Home & Family Facts and Notes

Pool shock is a granular pool chemical, which should be added to your swimming pool at least once each week. You should shock more frequently if the pool is used heavily, after you receive large amounts of rain, or during extended periods of hot, sunny weather. The chlorine tablets or granular chlorine that you constantly dissolve into your pool water seeks out and combines with bacteria and other organics on a molecular level, to neutralize these harmful contaminants. In the process of killing these harmful contaminants the chlorine becomes inactive, and the chlorine and bacteria that have combined together is called “Combined Chlorine”. The combined chlorine must be removed from the swimming pool to keep your pool water safe and clean. The combined chlorine is removed by “Shocking” the swimming pool. Super chlorinating or “Shocking” means drastically raising the chlorine level of the swimming pool for a short time, to a high enough level that the combined chlorine is oxidized and burnt off.

If you are using a vinyl liner pool then you must predissolve each bag of shock in its own bucket of water. This stops the shock from laying on your liner and bleaching it.

If you purchased powdered chlorine, do the same as far as putting in the desired amount in the deep end of the pool. Make sure that you mix the powdered chlorine into a bucket of water and try to dissolve the granules as much as you can, before you throw it into the pool. Make sure that you are running your pump and filter around the clock and that you are backwashing about 3 times

Always Shock At Dusk or Nighttime. This allows the shock to reach breakpoint oxidation. If it were during the day the sun would burn off 1ppm of shock every hour causing it only to reach breakpoint for an hour instead of 8-10 hours.

Try vacuuming the pool as well, if the sides and bottom of the pool have algae on it then vacuuming may help get rid of some of it…but I find that brushing the walls and floor does a much better job. Do not stop using these methods until the pool is totally clear. Make sure your filter is running properly. Doing all of these steps will guarantee a clear pool in a matter of days.

Tags: family, home accessories