Light Green or Teal Pool Water:
This means there's a low amount of algae in your water and you won't have to use a hefty amount of chlorine shock. 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.
You need to raise the level of your chlorine – shock the pool – and maintain that high level until all the algae is dead. This may take 3 to 4 days.
Can you put too much shock in a pool? SKIMMER NOTES: It's unlikely but it could happen. It would take a lot of shock to really make the water unsafe for swimming. The best way to make sure you're safe to swim is to test your pool water and make sure free chlorine levels are between 1-4ppm for healthy swimming.
Pools can immediately turn green after shocking when they have metals like copper in the water. These metals oxidise when exposed to high levels of chlorine which makes the pool water turn green. Adding a metal control product such as Zodiac Metal Remover will help to restore the pool water.
Give the shock a good 12 to 24 hours to work it's magic. If the algae hasn't cleared up after 24-48 hours, clean and brush the pool and add another shock treatment.
Baking Soda and Green, Blue, or Yellow Algae
You'll need to use an algaecide to kill the algae and superchlorinate your pool to clear the water. After this treatment, test your pH and alkalinity and add baking soda to raise alkalinity to at least 100 ppm and pH to between 7.2 and 7.8.
A good rule to remember is to use one bag of shock (1 gallon of liquid chlorine) per 10,000 gallons.
Shock-chlorination is an essential and effective method of cleaning the pool. But you need to have the pump circulating the water for this to be effective.
Algaecide should be used after each shock treatment, so it has a better chance to support your chlorine as it works its magic. Be sure to shock your pool first, then when the chlorine levels of your pool return to normal, add the correct amount of algaecide to several places around your pool while your pump is running.
Therefore, a lot of people keep away from ever using a drop of bleach near their pools. Bleach is safe and the only chemical you should be using in your pool unless cleaning pool tile with baking soda. So yes, you can use bleach to keep your pool water chemistry balanced.
Common unscented household bleach (sodium hypochlorite) works well to shock a pool.
It is important to know what exactly bleach is before you put it in your pool. Household bleach, Clorox and liquid chlorine can all be used to sanitize a pool. They are all types of chlorine. Household bleaches such as Clorox usually contain about 5-6% available chlorine, about half that of pool liquid chlorine.
The free chlorine levels might be low.
But be careful—adding too much chlorine in pool water can cause those metals to oxidize and turn the pool a different shade of green.
Pool water turns green because of algae in the water. Algae can grow rapidly, particularly when it's warm like Summer, which is why it can surprise you overnight. This generally comes down to an imbalance or lack of chlorine in the water.
Chlorine is a sanitizer, and (unless you use Baquacil products) is necessary for maintaining a clear and healthy pool. Shock is chlorine, in a high dose, meant to shock your pool and raise the chlorine level quickly.
ADD POOL CLARIFIER
The change in your pool water colour means that you have successfully eliminated the algae and can now clean it out of your pool. If your water is still green, wait another 24 hours and redo the steps from Days 1 and 2.
A pool filter should be run for a minimum of 6 hours after shocking a swimming pool. This is to allow the filter to clean the water and give the shock enough time to fully mix with the pool water. Running the filter after shocking for 24 hours to 7 days is necessary if the pool has a large amount of algae.
It Should Not Be Done Together
This is because when you mix chlorine and algaecide together, it renders both of them useless. Hence, you should first shock the pool and wait for the chlorine levels to fall below 5 PPM. Only then should you introduce algaecide to get the best results.
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.
Typically for granular shock, you'll need one pound for every 10,000 to 13,500 gallons of pool water.
High concentrations of chlorine (above 1.5 ppm) will attack the liner and bleach it, thus damaging it. Any level below this range will weaken its ability to kill off bacteria.