Learning how to shock your pool is a small rite of passage for pool owners. Shocking your pool is an important part of keeping your pool water clean. Otherwise known as super chlorinating, shocking is the act of adding chlorine to your pool to quickly and dramatically raise your pool’s chlorine level. Normal chlorine levels in a swimming pool are between 1-3 ppm. When shocking your pool, your chlorine level jumps to between 5-10 ppm.
While some may suggest that granular shock can be broadcast across the pool surface, it is recommended to mix and dilute the shock with a small amount of water before adding it to your pool. Some mixtures of granular shock have been known to cause stains or bleach damage on vinyl pool liners when they haven’t been diluted, so it is best to play it safe if your pool uses a liner. Liquid chlorine should always be diluted before being added to your pool.
Exact doses of chlorine will depend upon your pool size and the type of chlorine you use.
If you are using granular chlorine to shock your pool, you want to add 1 lb. of shock per 10,000 gallons of water
If you are using liquid chlorine to shock your pool, you want to use 3½ quarts per 10,000 gallons of water.
It is inadvisable to swim immediately after shocking. In fact, the pool should not be used for 8 hours after shocking. Additionally, UV rays tend to weaken chlorine’s effectiveness. For these reasons, it is best to shock your pool after sunset, particularly after you are finished using your pool for the day before going to bed. This allows the chemicals to work at their peak efficiency and then drop to safe levels overnight, returning your pool to normal by morning.
Adding an extreme boost of chlorine via shocking will effectively kill off the algae and clean a green swimming pool, getting the water back to normal. Normal shocking with granular chlorine requires approximately 1 lb. of granular shock per 10,000 gallons of pool water. Since algae have already formed, the amount of shock will need to be increased to account for the extra sanitizing work.
If the algae is a light green color, you will need to double the amount of shock (2 lbs. per 10,000 gallons of water).
If the algae is a darker green, triple the amount of shock (3 lbs. per 10,000 gallons of water).
If the algae are dark to the point of looking nearly black (not to be confused with actual black algae), quadruple the amount of shock (4 lbs. per 10,000 gallons of pool water).
We recommend diluting the shock before adding it to your pool, especially if you have a vinyl liner, to prevent potential liner damage. Remember to dilute by pouring the shock into a bucket of water, not the other way around. Pouring water over pool chemicals can cause a dangerous chemical reaction. Wait to shock until nighttime to prevent the sun’s rays from damaging the shock before it can work.
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