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Copper or quat pool algaecide

Updated: 16.10.2026

You are down to two liquids. UK trade pages call Kleen Pool copper-based. A UK shop lists Clearwater as a quaternary ammonium compound. Amazon prints neither active. This copper or quat pool algaecide page is that choice. Use Clearwater for a cheap liquid on spas, paddling pools and light algae, dosed from the bottle. Use Kleen Pool for the six-month, large-pool claim, accepting a copper-type product the Amazon card does not name. Prices from 15 October 2026 are on the [algae killer pool comparison](/hub/pool-care/algae-killer-pool). Amazon links are affiliate links. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Products Compared did not blend the bottles, and this page will not ask you to.

You are down to two liquids. UK trade pages call Kleen Pool copper-based. A UK shop lists Clearwater as a quaternary ammonium compound. Amazon prints neither active.

Our top picks

KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool 1 litre algaecide

Best overall

KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool 1 litre algaecide
8.5/10about £17.95
View offer
KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool long-life algaecide

Alternative

KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool long-life algaecide
6.6/10about £17.95
View offer
Clearwater Clearwater 1 litre algaecide

Best value

Clearwater Clearwater 1 litre algaecide
8.2/10about £9.55
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Amazon does not print either active
  2. 2.Clearwater is sold as a quat; Kleen Pool is sold as copper
  3. 3.When the quat, when the copper-type bottle
  4. 4.Colour, black spot, and not using both at once

Amazon does not print either active

The specification blocks are silent. Clearwater CH0006 names vessels and says the dose is on the bottle. It names no chemical. The 6 litre model CH0006-BDL-6L repeats the bullets, and the written reviews match the 1 litre file. Kleen Pool’s card with 585 reviews states 1,000 ml, 28,000 litres and six months, and still no active. The sibling at the same price, 147 reviews, is as quiet and does not state litres. One UK review there says the buyer chose it as copper based. That explains a purchase. It is not a specification row. If you need the active on the Amazon card before you pay, neither bottle qualifies today. The buying guide puts the gap in order: water, job, chemistry, then the label. Shop pages do not rewrite the listing you are buying.

Clearwater is sold as a quat; Kleen Pool is sold as copper

GTS Shop lists Clearwater CH0006 as quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl-C12-16-alkyldimethyl chlorides, 99 mg/g, CAS 68424-85-1, from Wilton Bradley Limited in Newton Abbot. The description belongs to the 1 litre model the shop sells. The 6 litre Amazon code is CH0006-BDL-6L, same bullet family. Leave the CAS off any note that pretends Amazon printed it. Happy Hot Tubs calls Kleen Pool copper based, with 1 litre treating 28,200 litres for up to six months. Allswim names a polymer, methanamine, N-methyl-, with 2-(chloromethyl) oxirane, plus copper sulphate pentahydrate. Keep the polymer. Calling it only copper sulphate drops half of that line. The Amazon title says 28,000 litres, not 28,200. Quote the title on Amazon and the trade figure on the trade page. Yellow Treat is a bromide powder, not a column in this choice.
KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool 1 litre algaecide

Testsieger

KLEEN POOL Kleen Pool 1 litre algaecide
8.5/10about £17.95
View offer

When the quat, when the copper-type bottle

Choose Clearwater when the vessel is a hot tub, spa, paddling pool or larger above-ground pool, and you will dose light algae from the bottle more than once. The bullets name those vessels. The listing hides the millilitres. Reviews include both a clearing when the filter ran and pools that stayed green. A bigger pack does not turn this liquid into a six-month product. Choose the Kleen Pool card with 585 UK reviews when you want one pour toward the 28,000 litre title, including a winter close. The title says six months. That duration is a claim, and a weak one if you will not circulate. The sibling, 147 reviews and no stated litres, is thinner evidence. Skip Kleen Pool when you needed the card to say hot tub. The warning not to mix it with chlorine in one jug is on the how to use page.

Colour, black spot, and not using both at once

This set has no stain rate to print. One UK review on the 147-review Kleen Pool card says the water coloured after about three weeks. Another says the buyer wanted it for black spot because they believed it was copper based. One reason is not a measured effect on black spot. Metal staining, or a yellow patch that keeps returning, belongs with a pool shop. Use one liquid. Pouring both adds two chemistries Amazon has not named, and it ignores the trade habit of keeping Kleen Pool out of the same jug as other chemicals. If the active is missing on the card and on the bottle, do not guess with a blend. Match the job, and leave the other bottle on the shelf.

Common questions

Is Kleen Pool actually copper if Amazon does not say so?
Amazon does not say so. Happy Hot Tubs calls the 1 litre copper based and pairs it with 28,200 litres. Allswim names a polymer plus copper sulphate pentahydrate, which is more than copper sulphate alone. One UK reviewer on the 147-review card says they chose it as copper based. That is trade text plus a review, not an Amazon specification. Read the bottle before you treat a stain as copper.
What is in Clearwater?
GTS Shop lists CH0006 as benzyl-C12-16-alkyldimethyl chlorides, CAS 68424-85-1, at 99 mg/g, from Wilton Bradley in Newton Abbot. The amazon.co.uk bullets do not print that. The 6 litre code is CH0006-BDL-6L, with the same bullets and the shared review texts. Neither page prints a millilitre dose. The bottle holds the dose. Keep the CAS in the shop description.
Will copper turn the water or my hair green?
One UK review, on the 147-review card, reports coloured water after about three weeks. It gives no stain rate and does not mention hair. Watch the water. It is not a prediction for every pool. If you already have staining, ask a pool shop before a copper-type product. Add the quat-type bottle only as the other choice, not as a second pour.
Is a quat weaker because it is cheaper?
The Clearwater litre was £9.55 against £17.95. The lower price sits with named vessels, no treat volume, 7,537 UK reviews, and a dose on the bottle. Kleen Pool costs more, states 28,000 litres and six months, and has 585 UK reviews, with a copper-type line Amazon does not print. Price is not a strength scale. A heavy bloom with the filter off beats either bottle.
Does this choice replace chlorine?
No. Chlorine stays in the water if chlorine is your sanitiser, at the level that product specifies. Either algaecide is an extra. It does not retire tablets. How that sits beside day-to-day chlorine is in algaecide or chlorine tablets. Keep algaecide and chlorine out of the same jug. This page only chooses which extra you buy.

Related pages

Best pool algaecide UK

Algae killer pool

Algaecide for above ground pool, matched to litres

Pool algaecide buying guide: water, job, chemistry

How to use pool algaecide: brush, test and then pour

Sources

Public UK sources and the stored amazon.co.uk listings, from the research digest. Shelf prices and star lines are the UK figures in the display file, snapshot 15 October 2026.

  1. HSE: biocidal product types, including pool algaecides (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  2. Retained BPR Annex V, product type 2 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  3. HSE: UK authorised biocidal products (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  4. HSE: swimming pools and HSG179 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  5. PWTAG: typical pool problems (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  6. Pool & Spa Centre: Kleen Pool dose table (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  7. GTS Shop: Clearwater CH0006 active (retrieved 15 October 2026)