Shock is chlorine, in a high dose, meant to shock your pool and raise the chlorine level quickly. Chlorine tabs (placed in a chlorinator, floater, or skimmer basket) maintain a chlorine residual in the water. You do need to use both tabs and 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.
Granular Shock: Granular or powdered oxidizers 4 types and 6 strengths. The most common form of granular shock is called Calcium Hypochlorite, known as Cal Hypo. This type of shock is much stronger than liquid shock typically has 65 to 75 percent available chlorine.
While shock is more fast-acting, it's also available in both granule (most common) and liquid forms. Both oxidize and sanitize: Sanitizing will get rid of bacteria, algae and hazardous microorganisms in the water, while the oxidation power in chlorine will take care of any organic pollutants.
After Shocking Your Pool
It is safe to swim once your chlorine levels are around 5 ppm or after 24 hours. It is always best to test first!
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.
How Often Should I Shock My Pool? Shocking your pool regularly will help to keep the water clean and free of contaminants. You should aim to shock your pool about once a week, with the additional shock after heavy use. Some tell-tale signs that your pool needs to be shocked are cloudy, foamy, green, or odourous water.
"Shocking” refers to the process of adding chlorine or non-chlorine pool chemicals to the water in order to raise the "free chlorine” level. The goal is to raise this level to a point where contaminants such as algae, chloramines and bacteria are destroyed.
Despite how it sounds shocking a pool has nothing to do with electricity or with revealing something completely unexpected. Shocking is the process of adding chemicals (usually chlorine) to your pool to: break apart chloramines, also known as combined chlorine. quickly raise your chlorine level.
The cold water, anything below 65°, has an impact on the ability of the chemicals to dissolve properly. I would recommend using liquid chlorine if you have to shock in lower temperatures. You can dissolve granular shock in warm water. Perhaps it will work if you completely dissolve it before adding it to the pool.
Both liquid and powder shocks contain the same active chemical used for pool sanitation, but their usage and strength are different. Other than coming in a different form, liquid chlorine is also more budget-friendly and unstabilized. On the other hand, powder shock is easy to stabilize, and its solid form dissolves.
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. Improve filtration with a pool filter cleaner or filter aid like Jack's Filter Fiber.
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.
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.
For chloramine removal, shock the pool to reach a Free Chlorine level that is 10 to 20 times the amount of measured chloramines. For algae removal, 30 ppm is a generally accepted target, but you may use more or less, depending on the severity of the algae bloom.
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.
Sun Down – You'll want to shock your pool in the evening when the sun has gone down. This gives your pool plenty of time during the night to free the chlorine and clean the water. In the morning, you should be able to enjoy your pool. If you shock your pool during the day, the sun's UV rays will dissolve the chlorine.
So, not only is shocking a saltwater pool okay, but it's actually important to your pool's health. Shocking is the process in which you overload your pool with chlorine (3-5 times the normal amount) to improve your pool's cleanliness and kill off organic matter.
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.
Before you start pouring shock in the pool, the first step is to brush the sides and floor of your pool to loosen all the algae. Doing this breaks the skin and allows the pool shock to more easily kill the algae. Once you've done this, it is important to make sure you have the proper pH level in your water.
Algae will remain in your pool after shock if you've had insufficient chlorine and an overabundance of metal elements in the pool water. Therefore, to start the cleaning process. Remove all the debris from the pool with a leaf net and then let the smaller dirt fragments settle.
Wait until the chlorine level in the water drops down to 1-4 parts per million (ppm) before allowing swimmers back into the pool. If the water still looks a little cloudy after the shock treatment, you may want to use a water clarifier before allowing swimmers back into the pool.
Chlorine issues often cause cloudy water. Adding a recommended dose of pool shock to your pool can clear it right up. Poor circulation or filtration can contribute to cloudy water. Make sure your pump and filter are working properly.