Add chlorinating tablets or granules weekly to maintain a clean and clear pool. For salt pools, add high purity pool salt as well as chlorine products. Always maintain 1 – 4 PPM of Free Chlorine.
Typical chemicals used include muriatic acid (an archaic name for hydrochloric acid), sodium bisulfate, carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid, and sodium carbonate. Sodium bicarbonate also works, but it has a greater effect on the total alkalinity of the water than it does on the pH.
Alkalinity Adjusting Chemicals for Pool Start Up
This should be the first chemical that you add to your pool during start-up. This one can really affect the pH level of your pool. Sorting this out first prevents you from ruining your hard work on your pool's pH level by doing it afterward.
Shock is liquid or granular chlorine. You should add one gallon (or one pound) of shock per 10,000 gallons of pool water every week to two weeks. During hot weather or frequent use, you may need to shock more frequently.
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.
If you need to mildly shock a 30,000-gallon pool by raising the free chlorine concentration to 5 ppm, you need 2.5 gallons of bleach. To raise it to 10 ppm, you need 5 gallons.
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.
So, how much liquid chlorine to shock a pool with algae? A minimum amount of 30 ppm is what needs to be considered to resolve the problem.
It's often recommended to shock your pool once a week. If you don't do it every week, you should at least do it every other week. This is necessary to maintain your pool's water chemistry. If you have a lot of people over in your pool or have a party, you may want to shock your pool more frequently.
Running your filter after shocking your pool is a must and is just as important to your pool as shocking it is. Be sure to run your filter for at least 6 hours, but shoot for 24 hours to several days, if your pool is particularly dirty or has algae, to properly circulate the chlorine and clean the water.
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.
Aim to maintain a chlorine level of 3 to 5mg/l at all times. How frequently you add more chlorine will depend on your usage and bathing habits. It could be daily, every two to three days or weekly. For 1mg/l, add 2g per 1000 litres.
This can lead to excessive chlorine levels which can damage blankets and pool equipment. Therefore, you should be testing your pool water's chlorine and pH levels every two weeks. Maintaining proper water chemistry will reduce the amount of work needed when you're ready to start swimming again.
You'll need about 52-104 oz of liquid chlorine per 10,000 gallons of water. This amount should get the chlorine level to between 5 and 10 ppm.
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.
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.
Is It Safe To Run The pool Pump With The Pool Cover On? It is safe to run the pool pump and filter with a swimming pool cover on. The pool cover doesn't in any way stop or hinder the pool pump from circulating the water or carrying out its function.
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 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.
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.
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.