Today inquiry came to us from a concerned woman that heard some potentially disturbing news regarding poisoned swimming pool antifreeze, a false rumor as far as we have heard.

This Swimming Pool Antifreeze Contains NO Ethylene Glycol

"While in [insert name of large retail chain store here] looking for a small bucket of chlorine pucks to tide us over until we close the pool in a few weeks we heard a man nsay something about poisoned anti-freeze for pools. Have you heard of this? Can test for this? Thanks, MamaMissy"

First of all, why would someone go through the trouble of lacing antifreeze with a poison? What would they possibly gain from such an act?

And secondly, most anti-freeze is already a form of poison and should not get consumed... but the story does not end there.

Typically in swimming pool anti-freeze you will find a compound called Propylene Glycol, a compound that does have the potential to cause harm to a person if accidentally ingested. However, according to the United States Food & Drug Administration this same compound may get used in certain applications involving food because of its low toxicity.

This Swimming Pool Antifreeze Contains NO Ethylene Glycol

In other words, the stuff does not pack enough of a punch in small doses to do any real harm. Its 'cousin', a compound called Ethylene Glycol, on the other hand, gets used in industrial and automotive applications and will cause harm in small doses. For that reason the United States Food & Drug Administration does not permit the use of ethylene glycol in any application where it could accidentally, or intentionally, get ingested.

• Both ethylene glycol and propylene glycol get used in different types of antifreeze products, but only propylene glycol can get used in applications where it could accidentally leak in a manner that could cause it to come into contact w/ people and/or get consumed in minute amounts.
• Automotive antifreeze normally contains ethylene glycol, has a bright color to it, and can have a sweetish scent & odor. Health officials suggest storing all mixtures containing ethylene glycol in elevated locations and cleaning all spills immediately since the compounds sweet and colorful nature can make it intriguing to both animals and children.

So... getting back to the notion that a person may have intentionally tainted pool antifreeze, the idea makes little to no sense. If anything, we suppose the story of poisoned swimming pool antifreeze may have resulted from a real-life case of a non-chemically savvy person dumping a product like car/truck antifreeze (which contained ethylene glycol) into their pool lines because they A) believed it would save them money; B) didn't bother to read the directions; or C) flat out had no idea what the heck they were doing.

With that said, if you don't know for sure the right way to winterize your pool, seek the advice and/or assistance of those who do!

For much of the United States the passing of Labor Day Weekend means the last Summer Blowout Bash before Fall has come and gone... and for many pool owners it also signals the time to examine last year's Winter Cover and pick up Winterizing Supplies in preparation for the annual closing of the swimming pool.

Pool Closing Kits @ InTheSwim.Com

Over the winter months your pump and filter don't run so the water in your pool gets neither circulated nor sanitized... and that makes your once pristine pool water the perfect breeding ground for algae. By properly using winter pool covers and pool closing (winterizing) kits you can help make opening your pool a much less painful (and expensive!) process in the Spring! What sort of chemicals do most pool closing kits contain? Most of the closing kits we've seen this year seem to contain a combination of chlorine-free shock, some sort of time-release chemical feeder, stain preventatives, and oil/lotion removal devices. Why use chlorine-free shock? As one would expect, chlorine-based shock treatments could, if in too great a concentration, cause damage to various pool parts such as walls, liners, covers, etc. Additionally, chlorine-based shocks may also reduce the effectiveness of other chemicals in the water (i.e. algaecides, stain preventatives, etc.). Importance of time-release chemical feeder? When most folks get a runny nose they certainly do want instant relief, but they also want that feeling of relief to last for a while so they take time-release decongestants and/or antihistamines. If you want your pool to stay healthy all winter, then it, too, will probably fare much better with a time release chemical feeder than with chemical treatments that get added all at one time. Do I really need stain preventatives? As runoff from around the pool seeps in and metal fixture in and around the pool have a chance to potentially leach their elements into the water, the risk of those metals possibly dropping out of solution and forming stains increases as the water temperature drops. Why worry about oils and lotions? Again, as the water temperature drops, suspended body oils and lotions that came from swimmers during the Summer will have a greater likelihood of coming out of suspension, migrating towards pool walls, and depositing themselves on whatever exposed surface they encounter. By the time you get ready to open the pool, well, those oils will have formed tough, hard to remove stains all around the edge of the pool. Where can I buy closing kits? 171 out of 175 customers who purchased the swimming pool closing kit offered by In the Swim said they would recommend the product to friends. Additionally, we have heard similar success stories from folks who used swimming pool closing kits offered by Pool Center, another online pool supply store with an excellent reputation.

Pool Closing & Winterizing Kits @ PoolCenter.Com

Each time when you go to the pool store to get chemicals — or floaties for the kids’ arms — one of the men or women at the counter probably suggests that you add some sort of pool water clarifier (sometimes called a pool water polisher) to give it that perfectly clear appearance… but do they ever take the time to explain what the contents of that magical bottle actually DO?

If not, then today’s your lucky day because we will now tell you, in really simple terms, what that mystery stuff does: It makes suspended solids in the pool water stick to one another so that the filter can more easily catch them.

Each brand of pool clarifier has a slightly different method of accomplishing that goal, but in the end they all pretty much do the same thing.

Super Floc Out Pool Water Flocculant Recommended by 36 Out of 37 Customers

OK, well what is a pool FLOCCULANT, then?

The term flocculant refers to chemical compounds that cause smaller suspended particles to stick together for the purpose of making it easier for a filter to catch them or to cause them to precipitate out of the water and fall to the bottom where a pool vacuum then removes them from the water.

More or less all clarifiers and water polishers qualify as flocculants but, according to recent pool chemical marketing trends, the ones that actually CALL themselves flocculants get recommended for more serious pool water clarity problems.

Any problem with using clarifiers on a regular basis?

With chlorine based sanitizer systems (powders, tablets, liquid, sticks, etc.) we have not heard of any real reason to not use clarifiers on a regular basis. As always, though, we suggest reading and following the directions on the bottle. Not all clarifiers have the same directions for use!

Pressure building in filter after adding clarifiers?

Do not panic! Roughly 9 times out of 10 this means the clarifier has made it easier for your filter to catch dissolved solids previously too small for the filter to catch. Simply backwash the filter each time this happens — or ‘bump’ your DE filter if you have that option — and let your filter get back to doing its job.

Filters that use DE (Diatomaceous Earth) to coat their filter elements will tend to clog and require ‘bumping’ or backwashing more quickly than sand filters due to the efficiency of their filtering mechanisms. In extreme cases the filter elements (fingers, grids, etc.) may need a good cleaning and possibly acid washing soon after you clear up your water problem.

Read the label on the clarifier you select and make sure to heed any warnings regarding the use of that product with certain types of filters.

Can clarifiers take the place of chlorine, bromine, etc.?

Absolutely NOT! Chlorine, bromine and other pool water sanitizer systems serve a completely different purpose and you should not decrease the amount them used because you start adding a clarifier product to your water.

Pool sanitizers help to keep the water in a pool safe from bacteria, germs, etc. Pool clarifiers help get unwanted dissolved solids out of the water.

In the Swim Pool Clarifier Recommended by 10 out of 12 Customers

In the Swim Super Clarifier Recommended by 24 out of 24 Customers

Pool Check 5-in-1 Test Strips

We often get asked for advice on how to save money on pool chemicals — especially since gas prices won’t go down and more people have to keep a closer watch on their finances.

Thus far we have found two main ways that pool owners can save money on pool chemicals:

1) Test Your Pool Water: By keeping your water in balance you can avoid costly pool water problems like algae, staining, etc. that all require chemicals to correct. A pool with the correct chemical balance ought never see the likes of algae or staining!

2) Chemical Value Packs: Buying in bulk at the beginning of the season when pool supply companies like In the Swim and Pool Center offer great deals on combination packs of pool chemicals and supplies that you will need over the course of the season will save you time and money in the long-run.

100% of Customers Recommend These Kits!

Stock Up Now and Save Big! IN-GROUND ULTIMATE VALUE PACK CONTENTS: Stabilized Chlorine 75 lbs. (your choice of 3-inch tabs, 1-inch tabs, granular or sticks) Chlorine Free Shock 12 1-lb bags Super Pool Shock 12 1-lb. bags Super Algaecide 1 quart Stain Away 1 quart Test Strips 10 count ABOVE-GROUND ULTIMATE VALUE PACK CONTENTS: Stabilized Chlorine 35 lbs. (your choice of 3-inch tabs, 1-inch tabs, granular or sticks) Chlorine Free Shock 6 1-lb. bags Super Pool Shock 6 1-lb. bags Super Algaecide 1 quart Stain Away 1 quart Test Strips 10 count

Not everyone has the opportunity or ability to open their swimming pools right when Summer starts to peek around the corner. Travel plans, work, attending school graduation functions, weddings and a host of other events can quickly fill up a family’s free time… and make opening the pool a waste of time — until it gets REALLY hot out and all those other activities come to a screeching halt!

The questions quickly becomes, “Does opening a pool later in the Summer mean adding different pool chemicals?”

In most cases, no, with the exception of chlorine or your primary sanitizer. Warmer water temperatures may have ‘driven off’ winterizing chemicals and allowed the water to turn some shade of nasty. You may find that you need an extra amount of your sanitizing system’s shock treatment to get your water back to a pristine, clean and clear state.

If you normally require pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness balancing chemicals when you open earlier, you will most likely still need them now. Proper use of algaecides and metal removing chemicals goes with out saying… right?!?

Didn’t see what you needed? Take a look at the pool chemicals section of the Pool Center Web Site for additional pool opening and pool maintenance chemicals.

A common question we have heard many during our tenure working in pool stores over the years: “How does a pool clarifier work exactly?”

Pool Perfect Removes Oils, Lotions & Organic Scum

Despite our knowing a bit more than the average person about chemistry and wanting to share that knowledge, we usually refrained from going into a lecture about polymers and such… for fear for of scaring the poor customer half to death and causing them to have horrible nightmares that night about their experiences in high school chemistry class.

Instead we told people to imagine that the bottle of pool water clarifier in their hand contained millions of little greedy squid and octopuses that had a craving for small particles in pool water. Simply pour the little buggers into the pool and in a short period of time each of them would fill up their arms (tentacles) with as many particles as possible until full and get so big that the pool filter would catch them or they would fall to the pool floor waiting to get vacuumed out.

Sounds silly, and almost stupid, but we sold a LOT of pool clarifier using that little story. Something about the imagery of small animals doing all the work for people seemed appealing… but that’s just our best guess.

Moral of the story?

Adding live sea creatures to pool water will have BAD consequences… but adding some sort of pool water clarifier to your pool water will put advanced chemistry (in the form of greedy squid and octopuses) to work for you, help clear up cloudy pool water, and/or help keep clear pool water sparkling clear.

Standard Pool Clarifier

Super Floc Out

Natural Pool Clarifier

We recently got asked for information about the best ‘brand’ of 3-inch chlorine tablets for use in floating chlorinators and chlorine feeder systems and quite honestly we do NOT have an opinion — except that we suggest avoiding using chlorine tablets purchased from large retail chains such as T#rg#t, W#lm#rt, To#s’#'us, K#a#t, etc. if possible.

Will chlorine from those (and other large retail) stores work? Yes, but you will go through more of it faster because it typically has a lower available chlorine content than 3-inch chlorine tablets purchased from pool stores. Why? Last we heard it has something do with the chemical licenses held by large retailers which take into account the ways (and places) in which they store/display chlorine products.

Another thing to consider: Chlorine Stabilizer (cyanuric acid). Most floating chlorinators and chlorine feeder systems do not work properly if you attempt to use non-stabilized chlorine tablets in them. Plus, non-stabilized forms of chlorine tend to volatilize out of the water quickly making it harder to maintain free chlorine residuals in the water.

Also, do NOT use fast/rapid dissolving tablets in chlorine feeder systems. Dangerous situations involving the rapid (no pun intended) formation of dangerous pressure levels in your pool’s plumbing may result!

So… Where can you purchase stabilized 3-inch chlorine tablets that will provide the higher level of available free chlorine? In the Swim carries a quality product that comes in a variety of sizes:

• 10 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

• 25 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

• 50 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

• 100 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

• 200 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

• 500 lbs of Stabilized 3-Inch Chlorine Tablets

Given how BUSY most people get during the rest of the year, why would Summer offer them a break in their hectic routine? Therefore it definitely didn’t shock us one bit when ‘Mary12Adam’ wrote in and asked,

“My husnband and I both work 2 jobs and take turns shuffling the kids around to all their school, soccer, band and scout stuff. We don’t have time to run back and forth to the pool store every week for more pool chemicals. Do you know a chemical kit that will last us most if not all summer long?”

We certainly empathize with your situation, Mary, since we have kids, too, and have to create time to do ANYthing other than work, housework and drive them hither and yon.

We typically stock up on chemicals from our local pool supply store early in the season and don’t have to make a trip back until at least 3/4 of the way through the season, though sometimes a bit sooner if we get a lot of rain or have 2 or 20 more social gatherings at the homestead.

Since it sounds like you clearly don’t have a lot of time on your hands, Mary, for going to the pool store even ONCE, we suggest that you look into a pool chemical package like the Chemical Season Supply Kit (Large) from Amerimerc.Com, a leading online retailer of pool chemicals, pool test kits, pool supplies, and, of course, pool toys.

What does the kit contain? So glad you asked!

• 50 lb.3in Tablets — Great for day-to-day chlorinating
• 1 qt. Poly 60 Algaecide — A necessary tool for fending off unwanted algae
• 1 qt. Conquest Super Rust & Scale — Keep pesky metal stains out of your water
• 24 x 1 lb. bag Dura Shock — Excellent for shocking & superchlorinating
• 4 lb. pH Increaser — Effective way to elevate the pH of your pool water
• 6 lb. pH Reducer — Effective way to decrease the pH of your pool water
• Aqua Chek Chlorine 3-Way Test Strips — Fastest way to test your pool for vital parameters

Looking for other chemicals and supplies for your swimming pool and want them delivered right to your door? Check out the latest offerings on Amerimerc.Com!

Given how BUSY most people get during the rest of the year, why would Summer offer them a break in their hectic routine? Therefore it definitely didn’t shock us one bit when ‘Mary12Adam’ wrote in and asked,

“My husnband and I both work 2 jobs and take turns shuffling the kids around to all their school, soccer, band and scout stuff. We don’t have time to run back and forth to the pool store every week for more pool chemicals. Do you know a chemical kit that will last us most if not all summer long?”

We certainly empathize with your situation, Mary, since we have kids, too, and have to create time to do ANYthing other than work, housework and drive them hither and yon.

We typically stock up on chemicals from our local pool supply store early in the season and don’t have to make a trip back until at least 3/4 of the way through the season, though sometimes a bit sooner if we get a lot of rain or have 2 or 20 more social gatherings at the homestead.

Since it sounds like you clearly don’t have a lot of time on your hands, Mary, for going to the pool store even ONCE, we suggest that you look into a pool chemical package like the Chemical Season Supply Kit (Large) from Amerimerc.Com, a leading online retailer of pool chemicals, pool test kits, pool supplies, and, of course, pool toys.

What does the kit contain? So glad you asked!

• 50 lb.3in Tablets — Great for day-to-day chlorinating
• 1 qt. Poly 60 Algaecide — A necessary tool for fending off unwanted algae
• 1 qt. Conquest Super Rust & Scale — Keep pesky metal stains out of your water
• 24 x 1 lb. bag Dura Shock — Excellent for shocking & superchlorinating
• 4 lb. pH Increaser — Effective way to elevate the pH of your pool water
• 6 lb. pH Reducer — Effective way to decrease the pH of your pool water
• Aqua Chek Chlorine 3-Way Test Strips — Fastest way to test your pool for vital parameters

Looking for other chemicals and supplies for your swimming pool and want them delivered right to your door? Check out the latest offerings on Amerimerc.Com!