by Kyle Framsburger
This is the everlasting debate between swimming pool owners of the world. What is better to use a chlorine tablet or granulate dust? Sanitation and hygiene are the most important factors of maintaining a swimming pool. These are the most important factors for a crystal clear pool.
The first one, of course, is to kill bacteria and algae in your swimming pool. Chlorine tablets last a long time and if your pool is a normal home size pool, one tablet will keep it clean for the whole week. Larger pools need more tablets but generally one dose will last for a week dissolving slowly in the pool skimmer.
Granulated chlorine is dispensed into the pool skimmer where it is sent into the filter and later distributed into the water. If the filter has algae or bacteria, most of the active chlorine will remain in the filter and will not clean the water outside. If the filter is clean and you apply too much then the pool water will get cloudy because of the excessive chlorine dust.
Chlorine tablets are also used to whiten clothes. Teenagers and young adults will take a small piece of tablet and grind it to dust. After this they mix it with some water and make designs with it on jeans or other colored fabrics. In a few minutes you will see the color disappear like magic as the chlorine washes the dye away.
After a while though, your pool water starts to taste salty. It is harder to keep it crystal clear because of the accumulation of residue from the transformation of the salt. Some of the necessary chemical balance of your pool will need to get adjusted and that will mean adding other chemicals to the water.
Chemical balance is also important to preserve metal parts in the pool. Stairs, hand rails, pump parts, all these are damaged by unstable water, and even stainless steel can be corroded with bad water. When the Ph. Balance of the water is too acid, the water will eat away at the white cement and grout that holds the tiles together under water. Water that is too basic, on the other hand is cloudy and allows algae to grow faster and stronger in the pool.
Once you establish a routine it is not hard to care for your pool. There comes a time when you do not even teat the water, you already know how much chlorine it needs. It takes you a few minutes every morning to check things out and without too much trouble you will know what is necessary for it to look good.
Chlorine tablets must be handled with care especially if you are wearing blue jeans or dark pants and shirts. The contact between the chlorine, your pants and water will produce a chemical reaction that will ruin them. Be careful when you handle it too. You may walk away without knowing it is there and will ruin your clothes later on when you wash them.
Learn more about how you can use a chlorine tablet in your swimming pool and learn precisely how many chlorine tablets you will need to maintain your pool in tip top shape.
