When to stop shocking?

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08-30-2006 06:39 PM
cschnurr

When to stop shocking?

How do you know when the algae is dead and gone forever.
A healthy pool should have
-Clear water,
-Chlorine levels that hold overnight,
-0cc, and
-No algae forming on pool floor.

Do I wait for all the above before lowering the chlorine from shock levels, or is one or two sufficient?
I can't trust my cc levels because I'm using dilution method
(1 part pool water : 4 distilled) and multiplying readings by 5.
Therefore I wouldn't notice

Additionally, I know the advantages of vacuuming to waste, but given the time to vacuum the entire pool, I would loose too much water. While not ideal, is it OK to vacuum to filter, and then backwash?

Once the algae is cleared would there be a benefit to dumping bleach directly into the filter and letting it sit for a while to kill off any algae remaing from backwash?
08-30-2006 06:46 PM
doggie

Re: When to stop shocking?

Personally, mine has been clear by keeping the FC up to what the "best guess" level suggested ever since the algae has been dead.

Don't worry about vacuuming to waste. We do our whole bottom (18x36 IG pool) and only lose about 2 to 4 inches.

And we didn't do anything different to the filter, as far as any algae in it. It just wasn't needed for us.
08-30-2006 07:43 PM
ivyleager

Re: When to stop shocking?

If chlorine levels hold overnight, the general consensus is that there are no bugs gobbling up the chlorine. The bugs/algae is dead. Therefore, let the chlorine drift downward. When able to retest CL w/o dilution method, I'd certainly run a CC test just to be sure.

I had a HUGE algae problem at start up last year. I did not vacuum to waste in order to save water. However, due to multiple backwashes/rinses, I probably lost just as much as I would have vacuuming to waste.

While I understand the reasoning for wanting to dump chlorine right into the filter, it would probably not be a good idea (think BANG! BOOM!). If the bugs are dead, they're dead everywhere.

Once the pool has cleared, if you're worried about another episode arising, use some polyquat algicide for maintenance to ward off potential problems. All the while, keeping CL levels in proper range.

Good luck!

CaryB