Some of the Benefits of Using Pool Chlorine Tablets

Those who own swimming pools and hot tubs are lucky in the sense that they have a place where they can get away from it all without ever getting away from it all. Nothing is quite like a clear, midsummer day with high temps and low humidity where you can while away the hours, refreshment in hand, soaking up the sun while floating carelessly in the crystal waters in your own backyard santuary.

Some people go even further and create entire spaces out back where they can really entertain. People build entire backyard leisure and entertaining spaces with kitchens, grills and recreational outlets around their pools, and all of it hinges on the escape of the water. It’s like having waterfront property without the associated dues and fees.

Then of course, there are their own forms of dues and fees. Whether you measure it in terms of time or money, owning and maintaining a backyard pool or a hot tub can take a lot out of you. Those hours you spend out back may be worth every minute of it, but they sure exact their toll.

It can’t be easily summarized, either. A pool owner could have to juggle a number of different issues with the pool outside of the mainstream. Pool owners can have to deal with cloudy water that can arise from an alkalinity shift. They can find themselves dealing with an algae bloom. They might even, at some time or other, face pitting because of a pH shift. Any of these things can occur nearly out of the blue, in the absence of careful attention to the levels of chemicals in the water.

Then there are the routine maintenance procedures that every pool owner has to juggle. Even if your life as a pool owner is relatively mundane, there’s no escaping from shock and sanitation. You wouldn’t want to, anyway, because routine care is fully half - or more - of what makes being around a pool so enjoyable.

Without proper and routine shocking and sanitation you might run afoul of some of the issues marked above in addition to several of these that follow. Without the right level of shocking and sanitation, you could be working with pool water that develops unsavory odors that linger and linger. You might be dealing with a swimming pool or hot tub that develops a biofilm. If the biofilm develops on the surface or liner that’s a hassle enough, but at the very least you can scrub the sides of the pool, shock the water and add a flocculant to help bring back the clarity.

If you have a similar problem in the filter or in the lines the issue can become much harder to address. If you allow a biofilm to develop, it’s going to be hard to knock out in places where you can reach it. There are things you can do to address it but it can be tough. Sometimes it requires you to drain the pool or use special cleaners to dislodge it. Typically at that point, shock and sanitizer just won’t work.

Even if you don’t experience any of these issues, you’ll need to be judicious about routines in order to make sure that your pool sanitizer stays within the advisable levels. You will also need to make sure that you routinely shock the pool according to a schedule as well as in accordance with good practices. This includes after big gatherings, heavy rain, or prolonged exposure to sunlight, as UV rays break down chlorine and lower the circulation of chlorine levels in your pool.

There are ways to make it easier on yourself, too. Take the simple following consideration into example. Let’s say that you use chlorine as your pool’s sanitizer and chlorine based shock in your water. There are a few different ways you can administer chlorine to your pool.

The most common and the most approachable way is to add chlorine granules to the water. There are a number of reasons that this method is so widespread.

First, chlorine granules are affordable and easy to reach. Most pool supply stores, and many other general outlets, sell granulated chlorine sanitizer. All you have to do is measure it out and dump it in the water. It’s pretty easy. However, it comes with some drawbacks that we will explore shortly. If the name of the game is to cut down on time and make managing a pool easier on yourself, then you might want to use pool chlorine tablets for your pool. Consider the following benefits of chlorine tablets over granules if you’re looking at a couple of ways to make it easier for you to keep your pool pristine.

It’s Easy

We did mention that chlorine granules are so widely used because they are easy to administer, but hear us out through this. Chlorine granules are easy, but they also require you to make precise measurements in accordance with the number of gallons of water in the pool every time you go to drop them in.

You do still have to follow the manufacturer instructions and measure out the amount you need based on the size of your pool and sometimes a few other factors, but in general it’s easier to work with the larger chlorine tabs. Also, you can put them in a feeder that will disperse them throughout the water to help manage some of the aforementioned issues with water sanitizer concentrations. 

Some tablets are stabilized with a mixture of trichloro s triazinetrione, which will enable the sanitizer to stay in circulation longer. Stabilized chlorine is better for a number of reasons, which when delivered in the form of chlorine tabs, can make administration less of a chore and keep the levels up for longer, which we will address shortly. 

Measurement Becomes Easier, Too

Part of the fact that chlorine tablets are, in general, easier to use than granules comes from the fact that measuring them out becomes easier, too. That is something of a general statement but more often than not it’s true.

Whereas you will need to measure the individual granules before adding them, if you get an impression of how many tablets you need to recharge your pool once, you will easily be able to get into the swing of it. Say it takes X number of tablets - the next time you need to bring the sanitizer levels back up to speed, you just get your filter and add the tablets. Test the water periodically and you’ll be good to go.

Pool Chlorine Tablets Last Longer

Because chlorine tablets are bulkier, don’t dissolve as quickly, are stabilized and can be used with a feeder, they can sanitize the pool for longer periods of time. This will, of course, vary in accordance with your specific situation, but don’t be surprised if you find that you can use pool chlorine tablets to make it easier on yourself when it comes to keeping the sanitizer levels up.

In some cases you can add the tablets to a feeder that will keep the sanitizer level in the right place, between 1 and 3 parts per million, for almost a week. Some of the slower dissolved tabs can last for up to five days, so instead of daily adding granules or every two days, you can set the feeder with tablets, let them dissolve into the water and be on your merry way. 

Steadiness and Consistency

If you use the pool tablets with a feeder, you will be able to manage and regulate the level of chlorine in the pool more easily. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind here is that when you use a feeder, it will do part of the work for you, releasing the chlorine as needed.

Naturally, you will still need to pay attention to the levels of free chlorine available in the pool, but for the most part your role will be in passive regulation and not in active administration. That all adds up over the long run as you are about to find out.

As you are about to find out there are two more great reasons that you might want to make the switch to chlorine tablets

instead of granules for your swimming pool. There are two more sets of savings you will encounter in addition to the benefits that we have already covered.

Time Savings

Think about some of the results that will occur in the wake of these benefits. In order to enjoy your pool, you need the time to do so, and all of the things we have investigated so far will come together to save you time.

You’ll have to do less measuring. You’ll have to do less administering. You’ll be able to let it work in the background. Setting the chlorine once or twice a week will free you to do things like enjoy the pool, which is precisely what the pool was meant for in the first place.

That is, of course, time that you will get back into your busy day to take care of life’s necessities that will make enjoying the pool all the more pleasant when the time comes.

Cost Savings

Time isn’t the only thing you may be able to save when you make the switch to chlorine tablets, although time savings will work hand in hand with this. You may also be able to save money.

Typically, those who save money by switching to chlorine tablets save money specifically because they are switching from bromine. Bromine is famously more expensive than chlorine and that is one of the reasons that people switch to chlorine, since chlorine is just as effective at removing bacteria and algae from the water when it is properly maintained.

That being said, you may even have the potential to save with chlorine tablets over chlorine granules. If you ever experience spikes in sanitizer levels you may also experience drops, which can make it trick to balance. In that even, the time release nature of dissolved tablets may be very valuable to you and can save you money. Quite simply, by maintaining the levels of chlorine and avoiding spikes and dips you may end up using less. Ultimately it can be more economical, and if that's the case, you might save even more money with pool chlorine tablets.

Practicality

Finally, there is the practicality of it all. Pool chlorine tablets are not some exotic solution to pool sanitizers. It’s just another format of chlorine that enables you to add the sanitizer easily and might cause you less of a headache. Just about any pool supply store is liable to have chlorine tablets and some will even offer you individually wrapped tablets that will last longer.

When it comes to pool chemicals, backyard accessories, and solutions to common problems faced by the owners of pools and hot tubs, you’ve definitely come to the right place! Here at LeisureQuip, we offer many solutions in sanitizer for swimming pools and spas. Regardless of whether you use bromine or even chlorine tablets and just stopped in to refresh your stores, we can set you up with those supplies here.

What we can also do is serve as an original, consultative resource that you can tap to help you troubleshoot any issues you are facing with your pool. We’ve helped plenty of our clients in the past deal with issues ranging from algae blooms to cloudy or oddly colored water. We’ve even been a font of advice for our customers, able to offer them advice on when to shock, when to sanitize and how, as well as what their options were. Don’t be a stranger - reach out to us at 866-546-8882 any time you want a little insight into any problems you are facing with your pool or hot tub.