Quote Originally Posted by rtpatter
My question is this, so far my water has been perfect I haven't even had to add baking soda or borax the water is crystal clear. I keep my chlorine between 1 and 5. So when do I need to shock? I know from reading this forum that Shock is something you do not buy. However, if I shock my pool with chlorine say taking it up to 15 ppm it would take several days for my chlorine to come back down to normal levels. The shock you can buy at the pool stores supposedly rapidly disapates overnight so that the pool is ready to go the next day correct? So what should I use to shock and should I even bother doing it as long as the water is in balance and everything is clear.

What type of testing kit do you have?

Could you test for both Free Chlorine and Combined Chlorine?


I'm new at this...but I think that your water and testing levels will be your guide (along with this site ). If your water and test results indicate a shock is in need...then shock. If it doesn't...then don't bring your chlorine levels up just for the sake of shocking every week or two weeks like the pool stores (many times) suggest. Treat the water...not the pool.


If your FC levels run low...add more chlorine. If your CC levels start to run high...use this as an indication that you need to shock. If you bring your pool up to shock levels when there is no need, then it will take a while to bring the levels down (depending on the weather).

dan