Calcium hypochlorite is used for the disinfection of drinking water or swimming pool water. For use in outdoor swimming pools, calcium hypochlorite can be used as a sanitizer in combination with a cyanuric acid stabilizer. The stabilizer will reduce the loss of chlorine because of UV radiation. Calcium does make the water ‘hard’ and tends to clog up some filters. However, some types of calcium hypochlorite do contain anti-scaling agents in order to prevent clogging up of pipes/filters. This grade of calcium hypochlorite can also be used in hard waters. The main advantage of calcium hypochlorite is that it is unstabilised unlike chlorinated isocyanurates such as sodium dichloroisocyanurate or trichloroisocyanuric acid. Latter products do contain cyanuric acid. If the level of cyanuric acid becomes too high, it will influence the performance of the chlorine. Pools running on chlorinated isocyanurates should maintain a free chlorine level between 2 and 5 ppm (mg/L), whereas pools running on calcium hypochlorite should have a chlorine level of 1-2 ppm (mg/L).
Calcium hypochlorite (known as ‘bleaching powder’) is also used for bleaching cotton and linen and is used in the manufacture of chloroform.
Other uses are: 1. As bathroom cleaner 2. Clean secondhand items 3. Glow to glass dish ware 4. Household disinfectant spray 5. Remove moss and alga 6. Sanitize garden tools 7. Kill weeds in walkways 8. Preserve the cut flowers fresh 9. Clean lawn furniture
