Changed plans

[CarlD]

Ah.....I'll bet THAT's why it turned gray--all that cal-hypo at once...It CAN do that...So "sanitizer" is what? 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite? One gallon then is about equal to 2 gallons of regular bleach (But that's on 5.25% you say and double is 10.5%...) Yup. Odds are the 12.5% has degraded--it does that a lightning speed at higher concentrations and if it costs more than 2 gallons of regular, don't waste your money. In my part of the country, reg. bleach is about $1.70-$1.80/gallon. But "Sanitizer" (they call it "Liquid Shock" here but it's the same stuff) is $3.99/gallon. So, unless you MUST have fewer jugs, it wll cost you between $.20 and $.30/gallon more to use the "sanitizer".

I don't see the point. Even 6% bleach is cheaper on an ounce by ounce basis.

Just use two gallons of bleach where you would have used one of the fancy stuff.

[PFPAM]

thanx again for reply....with bf getting chemicals at his price, not sure which is cheaper, but if higher percent is breaking down faster, will switch to regular bleach. would just love to see bottom to see what I am dealing with, leaves or a dead animal, willing to go into pool to clean better if just leaves, don't want to share the pool with Rocky, the dead flying squirrel.

[CallMeIshmael]

Welcome PFPAM,
FWIW, I found this forum when we faced a totally green pool opening this year. I came across a whole lot of problems due to the various additives of commercial pool chemicals, as have plenty of owners here. Just my .02 I wouldn't use several of the products I used even if they were free! The idea behind using bleach, and the other household chems encouraged here, isn't just to save cash. It's that they work in the pool with much fewer "side-effects". You can easily monitor what's going on & act/ add accordingly. In my case, I'd already added too much stabilizer/ clarifier/ shock packets by the time I found this site, but within 3 days, the calculated bleach additions got both the algae & the cloudiness out & its been crystal-clear since. Trust the seasoned folks here & you really will see as quick as possible as turnaround of your pool.
PS- I hope you don't run into Rocky, Bullwinkle or any other ex-pests in the deep end-LOL! Good luck!