Hardness Reducing Products

[mrafal]

My CH is in the 600's which I manage by keeping my pH and TA on the low side.

While not an emergency, I would like to lower the CH. Dilution seems to be the preferred method, but a recent Google search discovered some products that claim to lower Calcium Hardness (see http://www.protechpoolsupplies.com/Support-Docs/Product-Info/CalcHardReducer.pdf or http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Chemicals/Water-Balancing-Pool-Chemicals/Calcium-Hardness-Reducer/ for example).

I've not seen this class of products discussed here. Do they work as claimed? What evil awaits my otherwise perfect water if I use it instead of dilution?

Thanks
Marc

 

[JasonLion]

Those both look like sequestrants. They don't really remove the calcium, rather they transform it into a form that can't cause calcium scaling. The sequestrant breaks down slowly, so you need to use maintenance doses to keep the calcium sequestered. Over time the cost can add up.

 

[Aquaman95]

Prior to diluting, you may want to check your source water calcium. It can tend to be high in the Austin area and diluting won't work unless you have a water softener.