Swimming in your backyard on a hot summer day is one of the best activities you can do at home. Whether it be by yourself, your family or a party, it’s always a good time. But the more the pool is used, the more often it needs to be cleaned. This is because bodily oils and more lie dormant in the water, creating the perfect environment for bacteria, algae and chloramines to grow. You can recognize this happening by the smell, though there is more to it.
The way to prevent this is by shocking your pool and it should be done weekly. Here’s how it can help.
The Shocking Process
The purpose of this process is to completely disinfect the swimming pool by raising the free chlorine to well over the combined chlorine amount. This includes cleaning of sweat, urine, bacteria, and much more.
Free Chlorine is what disinfects the pool and should be approximately 1-3 parts per million (ppm). Combined chlorine is simply the amount that’s used, and should be less than 0.2 ppm. This means that the free chlorine will be about 9-10 times the amount of combined chlorine while shocking the pool. You can find pool shock in a granular form, which will need to be mixed with water, or a liquid form.
Before you shock the pool, test the PH levels first, which will then help you determine the right amount you’ll need of the pool shock chemical you’re going to use. It’s best to do this process after dusk, since the sun can cause problems with burning off the chemicals.
Wearing gloves will be helpful for this process. Making sure that the pump is on, pour the pool shock into the water. It’s best to let it run for at least 8 hours. In the morning, test the water again. As long as the free chlorine is sitting between 1-3 ppm, you are safe to swim. Otherwise, wait a few more hours for it to reach that level. That’s all there is to it!
More Reasons to Shock the Pool
As stated earlier, the more the pool is used, the more it needs to be cleaned. This includes shocking. But it’s not just everyday use that calls for the process. If you have many people in the pool at once, it’s best to do it afterwards. Or a strong storm might roll through, which can change the water PH levels. There are many good reasons to keep up with maintenance of your pool, and eliminating odor and keeping clean water is just one of them.
If you would like weekly help with pool maintenance, or have any other issues with your swimming pool in the Frisco, TX area, contact us today and we here at Aquanomics Pools will be happy to help you out. We also service the Dallas, Allen and McKinney areas.