How SplashTally Works

Every retailer prices and packages pool chlorine differently — different bucket sizes, different shipping rules, different strengths. SplashTally turns all of that into one comparable number in three steps.

1. 1

   Collect

   We automatically check each retailer's own product page every night and record the price and stock status found at that moment. We never estimate, average, or carry a price forward — if a page can't be read cleanly on a given night, that offer is simply skipped for that night. Every table on the site reflects the single most recent successful reading for each offer.

2. 2

   Normalize

   Two numbers get computed for every offer: delivered price (item price plus whatever shipping you'd actually pay, using that retailer's real published shipping rules) and pounds of available chlorine (package weight × the active-ingredient percentage on the product's own label). That second number matters because a 50 lb bucket isn't 50 lb of chlorine — it's 50 lb of product, some percentage of which is the active, sanitizing ingredient.

3. 3

   Rank

   Delivered price divided by pounds of available chlorine gives dollars per pound of available chlorine — the true apples-to-apples cost, independent of package size or list price. Every table on this site is ranked by that number, cheapest first. Out-of-stock offers stay visible, muted, so you can see the full picture of what a retailer carries.

A worked example

Frequently asked questions

Why might the price I see be different from what's listed here?

Every price on this site is a nightly snapshot, not a live feed — we check once a night, so a retailer's price can move between our last check and the moment you click through. Region-specific pricing, promo codes, and tax at checkout can also change what you actually pay versus what's shown here.

How often do you check prices?

Nightly, on an automated schedule. If a check fails for a given offer on a given night, we skip it rather than show a guessed number — so the "last checked" timestamp at the top of every table tells you exactly how fresh the data is.

Why can't I just compare listings across retailers directly?

Because nothing else on the listing is held constant. One retailer's 25 lb bucket at 90% available chlorine competes against another's 24 lb bucket at a different price — comparing list prices alone would be comparing different amounts of different things. Dollars per pound of available chlorine is the honest bridge: it strips out package size and potency so every offer, from every retailer, reduces to the same unit.

Can I compare $/lb across different product forms?

No — $/lb available chlorine ranks offers within a product form, not across them. It tells you which 3″ tablet offer is cheapest, or which granular shock offer is cheapest, but a low $/lb on granular shock doesn't make it a substitute for tablets. Slow-dissolve tablets and fast-dissolve granular shock serve different jobs in a pool — steady daily chlorination versus a quick, temporary spike — so the fair comparison is always within one form, never across them.

What we don't do

We don't average multiple readings, don't smooth over gaps with a stale price, and don't insert a placeholder number when a check fails.

Affiliate links

SplashTally earns affiliate commissions on some outbound links (currently Doheny's, via Partnerize). Those commissions cost you nothing extra — the price you pay is the same either way. Affiliate relationships have zero effect on ranking: every table on this site is computed automatically from published price ÷ pounds of available chlorine, full stop. A retailer that pays us a commission is not moved up, and a retailer we have no relationship with is ranked on identical terms. As we add relationships with other retailers, we'll update this page and our privacy page to say so.