Things You'll Need:
- test kit.
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Step 1
Chlorine...there's 3 kinds. First, he CHLORINE TABLET...it adds chlorine and stabilizer slowly to the pool. It is only used to maintain a minimum CL2 level. If you only use tablets most of the time your PH will drop because the PH of the CL2 tablet is 3.0 ! Very acidic. You should shock treat your pool weekly in the summer or after a rain or pool party with GRANULAR CHLORINE.
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Step 2
GRANULAR CHLORINE has a PH of 11.0 and will offset the low PH of the tablets. GRANULAR CHLORINE comes in small 1 pound packs called "pool shock". You can buy it in larger quantities and it becomes cheaper per pound. If you are only using GRANULAR CHLORINE for your water treatment your water may run out of stabilizer...which keeps the CL2 in the water. Without Stabilizer the CL2 will dissipate quickly and the water will be hard to control. Stabilizer is only lost through backwashing, splash out or a leak once the initial amount of 35 ppm is added to the water.
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Step 3
The third Chlorine is granular CL2 with stabilizer in it. This version is the most expensive and has stabilizer mixed with granular chlorine...eliminating the need for tablets. You still shock on a regular basis.
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Step 4
PH level. It is more important than the CL2 level because the higher the PH the less effective you chlorine is. At a PH reading of 8.0 your Chlorine is ONLY about 10% effective. You might as well toss it your chlorine over the fence because a high PH WON'T allow the chlorine to work. When the PH is below 7.2 it means the water is becoming aciditic. This will cause your chlorine to become extremely active and will cause chlorine to be used up quicker. A 7.2 level will give you a very effective shock treatment once a week... so lower the PH level first with acid to this reading. The alkaline present in the regular granular chlorine will then raise the PH back up to the correct level after about 1/2 hour!
