Can you mix calcium hypochlorite with sodium hypochlorite?

Answer 1

Well, it depends. You don't want to directly mix the two, and you should never use cal-hypo in a chlorine feeder made for trichlor. Cal-hypo can have hazardous reactions with many organic compounds.

If you're putting them into a swimming pool, there is no problem with using both, just give them an opportunity to fully dissolve/dillute in the water.

Once in the water, they both convert to hypochlorous acid, which is the sanitizing version of chlorine. Technically, all forms of pool chlorine convert to hypochlorous acid, but some will have other affects on water chemistry.

For instance, trichlor (Trichloroisocyanuric acid) and dichlor (Dichloroisocyanuric acid) both add cyanuric acid, which is stabilizer (CYA) to your pool. Excess stabilizer makes your chlorine less effective. Also, both are very acidic, and will lower your pools ph.

Calcium hypochlorite adds calcium, which you need in a concrete/plaster/gunite pool, but it also accumulates over time and can get too high.

Sodium hypochlorite doesn't really add anything to your water, other than more water, so it has the least side effects to your water chemistry.

And technically, Lithium Hypochlorite has no real side effects either, so it would b good to use, but it is so gawd-awfully expensive that it's not used much in the real world.

Answer 2

It is not recommended to mix calcium hypochlorite with sodium hypochlorite as they are both powerful oxidizing agents and can react violently when combined. This can lead to release of toxic chlorine gas and cause serious safety hazards. It is best to use one type of chlorine compound for disinfection purposes.