Is all calcium chloride the same?

Total hardness and calcium hardness in pool water.
Scale, calcium buildup, hard water and scaling problems.
dtw-dave
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Is all calcium chloride the same?

Postby dtw-dave » Sat 23 May, 2009 12:09

Hi all ... I was just sold some Pool Season Calcium Increaser by my local pool store guy after he tested my water and he told me that my calcium was very low. After 17 years of pool ownership, I am a little skeptical because I never had to address this issue before, but he's a good guy and I believe him.

He says that's one of the reasons why my water is cloudy (9K gallons, above ground, vinyl). But here's my question: The Calcium Increaser bottle says it contains calcium chloride. Can I use the pure calcium chloride pellets that I use in the winter to melt snow and ice? Is it the same stuff? PLEASE ADVISE!


chem geek
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Is all calcium chloride the same?

Postby chem geek » Sat 23 May, 2009 14:52

There is no way that your low Calcium Hardness (CH) has anything to do with your water being cloudy. If the CH were too high, then maybe, but not being too low. If the CH was very low (< 100 ppm) then you might have some foaming in the water.

The calcium chloride in Dow Peladow (90% Calcium Chloride Anhydrous) and Dowflake (96% Calcium Chloride Dihydrate) are the same (except for water content) as the Calcium Hardness increaser in the pool store.

As for your cloudiness, check the Free Chlorine (FC) and Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels. If the FC isn't at least 5% of the CYA level, then the cloudiness is likely due to a nascent algae bloom. For manually dosed pools, you should target a minimum FC that is 7.5% of the CYA level. Read the Pool School to learn more.
dtw-dave
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I'm new here
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Joined: Sat 23 May, 2009 12:01

Is all calcium chloride the same?

Postby dtw-dave » Thu 28 May, 2009 05:43

Thanks so much for the info. The bottom line is, I added 9 lbs of calcium chloride and 1.75 pounds of CYA, shocked for the 2nd time and it seems to be working. Not crystal cear yet, but it's close. Running filter 20 hours per day for now and adding super blue (9K-gallon pool ... probably but in 5, 2-oz doses so far). Also, I think I overloaded algecide when I started up. Last year, I only monitored ph and chlorine and it took weeks to clear up. Looks like it will be a little faster this year. Thanks again for sharing your know-how! I need to buy a CYA tester!
chem geek
Pool Industry Leader
Pool Industry Leader
Posts: 2381
Joined: Thu 21 Jun, 2007 21:27
Location: San Rafael, California

Is all calcium chloride the same?

Postby chem geek » Thu 28 May, 2009 12:24

The best test kits to get are either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 kit from tftestkits.net here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is less expensive per test.

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