3 inch chlorine tablets are a super easy way to keep the chlorine level up in your pool and one of the most popular methods for chlorinating pools. However, there is a catch – chlorine pucks add more than just chlorine to your water.
In order to create a product that aids in water sanitization, chlorine loss, and clarity the tablets are actually a combination of multiple chemicals such as calcium or cyanuric acid (CYA) and those can impact your pH, alkalinity, and CYA levels.
This doesn’t mean that they are not a good way to chlorinate your water, but what it does mean is that you need to understand what else is being added to your water besides chlorine and then keep an eye on your chemistry to monitor the impact.
Sutro pool chemical monitor can help you keep your water balanced by testing the pH, total alkalinity, and free chlorine 3 times a day and then telling you how to proactively maintain your water. Let’s take a closer look at how to use chlorine tablets now.
How to use 3 inch chlorine tablets
Chlorine tablets are typically used in either a floating dispenser or an inline feeder and for an average sized in ground pool you would add about 3 chlorine tablets per week (each tablet treats 5,000 gallons of water, as per this article on how many chlorine tablets to add).
You must consider a few major things when using tablets:
- The most important one is that you can’t swap or mix calcium hypochlorite and Trichloro-s-triazinetrione (Trichlor) tablets together in your feeder.
- This can cause an explosion that could injure you and/or destroy your chlorine feeder. Always be sure to read the tab’s ingredients and understand what you are putting in your pool besides chlorine.
- Another consideration is that if you leave chlorine tablets in your skimmer basket while the pump is off, then the water in the skimmer can become acidic. Then, when your pump starts again, it will get a dose of acidic water which can cause additional wear and tear on your equipment.
Now that you are aware of some things to consider with your equipment, let’s look at how to manage use of the tablets.
Calculate how many gallons your pool has with our pool volume calculator.
Trichlor tablets
If you use tabs that contain trichlor, you should monitor your CYA level regularly as they can cause your CYA to become too high. The higher the CYA level, the more chlorine you need to maintain a proper amount of free chlorine (your chlorine level should be 7.5% of what your CYA level is).
If your CYA is getting close to the upper acceptable limit then you should switch to another form of chlorine such as liquid or else you could start having water quality issues and erroneously add even more tabs which will only make the situation worse.
Calcium hypochlorite tablets
Similarly, if you use tablets that contain calcium hypochlorite then you need to monitor the calcium hardness level as it too can create problems such as scaling or cloudy water if it gets too high.
Unfortunately, if either of these levels get too high then you may need to dilute their concentration by draining some water from your pool and replacing it with fresh water so be sure to keep an eye on your chemistry!
Sutro can help you monitor your free chlorine levels so that you don’t overuse chlorine tablets and you can avoid running into issues with high CYA or calcium levels. So what are you waiting for? Go test your water to see what your levels are and then browse our blog for more useful tips!