Your swimming pool needs to be properly disinfected to keep the water clear, kill algae, and protect against disease-causing bacteria for swimmers. Chlorine, often found in the form of chlorine tablets or chlorine pellets, has been a popular disinfectant for years due to its effectiveness and low cost. Today’s pool owners have the option of using the commonly used chlorine dichlor product. Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is a suitable replacement for nearly all pool maintenance. Here, we’ll explain how long older disinfectants last, how chlorine products compare to dichlor, and how to use them, such as sodium dichloroisocyanurate, so you can know when and why to use them.
1. What is chlorine?
Chlorine is a powerful disinfectant widely used in swimming pool maintenance. It can be chemically dissolved in the form of liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite), calcium hypochlorite, or chlorine gas. Oxidation destroys bacteria, algae, viruses, and other contaminants.
Advantages of chlorine:
- Helps kill germs quickly and effectively
- Low cost and easy to find
- Very effective in preventing algae.
Disadvantages of chlorine:
- It causes a sudden change in pH.
- It will evaporate quickly if exposed to sunlight if not stabilized.
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2. What is dichlor (sodium dichloroisocyanurate)?
Dichlor, or sodium dichloroisocyanurate, is a stable, long-term disinfectant chlorine product in convenient packaging. Dichlor consists of a chlorine atom bonded to cyanuric acid (CYA), a stabilizer that resists degradation by ultraviolet light.
As a stabilized product, Dichlor can be sold in powder or granular form. It can also be used for shock and treatment of swimming pool maintenance, especially in spas or swimming pools where chlorine is required on a regular basis.
3. Key differences between dichlor and chlorine
3.1. Existing chemical composition and chlorine
Calcium hypochlorite chlorine products typically contain 65%-70% chlorine by weight. Sodium dichloroisocyanurate typically contains less at 56%-60% chlorine. A lighter, more stable, and sunlight-resistant chlorine is dichloroisocyanurate.
3.2. Amount of stabilizer (CYA standard)
One of the benefits of dichlor is that it contains cyanuric acid, an internal stabilizer. This compound prevents chlorine from degrading due to sunlight, so it can be stored in a swimming pool for a very long time without frequent refilling. All other types of chlorine require CYA to be added as a separate product, which makes water management difficult.
3.3. Impact on the pH level of swimming pools
Chlorine products will change the pH of the pool and additional chemicals must be added to maintain the chemical stability of the water. Dichlor has a neutral pH, with a reading of 6.8 to 7.0, and has little effect on chemical pH changes. Dichlor is easier to control and requires fewer chemicals to balance.
3.4. How to apply and use
Conventional chlorine, which is very corrosive, is often pre-dissolved or treated with caution. However, Dichlor, a powdered sodium dichloroisocyanurate, breaks down quickly when used directly in the pool without pre-mixing, saving handling time and making it easier to store.
3.5. Value for money
Although the cost per unit is higher, stabilized forms can provide long-term savings through preventing chlorine loss to UV radiation and using less product over the long term compared to unstable chlorine.
4. Advantages and disadvantages of using dichlor
strength
- Easy to handle and easy to dissolve
- Minimal impact on pH
- Internal CYA stabilizer reduces the need for frequent chlorine additions.
Disadvantages
- Overuse will increase CYA unnecessarily, so the pool water must be diluted or replaced repeatedly.
5. When should chlorine or dichlor be used?
Ordinary chlorine should be used if rapid disinfection and shock treatment are required without the need for a stabilizer, or for use in indoor pools, sodium dichloroisocyanurate should be used if convenience, simplicity, and UV protection are of utmost importance.
6. Recommendations for maintaining swimming pools with Dichlor
- Test CYA and chlorine levels daily using a good quality test kit.
- Do not use dichlor in single doses for long periods to prevent the accumulation of CYA.
- Supplement with unstable chlorine periodically.
- Change some of the water if there is too much CYA.
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8 Conclusions
Ensuring that sodium dichloroisocyanurate is different from chlorine means that pool owners can make informed decisions to properly control water quality. Both help, but keep in mind the individual needs of the pool, the specifics of the local environment, and the overall objectives for managing water chemistry.
