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.
Granular Shock: Granular or powdered oxidizers 4 types and 6 strengths. The most common form of granular shock is called Calcium Hypochlorite, known as Cal Hypo. This type of shock is much stronger than liquid shock typically has 65 to 75 percent available chlorine.
Are chlorine and shock the same thing? 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.
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.
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.
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.
As a rule, you will need to raise free chlorine to 10 times your combined chlorine to hit what is known as “break point.” Therefore, it is good to deal with combined chlorine while it is still small. The formula for hitting breakpoint can get a little complicated, so we suggest you talk to your pool professional.
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.
After Shocking Your Pool
It is safe to swim once your chlorine levels are around 5 ppm or after 24 hours.
Neither will chlorination be effective with a diffuser and without a pump. The best thing to do is to apply liquid chlorine in the pool. Then, you have to circulate the pool manually with the use of a telescopic pole or paddle. This will ensure the chlorine disperse well.
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. As a reminder, you want your pH to be between 7.2 and 7.8ppm and your free available chlorine to be 1-4ppm for safe swimming.
Keep your pump and filter running. 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.
It's not a good idea to use pool shock at the same time as clarifier. Some clarifiers are polymer based and the shock can act to break up the polymer causing the clarifier to be ineffective. It's best to shock your pool before and wait a day or two before adding clarifier.
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.
When the levels are properly balanced, chlorine will keep the algae at bay, but the water will slowly begin to turn green as the algae take over if there's not enough. But be careful—adding too much chlorine in pool water can cause those metals to oxidize and turn the pool a different shade of green.
But if the cloudy water persists long after you've shocked the pool, you're likely having an issue with water balance, circulation, or filtration. Heavy use of a calcium based pool shock (cal-hypo) may increase Calcium Hardness over a period of time, increasing your odds of cloudy water.
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.
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.
So, not only is shocking a saltwater pool okay, but it's actually important to your pool's health. Shocking is the process in which you overload your pool with chlorine (3-5 times the normal amount) to improve your pool's cleanliness and kill off organic matter.
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.
Typically for granular shock, you'll need one pound for every 10,000 to 13,500 gallons of pool water. With over 8 million residential swimming pools across the US ranging from 5 thousand gallons to over 30 thousand gallons, the amount of shock you need to treat a swimming pool isn't a one-size-fits-all answer.
When you shock a pool, you test and adjust the pH level for a reason. With that said, if you shock a pool outside of the 7.2 to 7.4 pH range, not only will you waste a significant amount of the chlorine used, you will also end up with cloudy water.
Foaming in a pool means there are high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water. TDS are the measure of solid matter that has liquefied. Foreign solids like oil, soil, and dirt dissolve in pools. High levels of TDS makes pool water look cloudy and can even make it taste salty.