If you enter the pool immediately following a chlorine pool shock treatment, you are risking as little as skin and eye irritation and as much as fatality. Shocking your swimming pool is necessary, but take caution when doing so.
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.
And how long do you have to wait before you can swim? You should wait one hour per pound of shock product added, and then test the water to confirm the pH and chlorine are in the proper range before letting anyone enter the pool.
Wait about 20 minutes after adding balancing chemicals to your newly filled pool, and you should be good to swim. Calcium chloride – If you have hard water issues, it's advised to wait about 2-4 hours before swimming after adding calcium chloride to soften your pool's water—or until one filter cycle has been completed.
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, either solid or liquid, is a pesticide used in pools to destroy germs, including those from feces, urine, saliva and other substances. But excessive exposure to chlorine can cause sickness and injuries, including rashes, coughing, nose or throat pain, eye irritation and bouts of asthma, health experts warn.
Heavy shocking with granular chlorine will generally require 24-48 hours before the chlorine level has dropped to safe swimming levels (below 5 ppm). Lithium and Non-Chlorine shock labels typically allow immediate swimming, but check the package label, to be sure.
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.
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.
Although vacuuming should be combined with pool shocking, it's better to vacuum the pool before you shock the water. A good scrubbing and vacuuming of the pool walls and floor will ensure that dirt and debris that can affect the water chemistry is removed before the chlorine is added.
But excessive exposure to chlorine can cause sickness and injuries, including rashes, coughing, nose or throat pain, eye irritation and bouts of asthma, health experts warn. Instructions for safely chlorinating a pool usually call for a maximum of four parts per million when people are in the pool.
Sodium hypochlorite (also known as liquid chlorine) is another frequently used option for shocking pool water. This is a common choice in pool shock because you can pour the solution directly into the pool without having to dissolve the chlorine in water beforehand.
Add Pool Water Clarifier
After your pool water has circulated and your shock has dissipated, it's time to add your clarifier. Clarifier helps bind tiny particles into bigger particles that your filter can capture.
Milky pool water is not safe to swim in and can be caused by things such as poor water chemistry, improper filtration, or low sanitation levels. Milky pool water can be cleared up by cleaning your pool surfaces and filter as well as ensuring all chemicals are balanced properly.
The bottom line: We're vastly better off having pool chemicals than not, and chemically treated pools are generally safe to swim in, especially if they are well maintained and ventilated. Add to that some time-honored advice that probably bears repeating: Don't pee in the pool.
If the chemicals used to kill germs (chlorine or bromine) in pools, hot tubs, and water playgrounds are not kept at the right level, these germs can multiply and make swimmers sick.
However, after shocking the pool, you shouldn't vacuum for at least 24 hours. Running the water pump during this period will allow the shock to do its job.
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.
Needs to be dissolved before you add it to the pool. Must be used after dusk. Allow eight hours to pass after shocking before you can safely swim. Adds about 0.8 ppm of calcium to your water for every ppm of FC added.
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.
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.