A well-cared-for swimming pool is clean and safe, and the key to care is understanding your chemicals. Many pool owners have the same question that often comes up: Is pool chlorine the same as bleach? This question can directly influence how you maintain your pool, like how you use your robotic pool cleaner, pool vacuum robots, skimmers, etc. This article highlights the similarities and differences between the two, as well as what impact these two chemicals might have on the larger cleaning efforts being undertaken, particularly with the use of pool cleaning robots and/or robot pool cleaners.
What Is Pool Chlorine?
Chlorine for pools is a type of chlorine used to disinfect pool water. It is usually found as liquid chlorine or solid tablets, and it acts to destroy bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in the water. Chlorine for pools is also made to ensure proper pH levels and algae prevention. It is an important chemical for keeping pool water safe and clean for swimmers.
Robotic pool cleaners and pool cleaning robots will work better in a well-maintained pool, complete with the proper use of chlorine. Pool chlorine maintains the water in balance, so your swimming pool robot cleaner and pool vacuum robot don’t have to work as hard to eliminate debris and particles. If a pool is too high in chlorine it can cause an increase in pool scale or corrode parts of the pool robot cleaner over time, so regular testing is vital.
What Is Bleach?
Bleach is a household chemical that is usually used to clean and disinfect. The most popular bleach is sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), which has an equivalent name as “liquid chlorine”, but in this case, the liquid chlorine has a much larger volume. Bleach can be effective in killing bacteria on surfaces, but it isn’t designed for use in swimming pools and doesn’t always contain stabilizers, like pool chlorine does, that keep levels stable in the water.
Bleach can be used for pool chlorination (in an emergency) in general, but it’s often not encouraged as a primary sanitizer. If you use bleach instead of pool chlorine, the chemistry in the pool will become imbalanced, which can destroy your robot pool cleaner and other cleaning equipment in the pool area.
Distinctions Between Pool Chlorine and Bleach
Dilution: Although pool chlorine is diluted, bleach is immensely more concentrated. It may seem like bleach would be good for your pool; however, using bleach at the wrong concentration can leave you with an unsafe pool environment or damage the robotic pool cleaner.
Additives: Pool chlorine contains stabilizers that allow it to last more in the water, making it better for use over a lengthy period of time. Bleach doesn’t have such stabilizers, which is why its chlorine content can fade quickly and leave uneven chemical levels.
Impact on Equipment: Too much bleach in your pool can damage sensitive devices like swimming pool robot cleaners, pool vacuum robots, etc. The corrosive chemistry of bleach can eventually wear down seals, plastics, and electrical components, leading to premature wear over time.
Impact on Water Chemistry: Base pool chlorine products are formulated to control pH and alkalinity levels; however, bleach can lead to pH swings. This might cause problems for your robot pool vacuum and pool skimmer to work optimally, resulting in poor performance.
How to safely use pool chlorine around robotic pool cleaners
So to make sure the robotic pool cleaner works properly, you need to maintain a balanced level of chlorine in the swimming pool. Here are some tips on how to keep your pool chemistry in check and maintain your robotic pool cleaner:
Test Chlorine Levels: Be sure to test chlorine levels in your pool regularly and maintain them within the 1.5 to 3 ppm (parts per million) ideal range. Such balance makes your pool cleaning robot work properly without the effect of chemical imbalance.
Always choose stabilized pool chlorine products: Pool chlorine contains stabilizers that help keep chlorine active and in the water for a longer time compared to regular chlorine used for other cleaning tasks, thus reducing the need for regular additions.
Routine Pool Cleaning: Deploying a pool robot cleaner will do wonders to minimize the number of chemicals used by keeping a clean pool surface. If you are the owner of a robotic pool cleaner, make sure you clean the filter and the other parts of the pool cleaner regularly to avoid the buildup of debris due to over-chlorination.
Don’t Add Too Much Bleach: You can use bleach sometimes in emergencies to increase chlorine levels, but never approve it as your preferred disinfectant. Using Pool Chlorine To balance your water and protect your pool cleaning robots.
How Pool Vacuum Robots and Pool Skimmers Work
Pool skimmers and pool vacuum robots assist in cleaning physical debris, dirt, and particles from your pool. A pool vacuum robot would be your best friend in removing bigger debris from the pool floor and walls. Most of the time, these cleaners prefer balanced water chemistry, so keeping pH and chlorine levels in check is critical with these models.
Combined with traditional skimmers, a robotic pool cleaner can keep the water both chemically balanced and physically clean. There are many benefits to using your pool cleaning robot regularly, and in the long run, it can take a load off of your pool filter, ensuring it can maintain your pool’s sanitation levels with minimal effort.
If these devices do prove to be reliable and long-lasting, they could become the ultimate tool for pool maintenance.
So, if you want a more high-tech solution for keeping your pool clean, Beatbot has robotic pool cleaners that can help make your pool maintenance easier. The Beatbot iSkim Ultra, Beatbot AquaSense Pro, and Beatbot AquaSense are a few products that are built to enhance cleaning while maintaining efficiency, and keeping your pool clean without an overreliance on cleaning agents like bleach.
These are rocket science with their features optimizing suction and debris collection, handling everything from leaves to fine dirt, and ensuring a thorough and efficient cleaning of pools. They also tend to operate quite well in pools that have properly maintained chemical levels, providing excellent value and performance.
Conclusion
Although pool chlorine and bleach both have chlorine content, they’re very different in terms of concentration, stability, and suitability for pool use. As a result, pool chlorine is the best choice when it comes to keeping your pool disinfected and free of algae to preserve your robotic pool cleaner, as well as all other pool accessories, long-term. The most effective way to maintain your pool is with pool cleaning robots, pool skimmers, and robot pool cleaners, and being aware of the chemicals you use will help you with equipment damage.
This ensures that your robot pool vacuum and other cleaning equipment continue working and performing when your pool’s chlorine levels are balanced and without the use of household bleach.
