shock to bleach comparison

[Renee C]

How does bleach compare to shock. Is 1 gallon of bleach the same a 1 lb of shock? or does it compare differently?

[sevver]

If I remember correctly yes it is the same.

[Renee C]

after adding bleach how long do you need to let your filter run?

Is it safe to swim after adding bleach? How long do you have to wait?
Thanks

[sevver]

You have to wait like less than one minute. Possibly even in the area of five seconds.

[CToon]

Hi Renee,

I know what you are asking about. It's sort of misleading of the makers calling it "shock" . Its really just the same stuff you can buy in 25lb container , most of the time its calcium hypochlorite.

Its better to think of "shock" as a verb . THe Act of raising CL levels to "shock" the pool. And good ol bleach does just fine at it ;)

[duraleigh]

Renee/Sevver,

Calcium Hypochlorite is normally 65% - 68% available chlorine.....bleach is 6%. They absolutely do not equate.

[sevver]

As for raising the Cl levels, they are equal though right?

[JimSentry]

If I understand Duraleigh's post you need 6x the amount of bleach to equal the regular shock.

And I guess you would to have wait at least 24hrs before swimming in such a highly chlorinated pool.

Duraleigh or CToon please respond.

[sevver]

Yes, but the amounts vary, just because the concentrations are different does not mean that the small bag of shock added to the pool would not change the Cl levels the same amount as a gallon of bleach. Sorry, but this is what I thought, I know I read it here somewhere...

[duraleigh]

Sevver,

I misspoke. They are closer than I assumed. According to the info I have, 1lb of Cal Hypo will have about 25% more chlorine than 1 gallon of chlorine. I assumed (there's that word, again) the spread was far greater and I should not have been quite so adamant.

[sevver]

But what effect do they have in the end? That is what I am getting at. The concentrations are different, but the quantities are not the same either, so you really cannot compare them like that, what change do they make on the chemistry of the water?

[duraleigh]

Wow! We've sorta' hijacked the thread but to clarify a little:

1 lb of Cal Hypo will raise Cl 8ppm in a 10k pool

1 gal of 6% bleach will raise the same pool 6ppm

With bleach, you get almost nothing unwanted except a little salt

With Cal Hypo, you'll add a fairly good amount of Calcium which you may or may not want.

[KurtV]

I'm making some assumptions here that I'm not sure are absolutely accurate, but this is close enough for g-work.

Using about 8.3 lbs/gallon of water, a gallon of 6% sodium hypochlorite bleach should contain about 8 oz. of sodium hypochlorite. A pound of calcium hypochlorite at 65% should give you about 10.4 oz of the calcium hypochlorite. As someone else said, about 25% more active ingredient in the cal-hypo.

[vinouspleasure]

I had some of the same questions. This thread may help you:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2342