Myth: It is Safe to Put Chlorine in Your Skimmer Basket

Hello, this is Pool Myths debunked… Today’s myth is 

“Eh, you don’t need a chlorinator, just drop a couple of pucks in your skimmer basket.”

For the sake of your skimmer basket and all your pool equipment downstream, don’t do this.

There’s a reason traditional chlorinators and salt cells are the last equipment in a plumbing sequence. Pool Chlorine is an extremely caustic material, 10 to 15 times stronger than household bleach. It’s added to your water to disinfect and kill bacteria, but it can also corrode metal, destroy plastics, and burn skin if not diluted.

When you drop a chlorine puck in your pump basket, you’re guaranteeing damage to the pump, filter grids, cartridges, or sand filter laterals, and causing irreparable damage to expensive-to-replace metal components like your pool heaters’ heat exchanger.

Put simply, the “convenience” chlorine tablets of the skimmer basket are far outweighed by the long-term effects.

But if you’re ever in need of a quick chlorine solution, look no further than a chlorine float.

Available in a range of styles, floating chlorinators usually have a capacity of three to six 3-inch tablets.  Each tablet should be able to chlorinate 5000 gallons. So, a 3-inch tablet chlorinator should be enough for a 15,000-gallon pool.

These floats can be a temporary or long-term solution for your chlorination needs.  If you’re interested in a floating chlorinator or need a replacement pump basket or skimmer basket. Check out the link in our description or visit us at INYOPools.com.

Matthew Simmons Technical Writer & Pool Product Expert

Swimming pool expert at InyoPools and host of Poolside Chat, brings over a decade of experience in the pool industry.

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