I recently wrote an article on non chlorine shock treatment for pools and spas, and thought I'd write a little something about regular chlorine shock treatment. Chlorine shock treatment is basically a maintenance procedure where a very large amount of chlorine is introduced into a pool or spa, sometimes up to 10 times the normal amount, thereby shocking the chlorine in water back into a normal state. What exactly does that mean?
Well in basic terms, chlorine is added to a pool, spa, or hot tub in order to sanitize and purify the water against harmful bacteria, germs, and algae. And it does the job very well. But what ends up happening is that most of the chlorine in the water comes into contact with other foreign particles, things like sunscreen, dirt, hair, skin, lotions, bugs, grass, etc. When the chlorine comes into contact with these foreign particles, it ionizes them and the chlorine itself becomes what's known as a combined chlorine, or chloramines. These particles of combined chlorines give off a very strong chlorine smell and also cause irritation to the eyes and nose. Chlorine shock treatment tries to reconfigure and break down the combined chlorines, or chloramines, and shock them back into their original state so that they can be a free chlorine again in search of something to sanitize.
The main problem with chlorine shock treatments is that the procedure is very subjective. Opinions can vary on how often and how much to shock your pool or hot tub with chlorine shock. Not only that, but because of the wide variety of different kinds of foreign debris that can enter the water, different solutions might work better. Many times an algaecide needs to be used in conjunction with chlorine shock because an algae problem cannot always be easily solved with chlorine shock alone.
Another problem with chlorine shock is that the pool often seems to get worse before it gets better, and repeating chlorine shock multiple times is sometimes required, which worries people. What often happens is that the invisible organic debris in the pool, such as a thin coating of algae on everything, is killed by the first shock treatment and is released into the water, making it appear cloudy or otherwise just plain dirty. People get worried that they've added too much chlorine or that something went wrong. What's really the case is that another chlorine shock treatment is needed, and perhaps even a third, to further obliterate the foreign debris and return the free chlorine levels back to correct levels.
This worries people understandably, who don't want to just keep dumping more and more chlorine at such intense levels into their pool or spa and then get into it. That is why I'm really a fan of the idea behind non chlorine shock. Because often pools get filled with organic particles that the chlorine attacks and eliminates, other chemicals, such as monopersulfate, which has also been called MPS, work well to do the same job. This compound aids in eliminating a lot of the foreign debris that finds its way into the pool and spa, thereby allowing the free chlorine to do its job and stay at peak efficiency, going after the harmful organic compounds like it was created to do.
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Chlorine shock is a very interesting treatment isn't it? For more information about pool and spa sanitation, read my other article about non chlorine shock treatment.
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