No matter whether or not you personal or preserve a pool, chlorine has lengthy been a well-recognized chemical within the swimming pool business.
Not solely is chlorine a extremely efficient pool sanitizer, nevertheless it’s additionally essentially the most cheap sanitizing agent in the marketplace. The truth is, it’s for that purpose that many of the world’s swimming swimming pools depend on chlorine within the first place.
After all, not all chlorine is created equal, and understanding what separates the assorted forms of chlorine merchandise is crucial for correct pool water remedy. At the moment, we’ll be having a look one kind specifically; calcium hypochlorite.
What’s Calcium Hypochlorite?
Calcium hypochlorite—or what most individuals simply name “cal hypo”—is one in every of numerous forms of chlorine you should purchase, and it seems to be precisely the way you’d anticipate pool chlorine to look.
It’s largely generally offered as a white, chlorine-smelling powder/granules, that are then poured instantly into the pool water, or typically through the pool skimmer. It has a extremely alkaline pH stage at round 11-12, and incorporates wherever from 65-75% free out there chlorine.
These are usually offered in 1lb baggage, nevertheless it’s price contemplating a bulk-buy in case you’re planning to make use of cal hypo usually.
It’s additionally much less generally present in pill kind. It seems to be like a white hockey puck in both 1″ or 3″ sizes, which is then dissolved and drip-fed in a specialised feeder. It has a barely decrease pH stage of round 9.
No matter bodily kind, neither the powder or pill variations of calcium hypochlorite include pool stabilizer (cyanuric acid) to guard in opposition to the solar, however as an alternative include calcium which raises your swimming pools calcium hardness stage over time.
Cal-Hypo Fast Stats
How Does Calcium Hypochlorite Work?
Nicely, it really works similar to every other kind of chlorine.
After including calcium hypochlorite to your pool, the chlorine rapidly reacts with the water to kind Hydrochloric Acid. It’s this acid that assaults and kills the microscopic unhealthy guys floating round.
It does this “killing” by combining with any menace it encounters, breaking down the cell wall and successfully rendering it ineffective. The ensuing mixed chlorine can also be known as chloramines.
Now, simply because it really works basically the identical as every other kind of chlorine as soon as it’s within the water, every have distinctive qualities that you might want to perceive with the intention to select the appropriate chlorine product to your particular use-case.
Let’s deal with that subsequent.
The Execs and Cons of Calcium Hypochlorite
Considering of utilizing cal-hypo in your swimming pool?
Up to now I’ve simply thrown a bunch of descriptions and information at you, however I’ve but to speak about what these imply from a sensible standpoint, and extra importantly, if calcium hypochlorite is even a wise choice for sanitizing a pool.
The Advantages of Cal-Hypo
The Drawbacks of Cal-Hypo
Different Potential Advantages/Drawbacks
The next factors can both be advantages of drawbacks relying on the present state of your pool water chemistry:
Why It’s Dangerous for Day by day Chlorination
Maintaining your pool correctly chlorinated is an ongoing job, and the kind of chlorine you determine to make use of will both make that job simpler, or more durable.
Having to manually add chlorine to your pool each day is already a giant ask for anybody with a life, however couple that with the time and power it takes to pre-dissolve a bag of calcium hypochlorite, and also you rapidly enter deal-breaking territory.
If that wasn’t unhealthy sufficient, utilizing calcium hypochlorite every single day will ultimately increase your calcium hardness ranges means above the suggest vary, to not point out the issues surrounding daytime use contemplating it doesn’t include any pool stabilizer.
Notice: Sure, calcium hypochlorite tablets eradicate a few of these points, however they’re more durable to come back by and likewise require a specialised feeder as a result of they dissolve too rapidly and turn into a gooey mess.
Principally, cal hypo doesn’t tick practically sufficient bins for ongoing chlorination. As an alternative, I like to recommend utilizing trichlor tablets for a extra hands-off strategy, or sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) in case you nonetheless choose a guide utility.
Whereas calcium hypochlorite is poorly designed for every day chlorine utility, it’s these similar flaws that make it an ideal candidate for an additional widespread use-case; stunning your pool.
And that leads me properly to…
Calcium Hypochlorite for Pool Surprising – “3 calcium hypochlorite tablets”
When mixed chlorine (chloramine) builds up an excessive amount of in your pool, it could actually begin to stop free chlorine from successfully doing its job, in addition to inflicting pores and skin and eye irritation.
Notice: You’ll know in case you have a buildup of chloramines as a result of they provide off that acquainted chlorine scent. A stronger scent means a stronger buildup.
To take away the chloramines out of your pool water, you’ll must “shock” your pool. This course of includes including 10x the quantity of chlorine to your pool as there’s chloramine, which breaks up the chloramine molecules, inflicting them to off-gas (oxidize).
It’s a good suggestion to do that as soon as per week to forestall a robust buildup of chloramines, however stunning will also be used to battle an algae bloom or different contaminants coming into the water, corresponding to human waste. Yep, it occurs.
In principle, you may shock your pool with any kind of chlorine so long as you add sufficient of it, however calcium hypochlorite is especially suited as a result of, as talked about above:
And since shock requires a much less frequent utility, the added calcium and slight improve in pH is way simpler to handle, particularly when the remainder of your water chemistry is correctly balanced.
Conclusion
Attending to grips with the several types of chlorine could be difficult for brand new pool house owners, however hopefully now you can tick calcium hypochlorite off your checklist.
Whereas trichlor tablets and liquid chlorine are higher choices for normal chlorination, cal hypo takes the crown on the subject of stunning your pool—whether or not it’s a typical weekly shock or an emergency remedy.
Good luck and completely satisfied swimming!
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