If the pool is still very cloudy or green, you may need to shock it to make it safe to swim in again. First, make sure that the filter system is working properly and the chemicals are still at the proper levels. Next, mix up your chlorine shock (hyperchlorinate) treatment.
Adding more chlorine to your pool will kill bacteria, pollutants and any other unwanted organisms in the water. Most people wait until they have a cloudy pool or pool algae to shock their pool. However, adding shock to your pool on a regular basis can help you avoid pool water problems.
The best time of day to shock your pool is in the evening. This is because the sun's rays can affect the effectiveness of the chlorine by dissolving it too quickly, before it has a chance to rid the pool of contaminants and clean the water.
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.
Shocking Your Swimming Pool During The Day
Shocking 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. See, shock is unstabilized chlorine.
It's pretty tough to over-shock your pool; shocking your pool two days in a row with the proper dosage for your pool volume shouldn't be a problem – and in fact, is sometimes even needed to rid your pool of algae and other contaminants.
When is it safe to go into a pool after it's shocked? In general, it's recommended that you wait up to 24 hours to hop into a pool after it's been shocked, depending on the size of the pool, Alan says.
Most pool owners will shock once every 1 to 2 weeks – this is ideally what you should be aiming for with your pool maintenance schedule.
Shocking your pool isn't necessary, although, it's not a bad idea either. If you get an extremely heavy rain fall, you could shock your pool for good measure. This will help fight off any contaminants that the rain may have brought to your pool.
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.
Running your pool pump during a lightning or electrical storm should be avoided as a power surge or nearby lightning strike could damage your pump. However running your pump during is beneficial. The extra filtering will help clean out the impurities rain has introduced into your pool's water.
With a rain storm, any number of contaminants can be washing into your pool – acid rain, pollen, insects, tree droppings, dust, sand and even phosphates. Any one or combination of these things in rain can make your pool cloudy.
Pool Water After a Storm
It is a good idea to clean or backwash your filter after a heavy rain, flood, or major storm. This will help prevent your pool from turning cloudy or green. Clean out the debris in all of your baskets. Use a net or vacuum to get all debris out of the pool.
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.
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.
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.
So if you buy liquid shock, be aware that it only lasts one to two months at the most before it starts to lose effectiveness. While many swimming pool chemicals stay good for years if stored correctly, some pool-maintenance supplies expire more quickly.
Typically for granular shock, you'll need one pound for every 10,000 to 13,500 gallons of pool water.
Brown pool water is often caused by metals (iron) becoming oxidized in the pool water. If you shocked your pool water and it turned brown you probably have metals. Oxidized iron usually turns a brown or rusty color in the water.
The Department of Environmental Health recommends avoiding activities such as swimming, surfing, and diving for 72 hours after it rains. Research has shown that the risk of infection is the highest during and the day after rain, and declines to around normal levels after three days.
Rainfall dilutes pool chemistry levels and lowers the readings for pH, alkalinity, hardness, stabilizer, and chlorine. Rainfall does not contain chlorine. As well, rainfall brings with it small amounts of contaminants that are washed into the pool.
When preparing your pool for a storm, leave it uncovered. Installing any kind of cover across the pool will not do much to protect against dust and contaminants because storms often bring strong winds and heavy rain that can cause the cover to lift off your pool.