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Regardless of whether you are a new pool owner trying to figure out how best to look after your pool, or you’ve owned a pool for quite some time and haven’t made the switch to tablets yet, you’ve probably heard of the wonders of chlorine tablets.

There are various sanitizers that people will always recommend, as everyone has their own opinions on how things should be done. Today, we aren’t here to try and persuade you to try out something new. Instead, we will show you the different types of chlorine and when to use each, why tablets are useful and often considered better than using granular or liquid chlorine, and how to use these chlorine tablets in your pool.

Why Use Chlorine in the First Place?

There are not many better ways to sanitize your pool than to use cheap and effective chlorine. It has proven time and time again to be one of the best killers of bacteria, viruses, and algae in pools, and that’s because of the way chlorine interacts with these different particles.

When chlorine comes in contact with different microorganisms and bacteria, it causes a chemical reaction that breaks down all these unwanted things into various chemicals, such as hypochlorous acid. This process is commonly known as oxidation, which you may have heard of when using other pool sanitizers. These other sanitizers aren’t as effective because you would have likely needed to add additional pool oxidizers.

The catch with chlorine is that it’s only effective when your pool water is balanced. For instance, if your pH levels are too high in your pool, this will leave your pool less oxidized because it blocks some of the hypochlorous acids.

For a balanced pool, the following needs to be true:

• pH level must be between 7.4 and 7.6
• Chlorine level must be between 1.0 and 3.0 ppm
• Total alkalinity level must be between 80 and 140 ppm
• Calcium hardness level must be between 200 and 400
• Cyanuric acid level must be between 25 and 50 ppm

The Different Types of Chlorine

While most people go to the store, pick up whichever product looks nice on the shelf, and call it a day, that isn’t always the best course of action. Several different types of chlorine are commonly available, each of them with its specific purposes. While you may get away with purchasing any old tub of chlorine, sometimes a situation calls for a specific chemical makeup.

There are five chlorine types to be aware of – trichlor, dichlor, lithium hypochlorite, sodium hypochlorite, and calcium hypochlorite.

As we stated above, most of the time, you may do fine just grabbing one off the shelf. However, sometimes, you end up with a specific situation that calls for one of the above.

An example would be if your pool is filled with hard water, which is water with a high level of calcium hardness. In that case, sodium hypochlorite works best because it contains 10 to 12% chlorine. However, because of the lower amounts of chlorine, you’ll want to use it alongside another sanitizer so that you can make it just as effective as other types.

The problem with the hypochlorite options is that they are what we call “unstable”. This means that they react under the sun’s UV rays, which destroys the chlorine. Trichlor and dichlor are the solutions to that problem, as these two are concentrations of chlorine, which also contain cyanuric acids. This concentration makes these two options what we call “pool stabilizers”, or conditioners, as they will also protect the chlorine from being destroyed too quickly when under the sun.

For the most part, tablets are more commonly trichlor, as it is conveniently effective for almost every type of water you might have in your pool. This happens to sync up well with the purpose of chlorine tablets.

Using Chlorine Tablets

What makes chlorine tablets so great and often a better choice than granules or liquid is convenience and safety. Chlorine liquid can be dangerous to handle, as it can aggravate and even burn the skin if it comes into direct contact. Tablets also don’t require you to measure them out each time. There are three main ways of dispensing these chlorine tablets, each with its pros and cons.

Firstly, we’ll look at the floating chlorine dispenser. These are plastic gadgets that float along the surface of the water, dispersing your sanitizer as the tablets dissolve inside. They are convenient and low-maintenance but don’t work well with pool liners. This is because they can get caught easily and then release a high concentration in one area without dispersing it around the pool as it should.

Secondly, a better way of getting an even dispersion is by putting the tablet directly into the pool skimmer. This way, when water is pumped through the filter, it passes through the skimmer and over the tablet, dissolving it quickly. The now chlorinated water shoots out of the water jets to more evenly disperse this chlorinated water.

However, suppose your filter isn’t running. In that case, the tablet will still dissolve, and this can cause an even more concentrated area of chlorine, which can cause severe corrosion damage to your equipment if left unattended. Be sure that your filter is always running when using this method.

The easiest and most effective way is to use an automatic chlorinator. This method is the most convenient, as you don’t need to mess around with the tablets more than necessary, and you get the most control over your pool’s chlorine levels.

You can set the chlorine level to be between 1 and 3 ppm, load the chlorinator up with tablets, and then verify the level with test strips so that you can learn how best to work the device in regards to your specific pool, as well as with the weather and water quality. Just make sure that the automatic chlorinator is the last device that the water passes through in your specific system to ensure it is as clean as possible.

Conclusion

Chlorine is the best cleaning solution we have at our disposal, and it is relatively inexpensive. Tablets help remove any finicky aspects of cleaning our pools and allow us to be as quick and efficient as possible with minimal effort. If you have a pool and you’re tired of constant measuring, messing, and burning the skin on your hands, then make the switch to tablets.