Raising pool chlorine can be much easier than trying to lower chlorine levels. Simply adding chlorine in the form of chlorine tablets, granular chlorine, liquid shock or powder shock will increase the total amount of chlorine within the pool.
Things that cause low free chlorine levels are excessive sunlight, high bather loads, and improper water chemistry. Not having enough chlorine in your swimming pool will also cause the little bit of chlorine that's in there to be used up faster too.
Raise the Level of Pool Chlorine
Raising pool chlorine can be much easier than trying to lower chlorine levels. Simply adding chlorine in the form of chlorine tablets, granular chlorine, liquid shock or powder shock will increase the total amount of chlorine within the pool.
When you're shocking a pool, the goal is to raise the free chlorine level of the pool water to roughly 10 times the combined chlorine level.
Using baking soda will not actually lower your pool's chlorine level. If your ph is way too low it may. Prevent corrosion and damage to pool equipment; To raise your ph levels, it can be as simple as adding seven to nine pounds of baking soda to your pool water.
The most common cause of chlorine lock is an overabundance of cyanuric acid (CYA). Cyanuric acid is commonly referred to as a "stabilizer" and is vital to maintaining healthy chlorine levels in your pool.
Free chlorine refers to the amount of chlorine that has yet to combine with chlorinated water to effectively sanitize contaminants, which means that this chlorine is free to get rid of harmful microorganisms in the water of your swimming pool.
Subtract the free chlorine measurement from the total chlorine measurement to calculate the amount of combined chlorine (total – free = combined). If combined chlorine is higher than 0.5 ppm you should shock the pool. Depending on the total chlorine level, use either a non-chlorine shock or a chlorinated shock.
These hypochlorite ions are called as free chlorine. This free chlorine is responsible for the chlorination of the microbes in water. All the free chlorine is not consumed in the chlorination. This remaining chlorine is called residual chlorine.
In order for your pool to be properly sanitized, the free chlorine level must remain higher than the combined chlorine level. This is why it's so important to test your pool water regularly.
The fastest way to do this is by shocking your pool. But not the way you normally do. Your best bet is to triple shock it with calcium hypochlorite. To triple shock, add 3 pounds of shock per 10,000 gallons of water.
Hydrogen peroxide is sold as a pool chemical oxidizer, which means it works to break down chlorine through chemical reactions.
Additionally, vinegar kills bacteria and removes calcium deposits on the pool tiles. The advantage of vinegar over chlorine is that vinegar does not have negative side effects because it does not bleach surfaces and is also natural.
What you may not know is that hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizer that can be combined with ultraviolet light to disinfect swimming pools. The combination of ultraviolet disinfection with hydrogen peroxide allows pool owners to safely eliminate all chlorine in their pool or spa.
The best chlorine neutralizer available for swimming pools is still sodium thiosulfate.
Overall, hydrogen peroxide is more expensive than chlorine and works best when iron and sulfur are present in the water supply. Since it works faster than chlorine, no contact tank is required. Additionally, H2O2 is effective at a more comprehensive pH range, meaning that it is more effective on more types of water.
Non Chlorine Shock is a powerful, odourless oxidising agent, which essentially means it works to eliminate contaminents in hot tub water. Oxidation is different to sanitisation. Oxidation is the breaking down of the oils and organics in your water whereas sanitisation is the killing of bacteria.
The Bottom Line about Pools and Chlorine
As mentioned above, you could probably swim in a pool without chlorine without any major health issues. However, long-term use of a pool lacking chlorinated H2O could make you sick or, at the very least, contribute to rashes and other types of skin irritation.
When you add chlorine to your pool, it reacts with the water to form hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion. These compounds together form what we call free chlorine. Once this chlorine begins to react with the contaminants in the water, such as nitrogen and ammonia, it becomes combined chlorine.
All of the hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCl–) species are referred to as free chlorine. These chloramine species are referred to as combined chlorine.
If your chlorine dosage is greater than the total demand, it's likely the breakpoint has been achieved and free chlorine residual is available. If the chlorine dosage mg/L is less than the demand, combined chloramine remains in the water and free chlorine hasn't formed yet.
There are three main methods to test free chlorine residual in drinking water in the field in developing countries: 1) Pool test kits, 2) Color-wheel test kits, and 3) Digital colorimeters.
The first option for testing uses a liquid chemical OTO (orthotolidine) that causes a color change to yellow in the presence of total chlorine. You simply fill a tube with water, add 1-5 drops of the solution, and look for the color change.