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Cal Hypo Explained: The Good, The Bad & The Calcium

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Calcium hypochlorite, known as cal hypo, is a staple sanitizer for many pool professionals because it delivers strong oxidation in a compact, shelf-stable form. Its percentage strength varies by source: pros often buy 73 to 78 percent, while big-box stores carry around 65 percent. Strength by weight matters when you compare products. A practical field rule equates roughly one pound of 73 percent cal hypo to one gallon of 12.5 percent liquid chlorine, even though the true math says about 22 ounces is closer. That near-parity makes cal hypo useful for routine shocking and midweek boosts, especially when you want portability and fewer heavy jugs. Still, it’s not just about free chlorine output; you need to think through side effects, regional water conditions, and safety. Safety sits at the center of using cal hypo well. Never mix it with trichlor or dichlor, which contain cyanuric acid; the reaction can be violently exothermic and explosive in feeders, skimmers, or buckets. Avoid putting...
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Bob Lowry: Party-Ready Pools and Alkalinity Control

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Crowded pool days can turn clear water cloudy fast, but a few smart steps before guests arrive protect clarity, comfort, and budget. Bob Lowry lays out a simple plan: raise free chlorine a few ppm, add a measured dose of non-chlorine oxidizer, and keep the circulation system running throughout the event. The surprise hero is the shower. A quick rinse removes sunscreen, deodorant, lotions, and oils that devour sanitizer in the first minutes after swimmers enter. Studies show pre-swim rinsing can cut chemical demand dramatically, which means fewer chloramines, better smell, and happier eyes. Pair that with a steady filter and you trap organics early, letting chlorine focus on disinfection instead of cleanup. Many service techs run into a different headache: sky-high cyanuric acid from heavy trichlor use. For every 10 ppm of chlorine dosed via trichlor, about 6 ppm of cyanuric acid remains. Over weeks, that creeps upward, forcing the required free chlorine residual to rise to maintain the...
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Bob Lowry Explains Trichlor Tablets and Pool Acid Cautions

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Pool chemistry rewards careful thinking and punishes assumptions. One of the stickiest myths is that cyanuric acid declines when water evaporates, so trichlor tablets can be used freely in hot, dry climates. Distillation physics says otherwise: evaporation removes pure water only, leaving behind calcium, salts, cyanuric acid, and everything else dissolved. When trichlor adds 10 ppm of free chlorine, it also contributes about 6 ppm of cyanuric acid. At a typical 10 ppm chlorine demand per week, CYA can rise roughly 25 ppm per month and 100 to 150 ppm over a season. That buildup weakens chlorine’s effectiveness and forces partial drains or backwashing to reset levels, because splash-out and leaks are the only real exits for CYA, not evaporation. Every chlorine choice carries a byproduct tradeoff. Trichlor and dichlor add cyanuric acid, liquid chlorine adds salt that becomes part of total dissolved solids, and calcium hypochlorite adds calcium hardness. The question isn’t whether byproduc...
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Cal-Hypo and Black Pool Stains: Bob Lowry Explains

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Clear blue water hides a lot of chemistry. In this conversation with industry legend Bob Lowry, we trace two common pain points that can rattle even seasoned pool techs: sudden black stains after dosing with calcium hypochlorite and the real health stakes when a pool slips to zero chlorine. The black stain scare can feel like a catastrophe, but it’s usually copper revealing itself, not a new problem. Copper sulfate can sit quietly on plaster, masked by the blue of the water. The instant cal hypo lands on it, oxidation shifts the compound to copper oxide, which is black and obvious. What changed isn’t the metal load, only its form—and that insight reshapes how we fix it. Once you confirm a metal stain, you have options. Ascorbic acid can lift the stain from surfaces, but it doesn’t remove copper from the system. Without metal removal, the stain returns as soon as chlorine wipes out the reducer. That’s where sequestrants and chelants come in: they surround dissolved metal and keep it fro...
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How the Pool Industry Can Lead in Water Conservation – Terry Arko

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Water scarcity no longer sits on a far horizon for pool owners and service pros; it is here and shaping how we build, filter, and maintain pools. The old habits—hosing decks, routine backwashing, and full drains every few years—made sense when water felt endless. Today, drought cycles, stressed aquifers, and stricter municipal policies put pools under a spotlight. The good news is that pools can be part of the solution. With smart filtration choices, measured chemistry, and a mindset shift from water as commodity to water as asset, we can protect clarity, protect budgets, and protect a resource that keeps getting tighter. This episode traces the evolution from 1970s practices to present-day stewardship, and it offers a practical roadmap any operator can follow. History explains how we got here. During earlier droughts, restrictions focused on lawns and outdoor watering schedules, not pools. That changed after California’s severe 2012–2016 drought, when policymakers questioned new pool ...
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Bob Lowry’s Legacy In Every Backyard with Terry Arko

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 Bob Lowry’s name still carries weight on pool routes for a simple reason: his chemistry lessons work the very next day. This conversation with Terry Arco traces how those lessons are being condensed, modernized, and delivered to pool pros across the country in 2026. The core idea is practical education for residential service techs who face tight schedules and shifting water conditions. Rather than asking pros to sit through a six-hour seminar, Terry explains how the essentials of water balance, cyanuric acid management, and free chlorine control can be taught in focused sessions that respect the realities of field work while preserving scientific rigor. At the center of this push is an abridged course derived from Bob’s 252-page Pool Chemistry for Residential Pools and its concise 26-page companion, Pool Chemistry for Service Pros. The shorter format keeps the vital principles intact: understanding Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) to prevent scale and corrosion, managing CYA to p...
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Upgrading Your Pool Tools for 2026

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 The new season is the perfect time to audit your truck and upgrade the tools that decide your pace, quality, and profit. We start with the backbone of daily service: the pole. Carbon fiber poles have matured into a clear win for pool service pros because they’re lighter, stiffer, and more durable than aluminum, which means fewer sore backs and faster control when netting, brushing, and vacuuming. Among SkimLite, Ultimate Pool Tools, and Primate, the Primate pole stands out for its feel, balance, and vertical lever locks that adjust fast with one hand. The 3-piece Primate 3X collapses to six feet for small truck beds yet extends to cover most pools from one side, reducing time and fence-dings. If your route demands a 2-piece, the 8x15 2X works well, but the key is investing in a lighter, stronger pole that you grip 90% of the day. Vacuum systems have diversified, and choosing right can change your week. Cart units like Riptide and Hammerhead still rule heavy debris and large proper...
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