Give your pool a good shock treatment 1 to 2 days before the storm hits. You can bring the chlorine level up pretty high to prolong the pool being depleted of chlorine.
Use shock treatment on your pool one or two days before the storm. Add chlorine levels significantly during the treatment and let it run for 24 hours to allow the treatment to fill the entire pool. Make sure all furniture or items around your pool are safe to prevent injury to persons or property.
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.
The extra filtering will help clean out the impurities rain has introduced into your pool's water. Pool pumps are made to withstand rain and it is beneficial to run your pump during or after rain.
The best time of day to shock pool is when the sun is down. So, experts recommend shocking your pool in the evening or at night, to make sure it does its job. Shocking during the day can be ineffective as UV rays from direct sunlight significantly reduce free chlorine levels.
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.
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.
Running the pump at night should only be when you are doing a major chemical treatment such as algae clean-up. Your pool is more vulnerable during the day, plants don't grow at night the way they do during the day–that's true of ALL plants including Algae.
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.
If you have some fair warning for the storm coming, add pool shock to your pool to keep your sanitizer levels high. You want your water at the ready to fight off new bacteria introduced by the rain—and this will minimize the work it'll take to restore your water later.
Heavy rains will dilute your pool alkalinity level, causing it to fall by 5-10 ppm a day. Low Alkalinity and low pH levels in pools can create a corrosive water environment. Corrosive pool water can result in the damage of underwater metal surfaces, such as pool lights, ladders and rails.
Rain delivers algae spores and debris to pool water and it is these things that cause problems. Algae spores are usually present in the air. Riding the air currents hither and yon in order to sometimes land in hospitable locations is part of algae's reproductive strategy.
The size of your pool, the efficiency of your pump and filter, and how dirty your pool is are just some of the factors you need to consider. Nevertheless, most pool cleaning professionals would advise against running a pool pump for more than 8 hours a day.
One of the most significant consumers of energy in homes with swimming pools are pool pumps, which keep pools clean by circulating water through filters. Pool pumps can consume 3,000 to over 5,000 kWh per year.
The rule of thumb is generally 8 hours, although it could be anywhere from 6-12 hours, depending on your pool's size. Each pool is unique, so to keep your pool pump efficient and effective, you need to figure out exactly what your pool's turnover rate is.
Give the shock a good 12 to 24 hours to work it's magic. If the algae hasn't cleared up after 24-48 hours, clean and brush the pool and add another shock treatment.
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.
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!
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.
Although, if you overdo the shock treatment, you risk getting green hair from chlorine due to the excess chlorine oxidizing the copper in the water. You can execute a shock treatment with a few different types of pool shock, just be mindful of how much you're using.
Adding chlorine besides the shock can increase the chlorine content in the water which can make the entire shocking process useless. Hence, it is better if you don't use the shock and chlorine at the same time. The best time to add chlorine to the pool water is after you have shocked the pool.
The quick answer is no. You don't need to drain your pool, as there is no risk to your pool by it being full. The only thing you lose with a pool filled to the rim is your skimmer's surface cleaning action. Overall, it still draws water and the equipment is just fine.