How long does it take liquid chlorine to degrade in strength? I bought some from my local Ace Hardware store and when I poured it in my pool is was clear not yellow like previous chlorine I have bought. Three hours after I added it I checked my chlorine and it did not change. My math indicated that it should have moved 3 PPM. There is no a doubt in my mind that the chlorine that I bought is the remnants from the end of last season could it have degraded to zero strength?
Chlorine Potency
- Thread starter jasonknox
- Start date
HERE is a link that has previously been posted by Chem Geek about the rate of degradation. The rate is a function of strength and temperature.
ewkearns
0
We live in a small town and we've noticed that the big consumers of bleach appear to be pressure washing companies. With cold temperatures, I'm sure their business is down and the warehoused bleach is probably getting a bit old. It may be a few more weeks before fresh product hits the shelves. YMMV
This post should give you a good idea of the degradation rate at various concentrations and temperatures. Note that it depends a lot on the quality of product since small amounts of metal ion contaminants will rapidly increase the degradation rate.
Thanks guys, I knew someone had calculated this. Looks like I bought 7-1/2 gallons of drinking water! Is there a simple test to confirm this? I would never be able to convince this ACE Hardware of the degradation factor!
Here's a post I made on the topic.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/83147-Chlorine-Date-Code-Decoder-Easy-Way-to-Measure-Strength
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/83147-Chlorine-Date-Code-Decoder-Easy-Way-to-Measure-Strength