Will Superchlorination Clear Phosphates?

[Dan Y]

Richard,

The retail pool stores around here say that they can't sell liquid chlorine in my state, Kansas. What? Hard to believe.

If I could find the 12.5% solution, do you know how the cost compares with the use of calcium hypo for shocking? It seems like the liquid would be more expensive. On the other hand, I guess you wouldn't have the residue and the increase in calcium hardness over time.

Shifting gears slightly... Does anyone manufacture the every daily (trichlor) tablets without CYA that I could use in my feeder? It just seems to me that if I take the responsibility of keeping my CYA at the desired level, I should have the choice to use slow-dissolve tablets in the feeder (or other alternative), without the worry of increasing the CYA level.

Dan

[chem geek]

This link compares the cost of the various chlorine sources, but keep in mind that such costs vary across the country (especially for bleach and chlorinating liquid). It seems nuts that there are some states that apparently don't allow for chlorinating liquid since it's IDENTICAL to bleach except twice as concentrated and they clearly sell bleach in those states. Sounds like some heavy lobbying from the Trichlor/Dichlor and Cal-Hypo industries if you ask me.

Unfortunately there is no convenient solid slow-dissolving source or chlorine that does not contain CYA or have other problems. Trichlor is slow-dissolving, but has CYA. Dichlor has even more CYA and is very fast dissolving. Cal-Hypo doesn't have any CYA and is usually somewhat slow-dissolving granules (so must pre-dilute in a bucket of water first), but also comes in slow-dissolving pucks (HTH Duration tabs) but these tend to fall apart quickly near the end and leave some gummy residue and they increase Calcium Hardness (CH) though that's not as much in percentage terms as CYA (since CH is typically much higher in concentration in pools than CYA). Lithium hypochlorite does not have CYA nor CH but is VERY expensive and is fast dissolving. And, of course, bleach and chlorinating liquid are bulky and heavy and fast diluting and do not contain CYA nor CH.

If you want more automation, you can either go the saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) route or you can use The Liquidator to automatically dose bleach into your pool.

By the way, if you ever used your feeder for Trichlor, then you cannot use it for Cal-Hypo, and vice versa. The Cal-Hypo HTH Duration tabs require their own special kind of feeder anyway, but mixing Trichlor and Cal-Hypo can be explosive and is a definite no-no. In fact, any acid mixed with Cal-Hypo is bad as it generates lots of heat and can burst into flame.

Richard

[Jack Sparrow]

By the way, if you ever used your feeder for Trichlor, then you cannot use it for Cal-Hypo, and vice versa. The Cal-Hypo HTH Duration tabs require their own special kind of feeder anyway, but mixing Trichlor and Cal-Hypo can be explosive and is a definite no-no. In fact, any acid mixed with Cal-Hypo is bad as it generates lots of heat and can burst into flame.

I assume Trichlor for sanitizing and Cal-Hypo for shock is ok and safe-- you're concern is about mixing the two pre-introduction to the pool??

Joe

[chem geek]

Yes, that is correct. In the pool water, it all becomes the same hypochlorous acid. It's only mixing the concentrated chemicals that is a problem. Adding them separately to the pool water (with some pause to allow them to dilute) is fine. In the inline feeders, there is often some remnants of whatever was used in the feeder and even that small amount of concentrated chemical can be a problem which is why one isn't supposed to reuse such a feeder with a different chemical.

[Dan Y]

Thanks, Richard. Great information. I thought about the Lithium but you are certainly right about the high $!

Dan