Chlorine smell - sanitizing

[dbahn]

So every description I've read talks about purging water from the lines "until you smell chlorine" after adding a 50 ppm mix to the fresh water tank. We added the recommended 1/2 cup bleach and 2 gallons water for our 30 gallon fresh water tank. Problem is, we didn't smell chlorine.

So I tested faucet water with pool test strips, which indicated that chlorine levels were just fine for a pool, even though we couldn't smell it. But all of the sources say the mixture we used should produce a 50 ppm concentration of chlorine. Swimming pools target a concentration of 3 to 5 PPM, with higher levels deemed "harmful".

So what's going on? We've filled with the recommended bleach quantity for the tank size, we can't smell chlorine, but our pool test strip shows what looks like a safe and effective level of chlorine at 5 PPM instead of 50 PPM.

Something doesn't add up - by a factor of 10.

[Cincinnati Kid]

Some people can smell it more than others. (Assuming you don't have Covid related loss of smell)
I usually can't smell it, but my wife notices it instantly. Look for foaming when you run the tap- that's what I do.

[Lake Huron]

Did you add the correct type of bleach?? There are 2 types of bleach, ask me how I know. Lol! You have to use the one that says right on the label for sanitizing and disinfecting. It will have a little stronger smell.
My fresh tank is 80gal and I add 2 cups to the tank. 2 cups will take care of 90 gallons, so I have a overkill, but not much. When I run it thru my lines it's a difficult to smell it but you can definitely taste it.
Even after draining the bleach water out of the tank, filling it with fresh water and draining that tank, and filling it up again and flushing the lines out with that tank of water I still have a slight chlorine taste in the water for a use or two. Then it's pretty much gone.
I drink the water out of my lines and tank and I ain't got sick or dead yet and I've done it for a long time. Lol!

[dbahn]

We're 99%+ sure we don't have COVID (vaccinated early and antibody and PCR tested several times).

In swimming pools chlorine levels can be affected by sunlight and some other factors, but those don't seem to be applicable here.

[dbahn]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

My fresh tank is 80gal and I add 2 cups to the tank. 2 cups will take care of 90 gallons, so I have a overkill, but not much.

Using the 1/4 cup bleach per 15 gallon ratio, two cups would be sufficient for 120 gallons, so for 80 gallons you're using 50% more chlorine than the "standard" ratio. That may explain why the taste lingers for a few fills.

Good point about the correct bleach. I noticed that what we used was "Splash-less" Chlorox, so maybe it's not full strength. I'm going to re-do it.

[theracqueteer]

[QUOTE=dbahn;972417
Good point about the correct bleach. I noticed that what we used was "Splash-less" Chlorox, so maybe it's not full strength. I'm going to re-do it.[/QUOTE]


Your correct about the splash-less not being the the proper bleach. You need to use the regular bleach that say for sanitizing and disinfecting as previously stated.

[Lake Huron]

Originally Posted by dbahn

Using the 1/4 cup bleach per 15 gallon ratio, two cups would be sufficient for 120 gallons, so for 80 gallons you're using 50% more chlorine than the "standard" ratio. That may explain why the taste lingers for a few fills.

Good point about the correct bleach. I noticed that what we used was "Splash-less" Chlorox, so maybe it's not full strength. I'm going to re-do it.

Yup, my mistake. I didnt compute it correctly when I stated the 90 gallon. Being I got an 80 gallon fresh tank, add to it a 10gal hot water tank and I have about 8 more gallons of water in my lines and empty water filter cartridges, etc, I'm heavy on the bleach by about 1/4 cup.
Realistically I should be between 1.5 and 1.75 cups.

[dbahn]

So I just re-sanitized, this time with disinfectant labeled Chlorox rather than "Splash-proof". I get a faint chlorine smell but the pool test strip shows a much more intense color change, greater than 10 PPM, but it could easily be 50 PPM and show that same color.

It seems clear that the splash-proof version isn't adequate, as explained above.

[SmokerBill]

I accidentally bought that slimy splash proof stuff once and it had a strange orange color. After finally reading the label I tossed it out and bought some of the real stuff.

It seems like all the Clorox-type things are concentrated now. I think they used to be 5%, and now are 7%. It probably takes less now to achieve the proper chlorine concentration than we're told in all the manuals and website pages.