Should liquid chlorine smell just like bleach?

[chem geek]

I use 12.5% chlorinating liquid and it most definitely smells like very strong bleach. Though the higher concentration of chlorine does break down faster, if it is properly stored in shade and away from high heat it should last at least a month or so. The half-life of 10% chlorine at 77F is 220 days (that means it loses half its strength in about 7 months), but if it's exposed to high heat or was left out in the sun, then it will break down much, much faster.

Richard

[dafletcha]

Thanks, everyone! I checked out the second jug in the case and it, too, has very little bleachy odor. Also, it looks like it's not completely full. I'm guessing this case was lying around for quite a while. Hopefully I can exchange this stuff.

[Jakebear]

I've resorted to testing every batch of bleach I buy (I look at the lot number on the bottles).

Using 1 liter of unchlorinated water (Well --- Rain --- Distilled etc) I use a syringe from the pharmacy to add .1 ml (thats one tenth of a mili-liter) then run a FAS-DPD test ---- By doing this you will know exactly what to expect when you add it to your pool.
EDIT --- The test result is equal to the percentage of bleach.