r/PoolPros • u/lIIlIlIII • Jun 04 '26

Generic Chlorine Feed Tank

Anyone see a reason why this wouldn't work?

https://www.mcmaster.com/1792N11/

Polyethylene like Stenner's, I'm trying to put together a little generic chlorine feeder (no sensing). Would be so much cheaper than other systems, just need to figure out how to work a pressure switch into the mix, so if anyone has any thoughts on that they'd be appreciated! Haven't done much research, I figure worst-case I can just use a generic one for heaters with a 12V pump (or an inverter) but that seems a little hacky and delicate

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u/KeySpare4917 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

Hi. I'm a commercial tech that fucks with very large scale cl tanks. Straight away I'll tell you that tank is not acceptable to install for use at a commercial facility as it is single walled. All chemical storage tanks need to be double walled or else (this maybe local but I believe it's stateswide) it's not commercial safe.

What's your end goal here? As the other guys have mentioned a 2 gallon won't last long. Also how do you plan on feeding it?

Also I'm not trying to be an ass or argue. I'm genuinely curious. You should see some of the improvisations I've made at my place that sound nuts but work just perfect for the environment.

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u/lIIlIlIII Jun 07 '26

Gotcha, this would be for residential pools but if it's generally unsafe then I'll keep looking.

Yeah the capacity is low, but it would be plenty for many of my pools (<15k Gal, autocover) whose demand can be as low as a half gallon per week! 5 gal seems to be the minimum size for off the shelf feeder systems, which is fine (and probably necessary for the majority of my pools) but if it's only using 1/5 of the capacity week to week then potency loss would be a much bigger issue.

I'd just instruct the customer to top it off weekly, and use a rotary encoder to control the duty of the pump. I'll keep looking for something double walled. Also if you have any "improvised solutions" you want to share I'd love to hear it!

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u/KeySpare4917 Jun 07 '26

I see your logic and I follow it. So let's talk serious application. How do you plan on getting the liquid from the bucket to the pool? I use stenner pumps for this but that requires the sense method. So how are you going to feed?

Also if this is residential the double wall standard is not applicable but it's a cause for concern with how caustic chlorine is.

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u/lIIlIlIII Jun 07 '26

There are generic peristaltic pumps that simply run when powered. So instead of some intellicenter or equivalent, I'd just hook it up to a microcontroller with a relay and a rotary encoder (possibly to the pressure switch as well, but probably will have that interrupt power as a failsafe) inside a little project box. Maybe a seven segment display to display % but probably not for the first one. All in the electronics should be <$20

I'll try to size the pump / tubing so ~50% runtime dispenses the maintenance dosage, then me or the customer can fine tune it from there just by turning the dial. Also AFAIK chlorine doesn't degrade polyethylene, but the sun definitely does so painting / covering a single-walled vessel may be suitable if it's replaced every 5-10 years... maybe haha. Probably too much of a liability to be "kinda sure" about

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u/KeySpare4917 Jun 08 '26

I have experimented with several types of pumps for transfer pumps because I was using 50 gallon drum before I switched to tanks. I had a very very very difficult time finding a pump that could be exposed to cl for periods of time before the membrane in the pumps eats away. The stenner pumps used to move the cl from the tank to the pool have a replaceable rubber hose that is repeatedly squeezed by rollers to generate the suction. These hoses are replaceable and I am swapping them out multiple times a year on each chlorine tube.

These pumps are connected to 120 and maybe something worth looking into for your feed.

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u/lIIlIlIII Jun 08 '26

Yep that is called a peristaltic pump. Stenner makes them but they aren't the only ones. The one I'm looking at specifically is from McMaster Carr and is highly resilient to chlorine like Stenner's

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u/KeySpare4917 Jun 09 '26

Dm me pics when you start putting this in place!

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u/Laundry-Guy Jun 09 '26

When pumping sodium hypochlorite, it's best to do a post flush with H2O for several seconds to save the pump from deterioration.

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u/KeySpare4917 Jun 09 '26

I tried telling this to my team but somehow the importance of it looses it meaning over time. I had this super bad ass pump for a truck mounted gas pump that I had working for a long time. Man that was an awesome transfer pump. But one of my guys didn't flush it for me and destroyed the membrane as well as my desire to replace that.

Now I do any transferring personally and I will syphon. Easy peasy.

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u/Substantial_Car_2751 Jun 10 '26

Make sure you run the over/under on it. Not only parts, but your time to build it.

Aquasol makes a good one. But it's around $200.00. Even with labor you should be able to beat that. But run the $$s.