Reasons you should shock your pool
Your pool is outside and therefore is exposed to large amounts of foreign, organic materials. Anything you can think of can make its way into your pool: dirt, dust, leaves, animal droppings, bugs, sunscreen, sweat, and sand. With all this swimming around in the pool, it’s hard to guarantee the water is actually clean.
Adding chlorine regularly to your pool can definitely help; but using a shock treatment for your pool can keep your pool at its ideal clean state!
Shocking vs. Chlorine
Shocking your pool works with your chlorine treatments to ensure clean water. Unlike chlorination, shock treatments remove ammonia and nitrogen compounds from the pool. The ammonia and nitrogen compounds are both organic and inorganic materials that are brought into the water by the swimmers, animals, dead bugs, and animal droppings.
The shock treatments allow the chlorine to properly do its job by removing the compounds that interfere with your regular doses of chlorine. Depending on what type of shock you use, shock treatments may not kill the bacteria in your pool, but rather control the organic and inorganic compounds in your pool while the chlorine treatments sanitizes the water.
Achieving the Best Results
If you are considering adding a large amount of chlorine to give your pool an intense clean, stop right there. Shock treatments are a better alternative than adding huge amounts of chlorine because it rids your pool of those unwanted compounds, allowing the chlorine treatment to then better do its job.
Advantages of shocking your pool:
- It’s easy to administer
- You are able to swim a few hours after the treatment
- It prevents odors
- It prevents irritation to the eyes
- It makes the water less prone to algae blooms
- It makes the water less cloudy
Three steps to shocking your pool:
- Take a water sample and analyze the amount of chloramines in the water (take the sample to your local pool store for a free test!)
- Administer the required amount of shock treatment
- Wait a few hours before allowing swimming in your pool