Switching to hypochlorous acid

[cwswifty]

I know that chemical tests are more acurrate from maintaining salt and fresh water aquariums and training with Navy Nuclear power. However I still have test strips (came with calhypo) and leslie's is 1 mile from my pool. Lesli's is a bit more accurate than the test strips but it depends on the tech doing the test also. Although the stores products tend to be overpriced, it is convenient if I run out and cannot locate via amazon or other in a reasonable span of time.

FYSA. Here’s a comparison between Taylor style test kits vs the best case scenario at Leslie’s. Test strips are worse.

 

[sande005]

Your basic premise of switching to hypochlorous acid is not a method that can work.

There is no viable source for hypochlorous acid.

The product is a scam.

The Fiji example, probably. There seem to be several places offering it in gallons/bulk for industrial sanitization. Being a former multi-location foodservice manager, it has it's attractions there (and in food plants, etc.) in it being ready mixed for use. Don't have to trust the staff to remember to only use 1 capful of bleach to a gallon of water, for sanitization use on surfaces. Easy for them to overdose, and that can lead to food contamination.....quat sanitizers for that use are far better, though much more costly than a jug of bleach.
But for pools, in the state that it seems to be generally sold, no, no, no......

 

[Monica.lee.ashpole]

Thank you. I realized I was thinking about it incorrectly. I had came across an old article of my husband's for hospital sanition alternatives.

I had to fire several pool maintenance companies. We told them not to use the tabs since our cya was high but proceeded to do it anyway.

When we bought the home a couple years ago we drained half the pool because the cya was well over 100. It was still near 100 after refill. Our water is Extremely hard. It only took a few months of watering plants on the deck to leaves noticeble white rings that would not clean off. After having water softener installed, our water is still hard if not very hard though a lot better.

It did not take long with the techs using tabs that there was then algae and the cya was higher than when we moved in. I took over taking care of the pool 100%. I was able to get it back in line and each filter cartridge cleaning results in a large drop of cya although it is still high.

 

[JamesW]

You cannot get high strength hypochlorous acid because it is unstable.

The pH needs to be kept high for a stable product at any significant concentration.

At the cost per ppm, the product makes zero sense for any use.

If you need a premade solution, make your own with distilled water and add a tiny bit of sodium hypochlorite.

To maintain HOCl solution in a stable form, maximize its antimicrobial activities, and minimize undesirable side products, the pH must be maintained at 3.5 to 5.

 

[Monica.lee.ashpole]

I posted the example because the first response indicated that when I was talking about hypochlorous acid that they wanted to know if it was Tri-chlor tabs. I put in a search for HOCl for pools and that was what resulted first.

 

[JamesW]

results in a large drop of cya although it is still high.

How high?

A salt system is usually the best solution.

 

[Monica.lee.ashpole]

This was an (not THE) article of his I came across that had an internet link.

Hypochlorous Acid: A Review

The surgeon needs to have an inexpensive, available, nontoxic, and practical disinfectant that is effective in sanitizing against the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) virus. The purpose of this article was to review the evidence for using hypochlorous ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Monica.lee.ashpole]

This was an (not THE) article of his I came across that had an internet link.

 

[JamesW]

The article indicates that the product can be made using electrolysis, which is what a pool SWG (Salt System) does.

1 gram per liter is 1,000 ppm salt.

The vinegar is used to lower the pH low enough to make most of the product into hypochlorous acid.

To make 1 liter of 100 ppm HOCl solution, add 1.624 ml of 6% sodium hypochlorite to 1 liter of distilled water.

To lower the pH to 5.0, add 75 microliters of 31.45% hydrochloric acid per liter.

Lowering the pH is probably not necessary.

You can just increase the concentration to 200 ppm and 50% will be hypochlorous acid.

In any case, the product is not viable for pool use.

 

[JamesW]

To make 1 liter of 100 ppm HOCl solution, add 1.624 ml of 6% sodium hypochlorite to 1 liter of distilled water.

1 gallon of sodium hypochlorite is 3785 mL (milliliters).

You can make 2,331 liters (616 gallons) of 100 ppm hypochlorous acid solution from one gallon of 6% sodium hypochlorite.

 

[Monica.lee.ashpole]

Thanks for the help. I haven't had a need to do chemistry for over 2 decades... I'm more of a taxes/finance/construction management type of person. Also, when you are dealing with numbers like my cya level of 80ppm and hardness 250ppm, an accuracy of +/- 2ppm vs +/- 0.02ppm does not really matter in my opinion. When I would maintain the aquariums, I had both liquid chemical reagents and test strips and would use both on each sample to note the differences; results would be consistent with each other even with the reagents being more accurate and discernable. I test my pool daily with strips and take a sample to lesli's once a week. It is no cost to me and since I moved from cal hypo to liquid Cl since my hardness was getting too high, I will have to purchase a kit soon.

BTW, you would think that in San Antonio that Walmart would carry pool chemicals year round. You would be wrong like I was.

 

[PoolStored]

Go to pinch a penny for liquid chlorine.