Help, I’m using too much chlorine, and I don’t know what to do. Luckily, we don’t hear that as much as we did when we started in 1983. Every once in a while, pools can go awry, and it helps to have a few tools to bring them back in line. This is more important than ever now as supply chain issues and shortages have increased the cost of many types of chlorine by over 60% in the past 3 years. Here are a few quick tips for your reference.
What do you really have? Yep, your $10 test kit tells you everything is OK, but you’re pouring through chlorine like crazy. It’s best to first establish how much chlorine you REALLY have. Great test kits like the Taylor K2006 pinpoint the exact chlorine level (in 0.2 PPM increments) up to 50 PPM. The proven CES digital Spin Touch gives you precise chlorine & pH readings in 30 seconds, or a full 11-parameter lab report in 60 seconds. Once you know EXACTLY how much you have you can quickly adjust your system to help minimize chlorine consumption.
How much do you really need? Even our busiest pools can look great and have safe water with as little as 1.5-2 PPM. Many rookies hold their water at 5.0 -6.0 PPM which is TOO MUCH. EPA max for pools is 5.0 PPM, and at higher levels you can corrode heater and pool finishes, bleach suits and hair, and waste a lot of money. It’s all about “kill power” (ORP) anyway, and your CES control system will minimize the amount of chlorine use 24/7, and alert you immediately if anything goes out of range.
Will a little sunscreen help? Small amounts of quick dissolve stabilizer shield the chorine from sunlight, and can cut consumption by 50-60%. Too much stabilizer is bad and makes bad guys like Crypto completely impervious to chlorine, but as little as 8 PPM can help you save lots of money, while still doing an admirable job inactivating Crypto. Also, stabilizer only protects so much, so if you hold too much chlorine (see above), you’re losing it to the sun anyway.
Don’t want to use stabilizer? The use of stabilizer will significantly increase your treatment times when treating for a (AFR) Accidental Fecal Releases (AKA-Code Brown) per CDC guidelines, so some folks don’t like to use it anymore. That can cause your chlorination costs to double. What can you do? Many are reporting great results using our liquid ACO solution, which has been proven to provide chemical savings similar to stabilizer, without causing AFR-related treatment issues.
Is your pool sick? Chlorine demand is a leading cause of exponential chemical consumption. If you have high PPM with low ORP, your pool is probably tired or sick. A quick overnight non-chlorine shock with CES Purolyte can burn out chlorine demand, cut chemical consumption tremendously, and make the pool sparkle again.
Time to make your own? Chlorine manufacturing and delivery costs have been growing continually for years, and are at the highest level ever. Many CES customers have begun to make their own chlorine out of recycled pool water, or have put a small saline-chlorine “factory” in their equipment room. CES is the industry leader in commercial saline chlorination, and can help you investigate this SELF FUNDING upgrade.
Contact your CES rep with any questions on how you can save money with a small tweak, a little training, or by upgrading to making your own chlorine. In any event, using just what you need is the best strategy for long term efficiency.
