If you’re looking for a way to keep your pool clean, chlorine tablets are the easiest and most effective way to do it. They’re also affordable, so you can use them daily without breaking the bank.
- But how many tablets should you use, exactly?
- How should you use them?
- How to add them?
Let’s find out more about this topic!
What are Chlorine Tablets?
Chlorine tablets are essential to keeping your pool clean and free from bacteria. They allow you to keep your water clear and healthy without using harsh chemicals or expensive machines.
Chlorine is just a chemical element used in water, food, etc. It’s there, in the salt you use on that barbecue you did last Sunday. But in our pools, it protects us from algae, bacteria, parasites…
Chlorine tablets come in various sizes and can be used for different types of pools. For example, if you have a 10ft pool that needs to be cleaned regularly, you will use a different amount than if you own a 1000 gallon or 5000 gallon pool.
Chlorine is usually not the only ingredient in our chlorine tablets. For better protection and longer lasting, other components are added. The barely known pool stabilizers, like Cyanuric Acid (CYA), are the most common. This is what is called “stabilized chlorine tablets”. They protect chlorine from harmful UV sun rays. Also, calcium and other elements can be added by this source, helping us to treat our pool.
Are there alternatives to chlorine tablets for the pool?
Actually, you can use liquid or granulated chlorine. Granulated chlorine is commonly used in pools as a shock treatment. It can dissolve faster and is great for getting rid of algae and bacteria. Liquid chlorine is not used often due to its degradation from sun and heat.
This makes it much more challenging to store it. It also makes it harder to know how much you should add.
How Do Chlorine Tablets Work, and why do we use them in pools?
But, how can chlorine help us? How can a small tablet be enough to get rid of bacteria?
By dissolving themselves, chlorine tablets add what we call “Free Chlorine”. It will remain in the pool until some bacteria or noninvited visitor enters the water. Then, it will destroy the invader by combining with it.
The result is noncontaminated water, but the free chlorine has become “combined chlorine”, now inactive, so we should replace it. How to do that? By adding more chlorine, we can stay safe, and our water can remain clear as… water.
How Many Chlorine Tablets Do I Need in My Pool?
So, how many tablets do I need for my 10000 gallon pool? And for a 300 gallon pool?
What’s the difference between 1-inch and 3 inches tablets?
Can the shape of the pool affect it? How many do I need for a 24 foot round pool?
The fact is we can buy chlorine, most usually in the form of 1 inch or 3 inches tablets. But the most common is 3 inches tablets. 1 Inch tables are helpful only for small pools, while 3 inches last longer and need more time to dissolve, which can be a good thing, to stabilize the chlorine levels through time.
Too high chlorine levels will impact the lifespan of our tools. Low levels will open our pool for all kinds of bacteria, algae, or parasites.
To calculate the number of tablets needed, we should know the volume of our pool. Once you know how much water fits in your pool, you’ll need to know how much chlorine would be enough for each gallon.
The rule of thumb here is to use one 3 inches tablet for every 5000 gallons.
 Capacity (in gallons) |  Number of tablets (3 inches) |
| 5000 | 1 |
| 8000 | 2 |
| 10000 | 2 |
| 15000 | 3 |
| 30000 | 6 |
As we can see in the table for the 8000 gallon case, we should round up for the next 5000 gallons.
But what if our pool is smaller? One inch chlorine tablets are known as chlorine tablets for small pools. And here, a nice rule of thumb would be one tablet for every 300 gallons.
When do I add chlorine tabs to my pool?
The most accurate measure for this is when the chlorine levels are lower than they should be. These are between 1-3 ppm. But, if you don’t know how to measure chlorine levels, you can look at how much time tablets take to dissolve. Usually, it should be between 3 to 5 days.
This means you should add chlorine tablets at least once a week.
Where Should You Place The Tablets In The Pool?
This is a common misconception. You can’t (or shouldn’t) just throw the tablets into the pool and let them dissolve. This is due to the possibility of not evenly distributed chlorine levels. Also, Tablets can go straight to the floor, damaging the surface materials.
The correct place for them is a device that can help distribute as evenly as possible. The best option is an automatic chlorinator, but a floating chlorine dispenser can be useful and cheap.
Want to just drop them in the skimmer? Maybe is not a good idea. As water flows to the filtration system, it’s chlorinated and distributed back to the pool by the pump, but if you turn your pump off then the chlorine concentration builds up in the skimmer and can cause the plastic skimmer basket to become brittle.
It also shoots a blast of concentrated chlorine through the pump and can wear on the rubber seals. It can take a few seasons but it wears things out prematurely.
What is an Automatic Chlorinator (Chlorine Feeder), and how does it work?
The best, by far, solution for using chlorine tablets is by using an automatic chlorinator.
Probably one of the game changers in the pool industry, automatic chlorinators can help you out even when you’re not there for some time. You just need to set the amount of chlorine it should release, and you can go on a trip for a few weeks.
This is because chlorine tablets aren’t directly in contact with the pool’s water. Adding more tablets won’t cause hyperchlorination, as you can regulate the rate of release.
They’re installed directly on the filter-pump system, so it can be a little bit more difficult to install at first, but once installed, it’s by far the best method to dispense the tablets and keep chlorine levels in range.
What’s a Floating Chlorine Dispenser
The most simple device for chlorine is just a tiny plastic floater. Just introduce the tablets and let it wander.
It has some problems in large pools because it can get stuck in a corner or stay static in one wall. Then we have unevenly distributed chlorine problems, such as corrosion and stain in the places it got stuck on.
For small pools, especially for kids, it can be an excellent and cheap solution. And a colorful plastic duck is always a wonderful addition to a kid’s pool.
Final thoughts / Conclusion
Using chlorine tablets is easy and effective. An automatic chlorinator should be the way to go, especially for big pools. We can use a floating dispenser if we have a small pool for kids (maybe inflatable).
If we don’t have an automatic chlorinator, but we have a bigger pool, dropping the tablets on the skimmer can do the work. But in the long run, the most helpful device is the automatic chlorinator.
Also, if you want to know exactly how much chlorine to add to your pool, consider buying the Sutro Water Monitor, and the app will tell you how much to add and when, regardless of the pool brands you use to sanitize your pool.
