is, no idea its at least 3 group of chlorine and that the one she need is a type of chlorine the pool dealer don't have...

I live in Isaan and been in several pool-shop in Kohn Kaen and Udon. I was looking for unstabilized chlorine, and an other time i was looking for Stabilizer powder... they had noooooo idea what i was talking about, expect one of the owner in Udon. He knew what i was talking about, but couldn't help me.

I bought a chlorine pump on my last trip to America and was planning to install this, but for now it look like i need about 5 liter a day of this Sodium Chloride that i bought. Thats about 120thb a day in chlorine. My pool is 10x6 and about 80.000liter big (20.000gallon)

Can anyone help me so i can find out where to order liquid chlorine that is stronger than 10% as mine is... and hopefully a lot cheaper..

I probably go back tp salt water, but it look like my friend really need this.

Where do i go, or call, or e-mail to get liquid Chlorine ?? Does it have any "product name"

Bjarne

[SantiSuk]

It took my manually chlorine-dosed pool the best part of 2 years to drift the CyA up from nil to 90 before I diluted the pool water to below a recommended maximum of 80ppm.

Water is cheap here in Isaan (village water 4 baht a cu.m). Well water about the same when pumping costs are considered. A full pool refill (or equivalent over time) would cost only 340 baht.

If you reckon on paying 120 baht a day in non-stabilised chlorine are you sure that water replacement is not massively more cost-effective for you? Your water supply would have to be massively expensive to make it a non-starter.

Maybe the problem for you is disposing of the pool water. It was for me - didn't want chemical water running over the garden. I solved that by building a pool drain. Dug a hole 1.5 metres square by 2 metres deep. Put concrete rings in it and a concrete cap on top and filled outside the rings with gravel. The waste water is piped to the concrete sump but water also soaks up into the surrounding gravel and drains more freely if you fill the bottom of the hole with a few inches of gravel before placing the bottom ring in the hole. Works fine - I found I could then drain 1 cu.m at a time - takes about 4 mins then the disposal tank/gravel is full, but it only takes another 5-10 minutes for that to soak away (ie could easily dispose of 10% of the pool less than a couple of hours). Materials cost 7,500 baht (gravel was two-thirds of that). My BIL would have dug the hole for 1,000 baht but I needed the exercise - took it slow over a two week period!

[oBjarne]

I have no problem whit pumping water out of the pool..it is the water in the village that running so slow that it takes a looong time to fill it up again..

Ok now i need to do it, as my friend have to this as vell. I vill buy a saltwater chlorinator, but what can my friend do.. isn't it anyone that can give me any help in getting hold of Liquid Chlorine ????

[tollgate]

You seem to be using a lot of liquid chlorine. My pool is approx 40000 litres and one litre per day of 10% liquid chlorine is all it takes. Are you sure your chlorine has not been diluted? I pay approx 18 baht per litre here in Jomtien.

[maximus101]

Hi had my own pools for 20 years at home (NZ) and not a fan of chlorine but it is effective

I have used tri chlor tablets in the skimmer to add chlorine (has cyanuric acid)

But i reduced my chlorine need by adding copper and silver to the water with an ioniser

many ways to do this and if you got the electodes made here would be pretty cheap

when i build my pool in issan will be doing this

im in issan happy to discuss if i can help

cheers

best of luck finding liquid chlorine

[maximus101]

sorry meant to say just put in a well (down 40 metres) for 22000 baht all up pump, plumbing and wiring and they guarenteed that they would get water and will come back if it stops

[HerbalEd]

I would NEVER use anything but a salt-water chlorinator (SWC) in my pool. I have had excellent service with my SWC for 19 years. Compared to chlorine, my SWC system cleans my pool much better, I have to flush my pool filter 60% less, is much cheaper, and much less work. I would never in a million years go back to using chlorine.

Don't believe the stories that SWC systems don't work well ... or that they don't work with big pools. Make sure you buy a high quality unit and one that is big enough for your sized pool. SWC units are relatively cheap when compared to how much you'll spend over the years on all the different chemicals needed to maintain a chlorine chemical system. Also, you can swim in the pool all day with never a problem with burning eyes, the smell of chlorine gas, dried-out hair and skin.

So no harsh, environmentally harmful chemicals to swim in .... it's a lot cheaper ... and it's a lot less work. Talk about a no-brainer.

[khounteen]

Salt water chlorinator is the way to go.

[jacko45k]

I think salt water chlorination is a better system and you will benefit from replacing that in the long term.

Other than that I think you are being overly analytical.

I simply test for free chlorine levels and PH.

Adding stabilized 90% chlorine when necessary, the PH seems to hold up without additions although I do have acid and base chemicals available, never use them.

A little clarifier and algae control chemical gets chucked in too.

The pool seems to hold up quite well.

My scenario is easier as it is my pool and only 2 people use it mostly.

[brianP]

You have to drain the pool once a year. The stabilizer keeps the chlorine from being dissipated by the sun. I use small amounts of chlorine and use an ozone machine to go into the homemade venturi that adds air bubbles to the return water. I also have soda ash to keep the ph high and towards alkaline, purple. Much less bacteria in the alkaline and much less chlorine is needed. I use stone aerators with a small compressor to introduce oxygen to the water. The pool smells fresh and clean.

[Chaichara]

I would NEVER use anything but a salt-water chlorinator (SWC) in my pool. I have had excellent service with my SWC for 19 years. Compared to chlorine, my SWC system cleans my pool much better, I have to flush my pool filter 60% less, is much cheaper, and much less work. I would never in a million years go back to using chlorine.

Don't believe the stories that SWC systems don't work well ... or that they don't work with big pools. Make sure you buy a high quality unit and one that is big enough for your sized pool. SWC units are relatively cheap when compared to how much you'll spend over the years on all the different chemicals needed to maintain a chlorine chemical system. Also, you can swim in the pool all day with never a problem with burning eyes, the smell of chlorine gas, dried-out hair and skin.

So no harsh, environmentally harmful chemicals to swim in .... it's a lot cheaper ... and it's a lot less work. Talk about a no-brainer.

I'll second that. I couldn't have put it better in my own words.

For the skeptics: there is certainly no need whatsoever to drain a pool once a year if it is correctly maintained. For those using salt water chlorination, adding the occasional T.C.C.A pool chlorine tablet or an occasional shock treatment with T.C.C.A pool chlorine granules or powder will add all the CYA you need. Even cheaper, do your pumping/filtering in the evening after sundown and the SWG chlorine will have all night to do its work before the sun comes up and burns it off.