New user with cal hypo question

[seank6]

I read a bunch of stuff here but just got around to registering. I don't really have any problems to post. I am curious as to why the forum recommends to use bleach instead of cal hypo? I thought bleach had a low chlorine amount/per volume vs the cal hypo thats available now. Is it just a cost thing? I usually only need to shock twice a year with mine so don't really notice the cost of the cal hypo I use I guess. Either way does anyone know how much bleach produces desired ppm for shocking? Is there a chart somewhere?

Oh and I am shopping for a new ladder. What type of construction works best in your opinion? Anything I should look for especially considering mine is a salt pool?

[Watermom]

All forms of chlorine add other things along with the chlorine. Bleach just happens to add about the least -- salt. Plus, it is readily available everywhere and fairly cheap. Cal-hypo adds calcium. Over time, it can cause your calcium levels to get high which can cause cloudy water issues especially when high pH and high alkalinity are also present.

How much chlorine bleach will add to a pool depends on the volume. This bleach calculator may help you. There are also other calcs there as well in the drop-down menu in the upper left. http://pool9.net/bleach-calc/

(Until your registration is completed, you will not be able to see the rest of the forum while you are logged in and thus won't be able to follow that link. Copy it and paste it in a browser window after you log out.

Sorry, can't help with the ladder question.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[PoolDoc]

1 gallon of 8% household bleach adds about 8 ppm to 10K gallons of water.

A slightly simplified version of WaterMom's answer: when people come to the forum they almost always need to add chlorine, but only rarely can we fully trust their description of their pool water's condition. They can almost always add bleach safely.

If we recommended cal hypo, and their calcium was already too high, we could turn their pool to 'milk'! If we recommended dichlor, and their stabilizer was already 200 ppm . . . we'd make it worse. If we recommended trichlor, and their pH was low, we could damage their pool.

If you check some threads, we often recommend other chemicals, once we know more about their pool.

. . . membership upgraded.