A Guide to Shocking Your Pool
Has your pool been used a lot lately? Or are you just ready to take your pool's cleanliness to the next level? Look no further than the power of shock treatment! In this blog, we'll dive into what shocking your pool is and explore how it can keep your water sparkling clean and inviting.
What is Shocking Your Pool?
Pool shocking is the process of adding a high concentration of chlorine or other oxidizing agents (like non-chlorine shock) to your pool water. This sudden influx of chlorine or oxidizer helps to eliminate any contaminants, bacteria, or algae that may have built up over time.
Why Shock Your Pool?
Imagine your pool as a delicate ecosystem, where the balance of chemicals is crucial for maintaining crystal-clear water. Over time, this balance can be disrupted by factors like a lot of swimmers, sunlight, and outdoor debris. Shocking your pool helps to restore this balance and keep your water in tip-top shape.
To get into the specifics, there are 3 main culprits that can throw off your balance:
1. Build up of Chloramines (aka chlorine's evil twin): As your chlorine works hard to sanitize your pool water, the chlorine molecules get used up. The used up chlorine turns into chloramines. A build up of chloramines can make your fresh chlorine less efficient and cause a pungent chemical odor, as well as skin and eye irritation.
2. Bacteria and Bather waste: Your regular sanitizer is there to take care of bacteria. But what happens when you have a lot of swimmers? Or maybe there's an accident in the pool (yuck! but it happens). Shock can be used to break up those contaminants in your pool, including dead skin cells, lotion, etc.
3. Algae: Did you know chlorine is an algaecide? Algae can be controlled with a targeted algaecide product, but a pool can also be cleared quickly with chlorinated shock.
When to Shock Your Pool
First, if you have had a high bather load, like a super awesome pool party, it can be a good idea to shock your pool to remove excess contaminants like dead skin cells, lotion residue, etc. Alternatively, you can use an extra dose of our favorite product Simple Scoop, which will not only take care of those excess contaminants, but also prevent stains, clarify, and much more!
Otherwise, grab a test strip to check the chlorine levels.
If your Total Chlorine is below 2.0 ppm, you need to add more chlorine to your pool. Make sure you are using the correct amount of chlorine for your pool size and you can use chlorinated pool shock instead to quickly raise your Total Chlorine levels.
When the Total Chlorine number is more than 0.3 ppm above your Free Chlorine level, you have too much Combined Chlorine. Add Chlorine Free Shock to break down the Combined Chlorine.
If the Free Chlorine level is above 2.0 ppm and Total Chlorine is no more than 0.3ppm higher, you're levels are good! You don't need to do anything to change these levels, but using Chlorine Free Shock or Simple Scoop weekly can help keep your existing chlorine working efficiently and prevent Combined Chlorine from building up.
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How to Shock Your Pool
Test Your Water: First test your water chemistry, checking that pH (7.2-7.8), alkalinity (100-150ppm), and calcium hardness (200-250ppm) levels are where they should be.
Determine the Shock Dosage: The amount of shock you'll need to add depends on the size of your pool and the current chlorine level. Check the product instructions to determine the right dosage for you.
Add the Shock: Carefully follow the instructions on the shock product (for example: dilute or pre-dissolve the shock first) and add it to your pool, making sure to distribute it evenly throughout the water.
Run the Pump & Filter: During and after adding the shock, run your pool's pump and filter system. Keep this running for at least 8 hours to ensure the shock is circulated and distributed effectively.
Re-Test and Adjust: Once the shock treatment is complete, test your pool's chlorine levels and adjust as needed to maintain the ideal range.
By incorporating regular shock treatments into your pool maintenance routine, you'll be well on your way to enjoying a sparkling, clean, and inviting pool all season long!