Darryl Freeman wrote:

---

I am not yet prepared to spray CH however it is my next investment, and next test for this roof.

Maybe a good opportunity to try augmenting?-- Edited by Darryl Freeman on Thursday 3rd of March 2016 06:53:51 PM

---

Darryl,

CH has its benefits, but overall for people doing this full time and higher volume, SH is usually the preferred option unless you have a system set up like the on AC sells. 

http://www.jracenstein.com/item/150-0817/softwash-systems-powdered-bleach-module/

This is not a 100% comlete/exhaustive list...but

Pro's of CH:

• Much longer shelf life than SH when in the dry, powdered form

• You remove the salt content that is poisonous to plants, and replace it with calcium, which is a plant fortifier, so you have fewer plant defoliation issues

• You can store/carry enough CH to make much more than 119 gallons of bleach, where you can only carry 119 gallons of SH per the DOT rules

• Depending on location, may be a cheaper option

• You can have CH shipped to a residential address

• You don't have to make frequent trips to buy SH if you are not able to have it delivered to you

• CH has almost no bleach type odor - it is very faint when compared to SH

• A roof strength SH mix can burn or kill grass if not rinsed, where the same strength CH mix may not even cause any problem, or maybe just a slight burn/browning on the edges of the same grass

   

  Con's of CH:

• Takes much more time and effort to get CH mixed, more so with colder water (requires measuring by weight, thus a scale)

• Most use a paint sock and basket strainer to add the CH to the tank, then you have to stand at the tank spraying water over the granules until it is all dissolved

• You need to keep surfaces wet or rinsed (such as window's, skylights, solar panels etc.) as CH will leave white specs on surfaces that take a lot more effort to remove once dry

• You will end up with a chalky residue on the bottom of your tank - although this can be removed with a wet/dry vac and is the left over chemicals that pool companies add to keep pool water crystal clear

• Both SH and CH have a higher specific gravity than water so the hypochlorite mix will sink to the bottom of the tank and require agitation/mixing to keep the mix a constant strength from top to bottom, but CH settles much faster and requires more agitation than SH, otherwise the top of your tank will be watered down and the bottom of your tank will be stronger than you originally mixed

• This extra agitation requires frequent manual agitation or a second pump dedicated to agitation

• CH degrades much faster than SH once it is mixed in water

   

  Bottom line:  Most people use SH because it is easier to mix, faster to mix (time=money), degrades much slower than CH once mixed, and you don't have to worry with the white specs if you accidentally let an area dry before rinsing.

That being said, unless he has made a change recently, Brandon Vaughn uses CH almost exclusively, but he is one of the few high production companies to do so.  I use CH exclusively for the time being, but a part of that is the extra safety factor with no salt and bleach.  My ground person has more experience now so I may start using SH to minimize time on jobs as I'm not that far away from a place I can get fresh 12.5% SH so I can get it per job.

Greetings all ...

Need some advise ... I have been asked to clean the outer fabric on an air supported dome.  First, however, I need to do a demo.

What advice can anyone give me on sh mix and green/terra wash?

By the way, I'll be taking the Certified test this week.  Hope all goes well.

Bob

Robert, I'd use a 2% mix, with a little extra Green Wash mixed in. It should be an easy clean.