Pool Shock

Pool shock and mistakes to avoid for above ground, salt water swimming pools and in ground swimming pools for the best pool water care.

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Pool Shock Treatment

What Are Chloramines?

This problem is persistent with mostly indoor swimming pools as the sun and wind takes care of chloramines, bacteria, and other contaminants in outdoor pools or a chemical free pool.

Grass, Leaves, & Organic Matter

How Your Pool Gets Chloramines

Problems Associated With Chloramines are:

If you or your child exhibit any of these acute bronchitis symptoms after swimming in your local indoor pool, take the concern to the pool operator or the manager and try to lessen the amount of time you’re in the pool.

Also, a swimming pool with high chloramines may be discolored, either milky or green. This is due to the lower amounts of free available chlorine present.

Proper Chlorine Level Is Essential

Also remember to purchase a floater for your chlorine tabs and keep it full of tabs. NEVER put chlorine tablets in the skimmer!!

FAS-DPD K-2006 Taylor Test Kit

Use Your Pool Shock

There are also many non chlorine shock products on the market such as potassium monopersulfate. Although not a chemical free pool, you'll decrease the amount of pool chemicals used.

Bioguard pool chemicals and Soft Swim have good selections for inground and above ground pool chemicals.

This is also called “super chlorination”. Normally, you’ll want to bring up the chlorine level 10 times per every 1ppm of pool chlorine, or a 10:1 ratio. Get a good water testing kit for accurate pool water testing.

How To Shock A Pool

To start you'll need:

1. Pair of heavy duty rubber gloves
2. Goggles
3. Pool chlorine (either liquid or Calcium Hypochlorite, "chlorine granules")
4. Large bucket
5. A stir stick or pool pole

You'll want to shock your pool either in the late afternoon or early evening to allow the chlorine to do its job for the longest amount of time.

Be sure all of the other readings are in line; the pH, total alkalinity, and hardness.

Simply:

Be sure the filtration system is running and everything is working properly.

If you need to use the pool you can add another chemical called Thiosulphate, which reduces the swimming pool chlorine. If you don't need the pool just allow the chlorine to come down naturally, normally within a few days.

How Much Pool Chlorine Do I Need?

This is called breakpoint or super chlorination.

To reach your breakpoint chlorination with a chloramine level of 1.0ppm or less you may follow this chart:

Chart - Super-Chlorinate Your Pool
(Amount Needed to Reach 10 ppm)

As you can see for every 10,000 - 12,000 gallons of water you will need at least 2lbs. of Calcium Hypochlorite (chlorine granules) to shock your pool and get the chloramines under control. You cannot be cautious when dealing with chloramines.

It’s all “all or nothing” approach so don’t skimp on the pool chlorine.

When you super-chlorinate your pool you must go all out and pool shock it all at once, not over a few hours or days. Using less or skimping on pool chlorine will only make your swimming pool problems worse and the chloramines and bacteria will only get stronger and more resistant to future pool shocking treatments.

Remember, you must use your pool chlorine and “slam it” or the chloramines, bacteria, and contaminants will return.

Ways To Control Chloramines

A side note about Calcium Hypochlorite for your pool water treatment. This kind of chlorine granules has a pH of 12 and does, as its name implies, has calcium. So, if your fill wateris has an already high pH level or high calcium level, it may be better to switch to liquid pool chlorine for better pool water care.

Some pool operators alternate a pool shock between regular pool chlorine and monopersulfate.

For the indoor pool at the YMCA, I have reduced my pool shock and experienced a vast decrease in the chloramines by adding two high powered fans at the deep end of the pool.

We turn them on "high" blowing over the pool and toward the exhaust fan. We started doing this when we close at night and I gotta say this little extra step sure does work.

Commercial Fan

We still need a good pool shock and now and then, but it has reduced to amount of pool chlorine and the frequency of the pool shocking.

While a heavily used indoor pool may never be totally free of chloramines and bacteria but taking charge of the situation with a correct pool shock and doing these steps can greatly reduce both chloramines and your frustrations.

For salt water swimming pools I would recommend you turning off your salt chlorine generators before a pool shock. The added amount of pool chlorine to a salt water pool may burn up you salt cell which will cost you in the long run.

Just turn on the salt generator when the shock is over and the chlorine reaches a safe level of 1.5 - 3.5ppm.

Obviously with natural swimming pools you would never add any kind of pool shock.

Well, there you have it. Everything you need to know about having a successful pool shock.

Good luck and keep swimming.

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Have A Story, Question, Or Comment?

If you have a chemical related issue, please give the chemicals readings, type of filtration system, what you've done or are trying to do, etc..

Chlorine
pH
Alkalinity
Hardness
Cyanuric Acid
Sand, Cartridge, DE Filter

Please explain your issue thoughtfully. By giving me all the details, it makes it much easier to answer your question and helps others that may have similar issues.

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