chlorine loss

[tony]

All dichlor is either 56% or 62% available chlorine.  The 99% on the bottle refers to the percentage of dichlor in the bottle.  Essentially it says the bottle contains virtually 100% dichlor of which dichlor is comprised of 56% available chlorine.  All chlorines have a percentage of available chlorine.  For instance, liquid chlorine is from 5-6% or 10-12% available chlorine.  Lithium is 35% available chlorine.  Cal hypo is 65% available chlorine.

[Vinny]

What Tony said is true.

But FWIW, there is dichlor out there that has 52% active chlorine vs 56% or 62%. The less active chlorine in it the more "junk" is being added to the water. You want to add quality stuff, not junk and the way you want to cut out chlorine is to add less quality stuff.

The whole N2, ozone and using less chems is possibly a little misleading. N2 and ozone are secondary sanitizers and may or may not do what is intended. They sell it as a way to use less chlorine BUT you need to kill the nasties in the tub. Chlorine and Bromine will do it.

[tony]

I wasn't aware of a 52% dichlor.  The difference between the 56 and 62 has to do with the manufacturing process and the two dichlors have slightly different chemical names.

[hottbpete]

great info ....thanks for taking the time to explain.

[hottbpete]

Tony- how do you measure to 3ppm......the easy way if there is one!!

[In Canada eh]

Tony- how do you measure to 3ppm......the easy way if there is one!!

Pete,

  Get yourself a Taylor kit.  You can measure chlorine far more accurately with it then you can with strips.

After you use the tub add 4 teaspoons of chlorine as Vinny said,  Then wait about a half an hour and test the water, you should have about 3ppm of free chlorine at that time.  If you don't, add another teaspoon.

  Our tub will maintain a chlorine residual for about 30 to 36 hours after adding 3 to 4 ppm of chlorine after use.

[tony]

I agree.  I use a Taylor kit and part of the Taylor kit is the Taylor Pool and Spa Water Chemistry booklet...and according to the booklet it takes 0.09 oz of 60% available chlorine compound to raise 400 gallons one ppm.  One teaspoon equals 1/6 oz and should raise free chlorine almost 2 ppm.

[tinybubbles]

The product I was referring to is spa shock xtra by spa essentials.  The label reads 58% chlorine and 41% other ingredients.  On the back, it says the other ingredients are clarifiers and buffers.  Sounds like a bunch of fillers and a waste of money to me.  I took it back.  I just want to add chlorine and nothing else.  It, also, said that it's not to be used as a sanitizer only a shock.  I guess that's because there's only a little chlorine in there and alot of other junk.

[tony]

The product I was referring to is spa shock xtra by spa essentials.  The label reads 58% chlorine and 41% other ingredients.  On the back, it says the other ingredients are clarifiers and buffers.  Sounds like a bunch of fillers and a waste of money to me.  I took it back.  I just want to add chlorine and nothing else.  It, also, said that it's not to be used as a sanitizer only a shock.  I guess that's because there's only a little chlorine in there and alot of other junk.

You are correct.  Spa Essentials Spa Shock Xtra is half dichlor with the rest being MPS, clarifiers and buffers.  IMO, you can do just as well with just dichlor and non chlorine shock and use clarifiers only when needed.

[Vinny]

Leslies pools sells 52% I believe.

My dealer gave me a bottle on that MPS/dichlor and I used it up and went to stright dichlor and MPS. I buy my dichlor from Doc as it is the highest available I've seen (and a good price too) and I've been using an old tub of MPS that I found in the garage from my pool.

Once I use that up - I'll probably be using Sea Klear MPS.

My suggestion would be to use dichlor, MPS and clarifier seperately. If you need to use MPS & dichlor - than add both.

Pete, get onto the Taylor kit and learn water management - you'll learn a lot and have an understanding of what's going on in the tub.