Shocking Your Swimming Pool During The DayShocking gets rid of chloramines and helps bring your pool's chlorine levels to a well-balanced 3 parts per million (ppm). But while daytime is great for enjoying your pool, it's the wrong time to shock.
Backwash only as needed. Brush the pool vigorously, several times after shocking the pool. Do not use a solar blanket until chlorine and pH level are normal. If chlorine level drops to zero within 24 hours, Repeat the shock treatment.
Always run the pump when shocking the pool and allow it to circulate for 24 hours. The water should then be a blue or cloudy blue color. Test the water 24 hours after shocking and start adjusting pH and alkalinity levels. The chlorine will still be elevated, but over a few days it should stabilize.
Having too much chlorine in your pool water can be dangerous. Exposure to high levels of chlorine can cause lung irritation, skin and eye damage, and provoke asthma. High chlorine levels decrease the pH of your pool's water, making it more acidic.
As a general rule, you should be backwashing your pool about once a week or in conjugation with your scheduled maintenance. Another industry standard is to backwash when your filter's pressure gauge reads 8-10 PSI (pounds per square inch) over the starting level or “clean” pressure.
It's often recommended to shock your pool once a week. If you don't do it every week, you should at least do it every other week. This is necessary to maintain your pool's water chemistry.
Can You Backwash Too Much? If you backwash your pool too much i.e. time duration and/or close frequency then yes you can cause a lot of problems. Some problems that can arise from backwashing your sand pool filter too much are: Loss of water – 500+ litres of water can be lost in each backwashing cycle.
Also known as pool conditioner, chlorine pool stabilizer, or chlorine stabilizer you can buy this chemical additive as either liquid or granules. It's also often called cyanuric acid, a chemical that may be included in chlorine tablets or sticks (called trichlor) or shock (called dichlor).
Liquid chlorine and granular shock have the same active chemical that sanitizes your pool, what changes is the strength and the way you use it. Liquid chlorine is less costly, unstabilized and comes in liquid form. Granular shock is stabilized and comes in a solid form that dissolves in your pool.
2. Dichloroisocyanuric Acid: Also known as “dichlor,” this is another type of chlorine shock. Dichlor contains both chlorine and cyanuric acid and will, over time, raise your cyanuric acid levels. For more information on cyanuric acid, please see our blog post Cyanuric Acid: Friend or Foe.
Using Bleach as a ShockYou need to use less of such products per volume than you do if you simply add chlorine, and if you opt for chlorine alone, you need more bleach than you do pool chlorine. Bleach contains the same chemical -- sodium hypochlorite -- as pool chlorine, but the concentrations are different.
Adding chlorine besides the shock can increase the chlorine content in the water which can make the entire shocking process useless. Hence, it is better if you don't use the shock and chlorine at the same time. The best time to add chlorine to the pool water is after you have shocked the pool.
Remove the poop using a net or bucket. Do not vacuum the poop from the pool. Clean as much poop as possible from the item used to remove the poop and dispose of it in a sanitary manner. Disinfect the item used to remove the poop by immersing it in the pool during the 30-minute disinfection time described below.
A simple ratio and a standard rule of thumb to follow when you shock your pool is to dissolve one pound of either calcium hypochlorite or sodium dichlor for every 10,000 gallons of pool water.
Here are four main types of pool shock:
- Calcium Hypochlorite. Calcium Hypochlorite, or cal-hypo, is the most powerful and fast-acting shock available.
- Sodium Dichlor.
- Potassium Monopersulfate (Non-Chlorine Shock)
- Sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach or Liquid Shock)
Works as advertised to shock the pool, clear up cloudiness, and the chlorine smell doesn't linger. While I haven't tried using it a few hours just before getting into the pool as they claim you can do (if your pool was already clear and you just wanted a quick touch up), but I can see how they make that claim.
3 Signs There's Too Much Chlorine In Your Pool
- The pH Level in Your Pool is 8 or Higher.
- You Notice Signs of Eye or Skin Irritation.
- Your Hair Feels Dry and Straw-Like.
Let's start with the obvious… can you see to the bottom of the pool? Look for a drain or grate on the floor of the pool and make sure it is clearly visible and not difficult to pick out detail. Clear water is a good sign, but isn't a guarantee of safe water… keep reading.
Alkalinity Balance, pH up, pH down, Calcium Balance, Water Stabilizer, and clarifier are all swim-safe chemicals. Wait about 20 minutes, and you are free to swim. We suggest adding algaecide, Super Erace, and shock at night, after everyone is out of the pool. It is safe to swim again the next day.
You shouldn't swim in a cloudy pool for several reasons: If you can't see the bottom of the pool, struggling swimmers will also be hard to spot, making the risk of drowning much higher. Cloudy pools are full of bacteria and pathogens that can cause urinary tract infections, stomach problems, and eye irritation.
At first you'll add chlorine in what's called “shock” levels – an extra heavy dose to start your pool off. Ensure all equipment like pool cleaners and pool covers are removed during this process. Addressing Alkalinity in Your Pool. Now it's time to keep the water hardness in check, otherwise known as alkalinity.
Find out the volume of your pool. This will give you an idea of how much shock you need. The general recommendation is to use 1 pound of cal hypo shock for every 10,000 gallons of pool water, and 10 ounces of sodium hypo with around 12.5% chlorine to sanitize your pool. Make sure the pool water is at its normal level.
Never close the cover immediately after shocking the pool. It is recommended to wait several hours before closing the cover. Use a test kit to regularly test the pool water. If the tests results are good, this does not imply the water chemistry was good prior to your current test results.
Should you add shock to a salt water pool? It's absolutely okay to shock your salt water pool, and is actually pretty important! Running your pool's super-chlorinate feature too often is hard on the motor and will cause it to wear out faster.
Shock The Pool to Remove Bacteria and ContaminantsTo shock your pool, use 2 pounds of shock for every 10,000 gallons of water, which should raise your chlorine to 10.0 ppm.
12.5% Liquid Chlorine Pool Shock – Normal Dosage: 1 gallon of shock per 10,000 gallons of water. Shock Dosage: 2 gallons of shock per 10,000 gallons of water. Source: Champion Liquid Pool Shock instructions.
How Do I Get Rid of Algae In My Pool FAST?
- Vacuum Your Pool Manually. Automatic or robotic pool cleaners aren't well suited to cleaning algae.
- Brush Your Pool Walls and Floor.
- Test and Balance the Water.
- Shock Your Swimming Pool.
- Filter Out The Pool Algae.
- Test Your Pool Water Again.
- Clean Your Pool Filter.
Light Green or Teal Pool Water:In this case, you should double shock your swimming pool water. To double shock, you will need to add 2 pounds for every 10,000 gallons of water. For instance, if you pool is 20,000 gallons, you will add 4 pounds of shock.
My pool has been shocked why is it still green? When pool chemicals are not properly maintained it is easy for pH levels to get out of whack quickly leading to a green pool. If you have already shocked your pool and taken pH level samples you may still need to add stabilizers or phosphate removers.
Check the chlorine content of your water at regular intervals, preferably weekly. The ideal value is between 1 and 1.5 mg per litre of water (> 1 ppm and < 1.5 ppm).
