Calcium hypochlorite and "other ingredients"

[singerteacher]

My CH is 50, and I'd like to raise it to the recommended 100-400 level. Sent DH to store for calcium hypochlorite, as we also need to add chlorine and I thought, kill two birds with one stone. The product DH brought home is 50% calcium hypochlorite and 50% "other ingredients." The SDS says composition is:
>50% calcium hypochlorite
>20% sodium chloride
<5% calcium chlorate
<5% calcium chloride
<5% calcium carbonate
<5% calcium hydroxide
I know the sodium chloride is salt, which is totally unnecessary in my vinyl pool. My questions are:
1) Is it a bad idea to add those other calcium compounds? Will they float on the surface and bug me all season?
2) Any problem with adding the salt, in terms of messing up my balanced water?
3) Did he basically get ripped off by paying for "other ingredients" when I just wanted cal-hypo?
Thanks in advance for your opinions!

 

[mknauss]

The calcium is also totally unnecessary in your vinyl pool.

Why do you want to add calcium?

 

[singerteacher]

Thanks for the reply! Just trying to have "perfectly balanced" water. However, now that I know it has no impact on water quality, I have no plans to try to adjust it. But still wondering:

Should I use the cal-hypo/salt/calcium shock, or return it?

 

[Oly]

Good on your for knowing exactly what you are putting in your water before you apply it.
Use the Pool Math calculator and enter your pool type and current test results. It may take some practice but you will see your pool system may not require the same calcium hardness ppm level as a plaster or fiberglass pool.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

There is no such thing as “100% calcium hypochlorite” .... I suppose one could purchase a chemical reagent-grade of cal-hypo that is highly purified but it would costs lots of money and be highly unstable.

What your seeing there is standard 50% cal-hypo. There are higher percentages of it that go all the way up to 70% or so but no higher than that. All grades of cal-hypo will have a trace chemical analysis very similar to what you have listed there. Those “extras” as you call then are nothing more than the by-product from the manufacturing process used to make cal-hypo. They are safe to add to your pool and will not affect the water balance.

Since you have a vinyl liner pool and your water is soft, using cal-hypo is an excellent option over liquid chlorine. You get just as much % available chlorine out of cal-hypo with a lot less weight involved - a 1 lb bag of powder is a lot easier to store and use than a 9 lb jug of liquid. For every 10ppm FC added by cal-hypo, your CH will increase by roughly 6ppm. So you can use a lot of cal hypo this season without worrying about calcium hardness issues. Just know that cal hypo does tend to raise pH a bit so you may find yourself using more acid to reduce pH while using cal hypo. Cal hypo can also cause temporary cloudiness to the water but your filter should clear it in a day.

 

[singerteacher]

Thank you both so much for the reply! It will be nice to carry fewer jugs of liquid chlorine this season. I am thinking that I still should watch my CH level, so it doesn't get too high, even though I have a vinyl liner. Is that correct?

 

[zea3]

Correct, even with a vinyl liner calcium can get too high and become problematic, however you have a long way to go before you are too high. In your pool, 1lb of 53% cal-hypo will raise FC by 2.4 and CH by 1.7