Many people don’t understand why they need to shock their pool. The answer is two words: combined chlorine. When you get in your pool, you usually have suntan oil or lotion on and maybe even cosmetics, hair spray, etc. Alternatively, sometimes swimmers urinate in the pool water. All of these contaminants react with the pool’s chlorine to create combined chlorine, which ultimately contaminates the pool water and reduces the chemicals efficiency.
Combined chlorine works as a disinfectant, but a poor one, and can cause both skin and eye irritations as well as a very unpleasant odor from the chlorine in the pool water. More often than not, this odor is often confused with there being too much chlorine in the water.
In order to destroy combined chlorine in the water, it is vital that a pool owner shock their pool on a regularly basis. This is so important because with combined chlorine elements in the pool, the water is inefficient; however, when these elements are destroyed, the water is back to maximum efficiency.
A shock treatment for your pool could include adding large quantity of chlorine in the water, which is often known as superchlorination, or by adding a non-chlorine, store-bought shock. If you aren’t sure how to shock your pool, ask your pool service to show you how or you can simply have them do it for you. If you notice anything odd about your pool and aren’t sure what to do about it, call a pool service to come out and check out the problem. It’s better to spend money calling someone out than letting your pool get dirty and ultimately damage the interior of the pool as well as its mechanical parts.
