Arm & Hammer Clear Balance

[tim_pool_newbie]

I was at my local WalMart the other day and was noticing the bulk-sized bags of Arm & Hammer baking soda available in the pool section. Looks like Arm & Hammer is starting to tap into the pool owner market!!

However, sitting next to the large bags of baking soda was another product by Arm & Hammer called "Clear Balance". They are some type of tablets that claim to be able to handle adjustment of both alkalinity and pH levels with a single product. I just looked the product up on the A&H website (www.armandhammer.com) and here is the product blurb they provided:

Spend less time on pool work and more time on pool play! ARM & HAMMER® Clear Balance™ Pool Maintenance Tablets maintain your pool’s alkalinity and pH levels so your chlorine works most effectively. Convenient tablet form means no measuring and no mess – and eliminates the need for other costly, corrective chemicals. ARM & HAMMER® Clear Balance™ Pool Maintenance Tablets are the easy way to keep your swimming pool water crystal clear and balanced all season long while resulting in pool water that is gentle to your skin and eyes.

Is anyone familiar with this product and does it have any merit for those of us using the BBB method?

 

[chem geek]

This website lists the ingredients on the label as:

Sodium Bicarbonate.....86.60%
Clarifier And Other Ingredients.....13.40%

Arm & Hammer describes their Clear Balance product in this link where you can read a Pool Owner's Guide which goes into more detail. Basically, the product is just baking soda plus a clarifier. The talk about pH is about pH stability (i.e. buffering). This product would mostly be used with Trichlor to keep the TA higher, though realistically one could use a pH Up product to balance TA and pH at the same time at a not-so-high TA level. If you use baking soda, the TA would have to be quite a bit higher to only use this product to maintain the TA and pH at the same time.