Light Green Pool Water
If you have a light green pool, you need to shock your pool in order to kill the algae.
Algae feeds off high pH. Chlorine isn’t as effective when your pH is high. Youll need to lower your pH using hydrochloric acid. Start with around 1L to 2L. Be careful when adding it to the pool, ensuring it doesn’t splash up on you as it is highly toxic and dangerous. If your pool is vinyl lined, only add 1L every 24 hours, as it’s more sensitive to harsh chemicals.
You also need to shock your pool with chlorine. Add 2 cups of granulated chlorine or 3 tubs of 15L chlorine . If your pool is salt water chlorinated, add 2 to 4 bags of salt and turn your chlorinator to 100% for a couple of days to really boost that chlorine and get that water sanitised. Your salt levels should be sitting at around 5000ppm , with each 20kg bag of salt equating to 500ppm.
Note: Keep the pump running for at least 24 hours when shocking the pool to make sure all of the water is properly circulated around the pool!
*We recommend only using stabilised chlorine if absolutely necessary. Preferably, you should be using non-stabilised chlorine and adding in your stabiliser separately to avoid a chlorine lock .
The reason for this is because you require much less stabiliser than you do chlorine.This issue can be avoided as a whole by installing a chlorinator if you don’t already have one.”
Do I Need A Winter Stain & Scale Treatment
Stain and Scale treatments are sequestering agents, used to prevent metals like copper and iron from oxidizing and staining pool surfaces. They also prevent salts and calcium minerals from mixing with contaminants to form dirty scale. Stain & Scale also prevents the winter bathtub rings found on many pools after opening. Especially useful for pools with high calcium hardness levels, saltwater pools, and those with safety pool covers.
Pool Chemicals: The Key To A Clean Pool
You could fill your pool with fresh, clean water, and then skim and vacuum it every day, and the water would still get dirty. Leaves, twigs, and other debris fall into your pool. Bugs take their last swims in it. Birds fly overhead and bomb it.
And every time someone swims, they leave behind body oils, hair, dead skin, shampoo, soap, everything we humans put on our bodies and slough off on a daily basis.
The only thing keeping those contaminants from turning your pool into a black lagoon is sanitizer, probably the most important pool chemical youll ever use.
And in order for the sanitizer to work, other water attributes must be balanced: pH, alkalinity, and calcium hardness.
Finally, youll add pool chemicals to treat algae, to clear your pool, and to prevent staining, if you have hard water.
All of these factors work together to create balanced pool chemistry so you can swim in peace, so knowing what to use and how is crucial.
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The Difference Between Liquid Chlorine And Granular Shock
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.
A quick disclaimer: The word chlorine is often used inappropriately, but has become the generic term for the worlds most common sanitizer. Real chlorine is only available in gaseous form. The kind used in your pool is derived from this form and mixed with various chemicals to make it a solid or liquid.
Chlorine is the most cost-effective way to sanitize your pool. It has been the product of choice for almost 100 years. It is safe enough to sanitize drinking water and powerful enough, in the right concentrations, to kill bacteria, germs and viruses. It also oxidizes as it sanitizes, helping to keep your pool clear. With that in mind, lets dive into more detail.
Differences between Stabilized and Unstabilized Chlorine.
Each chlorine compound is designed for a specific purpose. Using these two types in conjunction with one another will keep your pool clean, clear and sparkling!
Liquid Chlorine vs. Granular Shock
Now that we know the difference between stabilized and unstabilized, lets look at the differences between liquid and powdered shock. Both of these types of chlorine are considered unstabilized. However, there are some major similarities and differences.
Similarities:
Using The Best Pool Shock Chemical
A pool shock treatment occurs when an oxidant is introduced to the water in a pool, which helps to get rid of electrons in many different contaminants. When electrons are directly removed from contaminants in pool water, all pathogens, algae, and chloramines within the water are destroyed, which ensures that the pool water is effectively purified and disinfected. There are three separate chemicals that can be used for pool shock, which include calcium hypochlorite , sodium di-chlor , and potassium monopersulfate .
While these chemicals work somewhat differently in how they induce pool shock, they are all highly effective at creating the intended effect. In most cases, its recommended that homeowners use pool shock around once every week, which will allow the water to remain clean and free from impurities. Pool shock can also be used to maintain or increase chlorine levels in the water whenever necessary. If you own a pool, the following article offers an in-depth guide to the three top pool shock chemicals that you can use and how these chemicals can be beneficial to you.
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How Long Do You Have To Wait To Swim After You Shock A Pool
Before you can swim in the pool, wait for the amount of time recommended on the packageusually at least eight hours for chlorine-based shock treatments. You only have to wait as little as 15 minutes if you use non-chlorinated shock treatments.
To be safe, it’s best to measure the amount of free chlorine in your pool to make sure it is 3 ppm or slightly less before swimming. It is dangerous to swim in a pool with high chlorine concentration. If necessary, you can use chlorine reduction reagents.
Can You Over Shock A Pool
You can add too much shock to your pool usually, this happens with new pool owners when they have to do their first pool shock as they add the shock and then start panicking when they see cloudiness in the water, seemingly nothing happening, or just testing constantly, It can all cause stress for pool owners.
If you add too much shock, the water can become dangerous as the chlorine reacts with other chemicals in the water. The calcium in the shock can cause buildup, while the pools chlorine levels can stay high for more than a week, turning the pool dangerous to be in.
As your pool chlorine levels continue to increase, you will find that the pool water can easily damage your skin or even cause your hair to turn green. Chlorine at high levels can cause a lot of damage to your body, making the pool you are swimming in dangerous.
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What Is Pool Shock Anyway
Think back to the last time you walked past a hotel pool. The chemical smell probably knocked your socks off, right? You may think that unmistakable smell is chlorine, but the odor actually comes from chloramines, a sign of improperly balanced water.
Chloramines form when the chlorine in your pool mixes with the nitrogen in sweat, oils, and urine . This is a natural chemical process, basically a byproduct of your chlorine doing its job.
In addition to giving your pool a funky smell, too many chloramines can also irritate your skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
By shocking your pool, youre adding enough chlorine to clean the water and destroy the buildup of chloramines. This process is also called superchlorination.
Balancing Your Pool Water
As stated above, shocking your swimming pool is an essential part of maintaining it. Even if the water appears clear, that doesnt necessarily mean its chemically balanced. When a pool is used frequently, sunscreen, sweat, makeup, and lotion are deposited into the water, which can affect its balance. Whether swimmers leave behind contaminants or they crop up naturally, your pool water needs ongoing care to remain clean, balanced, and healthy.
Pool Calculator makes testing, treating, shocking, and balancing your swimming pool hassle-free and straightforward. First, you need to find the best pool test kit, then drop your chemical ranges into our handy app, and well show you which products to add and how much of each is needed to stabilize the water. Get the Pool Calculator app for your desktop or on your Android or iOS mobile device to get started.
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Types Of Pool Shock Treatments
There are four primary types of pool shock chemicals: calcium hypochlorite, sodium dichlor, lithium hypochlorite, and potassium monopersulfate. Each serves a different purpose. Its crucial to know the differences between them and understand when to use each one.
Calcium hypochlorite, or cal hypo, is the strongest and fastest-acting pool shock treatment available. A granular, calcium-based pool shock, it dissolves quickly in pool water.
However, its unstabilized, meaning it doesnt have added cyanuric acid, so its best to use it at night for outdoor swimming pools.
Depending on the hardness of your water, cal hypo may leave the water a bit cloudy. Cal hypo isnt suitable for fiberglass, vinyl, pebble tec, or painted pools, as it may bleach the surface.
Sodium dichlor is a sodium-based granular pool shock. It dissolves rapidly and doesnt typically cloud the pool water. This type of pool shock is safe for all pool materials, as well as saltwater pools and spas. It contains added cyanuric acid, making it stable in sunlight.
Unlike cal hypo, lithium hypochlorite is safe to use on fiberglass and vinyl pools. Its a powdered chlorine product thats both a pool shock and sanitizer. Its unstable, without any extra cyanuric acid.
Pool care experts frequently recommend that pool owners alternate between using a chlorine shock and a non-chlorine shock for the best results to reduce the amount of chlorine accumulating in your pool water, keeping the combined chlorine level lower.
Stabilized Vs Unstabilized Chlorine
Stabilized chlorine is used in automatic chlorinators that are best used for daily sanitizing, as they last longer. This form of chlorine often comes in tabs or granular form. Floating chlorinators use tabs and will distribute the chlorine over a select period of time while automated chlorinators allow the chlorine to mix into the pool water at a slower pace. Automated chlorinators typically come in the form of a bucket.
Unstabilized chlorine is used for weekly shock treatments. It is also used to give pools a large dose of chlorine to quickly and efficiently sanitize after heavy pool use or extreme weather. Unstabilized chlorine provides quick, powerful, high chlorine concentration. This format has also proven helpful in controlling algae, destroying organic contaminants and restoring pool water clarity. After using unstabilized chlorine your chlorine levels will be quite high but, your pool will be safe to swim in by the next day.
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What Is A Pool Shock Treatment
The term shocking your swimming pool essentially means adding high volumes of concentrated chlorine to kill off any living contaminants that have developed within your pool. Although, if you overdo the shock treatment, you risk getting green hair from chlorine due to the excess chlorine oxidizing the copper in the water. You can execute a shock treatment with a few different types of pool shock, just be mindful of how much youre using.
How To Shock A Swimming Pool
What Is Free Chlorine?
It is unbound chlorine that is “free” to sanitize.
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What Does Pool Shock Do
Adding pool shock to your pool is kind of like power-washing your swimming pool water. By adding a higher-than-normal dose of pool sanitizer to your pool water, youre effectively killing algae, bacteria, and other contaminants. Also this removes chloramines that cause the water to have that chlorine smell and may irritate the eyes.
Keep in mind, of course, that pool shock isnt meant as a replacement for routine swimming pool maintenance: Its just an extra-powerful addition that can help keep your pool clean and healthy.
For a complete maintenance guide on how and why to shock your pool, click here.
Ok Google Remind Me In
Theres no hard and fast rule regarding how often to shock a pool.
But there is a generally accepted guideline of once every 1 to 2 weeks to keep your pool water performing at its highest level.
As long as you stay on top of things, you shouldnt have any problems with unpleasantness when it comes to the state of your pools water.
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What Is Pool Shock
You might be surprised to learn that pool shock is really just an ultra-high dose of pool sanitizer. You can purchase shock at any pool supply store. There are shock options also available that breakdown contaminants without adding chlorine. Speak to your local pool professional for more information.
How To Use Pool Shock
It doesnt matter whether youre a new pool owner or an old hand, shocking your swimming pool might seem a little scary. Thats okayhandling such a high volume of chemicals can make anyone feel jittery. It gets easier with practice and knowledge.
Once you learn what pool shock is, understand why its one of the most important chemicals to use, and learn how to shock a pool, the whole process will start to feel pretty routine. Thats good, because shocking your pool on a regular basis is a simple way to prevent stray algae and bacteria from taking root in your water. It also helps keep your pool smelling well, hopefully like nothing at all.
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Types Of Chlorinated Shock
There are three main types of chlorinated shock. Each one will do the trick, but they do have some significant differences. The main types are liquid chlorine , cal-hypo , and lithium . These all contain chlorine as the main ingredient, but the other ingredients affect how they work. Depending on your situation, one type of chlorinated shock may be better suited to your pool than another.
So to understand when to use each type of shock, lets look in more detail at the three types of chlorinated shock.
Why Shocking Is Important
Unfortunately for pool owners, you cant just fill up a pool with water and expect it to always be clean.
Due to outside influences, the state of pool water is constantly changing, becoming increasingly grimy with each passing second.
Its for this reason why an array of chemicals are added to pool water. With the addition of a sanitizer such as chlorine, the water stays clean and safe for people to swim in.
Even though pools have a constant sanitizing agent in the water, over time it breaks down and slowly becomes less effective. At this point you need to add more of it if you want the pool to remain clean.
The idea behind pool shocking is to quickly raise the free chlorine level in the pool, killing off bacteria, algae growth, chloramines, and other pathogens in the water. This can be done using either chlorinated or non-chlorine pool shock.
Chlorinated pool shock is the most common. It gives the pool a massive dose of chlorine, killing everything in its path.
Non-chlorine pool shock is an oxidizer that attacks organic contaminants in the water. By focusing strictly on those, it frees up the free chlorine in the pool so it can be more effective in sanitizing the water.
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There Was A Surge In Pool Use
People love a good pool party. Your pool, on the other hand, not so much.
Pools should be shocked after heavy usage. This is because people are gross and bring a lot of nasty things into the water.
Seriously though, people introduce a ton of organic pollutants into a pool oils from your skin, sweat, hair, sunscreen, and lets not forget about the dreaded urine and fecal offenders.
With an uptick of swimmers in the pool, the chlorine has to work extra hard to keep it all clean, resulting in a more rapid depletion and consumption.
