The difference between standard chlorine treatments and a pool shock product is just the dosage of chlorine. Pool shock products are intended to rapidly raise the chlorine level in the water to kill any microorganisms, while standard chlorine treatments have lower doses meant to maintain current chlorine levels.
The type of shock you should use will depend on your water chemistry and the reason you're shocking. If the water is green, you should use a cal-hypo shock. However, if you're shocking as part of weekly maintenance and your pool looks clean, you can use sodium dichlor, potassium monopersulfate or sodium hypochlorite.
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.
What's the difference?- There are 3 main types of pool shock available on the market. They are: calcium hypochlorite (cal-hypo), sodium di-chlor (di-chlor), and potassium monopersulfate (non-chlorine/oxidizer).
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.
In the coke there is a small amount of phosphoric acid, which acts as the reactant. When the phosphoric acid reacts with the pool chlorine, calcium hypochlorite, it releases a gas. The coke and the pool chlorine also create an exothermic reaction, which means that heat is released. That is where the steam comes from.
How much shock do I need to shock my pool? A simple ratio and a standard rule of thumb to follow when you shock your pool is to dissolve one pound of either calcium hypochlorite or sodium dichlor for every 10,000 gallons of pool water.
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.
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.
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.
SKIMMER NOTES: No. Chlorine and shock are not the same thing.
Shock has a more intense chemical strength than the traditional chlorine sanitizers, and it also differs in how you should apply it to your swimming pool. Short answer: No. Chlorine sanitizers and shock are similar but different in strength.
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. kill algae, bacteria or other harmful pathogens.
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.
The Right Amount of Chlorine Shock to Use in Your Pool
*For calcium hypochlorite or powder chlorine, 1 pound is ideal for every 10,000-gallon pool. In case of algae, triple-shock the pool by adding 3 pounds for every 10,000 gallons.
BUT, if you have to shock your pool during the day in broad daylight, you can still swim after adding shock. It's recommended that you wait one hour after adding shock with the filter running, and then test the water to confirm the pH and chlorine are in the proper range before letting anyone enter the pool.
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.
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.
Typically for granular shock, you'll need one pound for every 10,000 to 13,500 gallons of pool water.
Superchlorination, also known as shocking or chlorine shocking, is the process of adding several times more chlorine to the pool than is normally needed so that the chlorine can "burn" through resistant compounds, chemicals, oils and strong types of algae.
What Will Happen If You Mix Coke and Pool Chlorine? Watch this strange chemical reaction - Coca Cola and Pool Chlorine The small amount of phosphoric acid in the Coke sets off a chemical reaction with the calcium hypochlorite, producing poisonous chlorine gas and a spectacular little explosion.
Shock should never be added through the pool's skimmer hole because it could cause an explosion in the pipes, Wise said. "People need to remember these are dangerous chemicals that can produce poisoned gases, fires and explosions," Plant said. "They need to be handled with caution.
Chlorine is not flammable, but may react explosively or form explosive compounds with many common substances (including acetylene, ether, turpentine, ammonia, natural gas, hydrogen, and finely divided metals).