Liquid Chlorine, amidst other chemicals like muriatic acid, calcium hypochlorite, sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach), sodium carbonate, chlorinated isocyanates, and others, is used to bring the level of certain chemical features in the swimming pool to a balance.
In the absence of a well-organized swimming pool maintenance structure, prospective swimmers risk various health issues depending on the constituent missing or over-present in the swimming pool’s water.
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How Much Liquid Chlorine Should You Add To Your Pool?
Knowing your swimming pool’s volume, and calculating the amount of liquid Chlorine needed is much easy. Carry out a test to determine if the swimming pool truly needs liquid Chlorine or not. You can use test kits, chlorine strips, electronic swimming pool testing machines, or any form of pool water condition testing you know.
You put 52 – 104 ounces of liquid Chlorine into a swimming pool of 10,000 gallons on the standard. If the Chlorine is very low, the ounce to be applied should be towards 104, but it should be around 52 ounces if it is slightly off-balance. The amount recommended is sufficient to raise the chlorine level by 5ppm to 10ppm.
In other words, if your swimming pool is of 1000 liters capacity, add 40 milliliters of a liquid pool if the chlorine content in the swimming pool is 5mg/L before.
Liquid chlorine application is targeted at the efficiency and coordination of chlorine content in the swimming pool’s water. Nonetheless, the application method must result in a precise and accurate amount of Chlorine.
Liquid Chlorine to be used in your swimming pool depends on the size of your swimming pool, the present condition of your swimming pool, other chemicals used alongside it, human activities, and also the nature of the swimming pool will also determine how much will be used (maybe a home swimming pool or a commercial one.)
The areas the amount of liquid Chlorine to be added depends on, pushing us to conclude that the amount of liquid Chlorine to add to your pool can only be determined by you.
The core aim of this article is to furnish you with how to go about chlorinating your swimming pool with liquid Chlorine with the right conciseness. Follow up.
Determining The Size Of The Pool
The first requirement you are meant to have is the figure of your swimming pool’s volume. In most cases, many swimming pool owners only know the length and width of their swimming pool.
Maybe in the form of “10 feet by 20 feet” or “24 feet by 36 feet.” Here, the required volume of water present in your swimming pool is required. If you are in oblivion, we got you.
If you already know the figure, please skip this section to the next, but you can still read it on to understand how volume is gotten.
You can calculate it yourself with the equation,
Gallons of water in a swimming pool = width × length × average depth × multiplier
Length and width are the figures you know, the “something feet by another foot.”
Average depth = (Shallow depth + deep depth)/2
The shallow part can be known by putting a meter rule inside a shallow side in your swimming pool, and for the deep one, the meter rule will be inserted to be the deepest part.
12 inches = 1 feet.
Convert the inches of water you get into feet for easy calculation.
The multiplier is a fixed constant that varies due to shape. For a square or rectangular swimming pool, the multiplier is 7.5, but for an oval, round or eccentric form of swimming pool, the multiplier will be 5.9.
Those mentioned above should be enough to get the volume of water in your swimming pool if you don’t.
Read: How Much Chlorine To Add To Pool First Time?
Materials needed and safety precautions.
You can purchase liquid Chlorine in your local swimming pool store. You will need:
- Protective gears
- Bucket
- Liquid Chlorine purchased
- Cyanuric acid
While these are the needed materials, various safety precautions should be implemented for an enjoyable and safe chlorination process. They are listed below:
- Wear your protective gear to fit you. It will guide you against any harmful effect the odor of the liquid can cause during usage and prevent contact with the corrosive nature of the liquid Chlorine.
- Be careful in dealing with the chemical: Chlorine reacts with the skin and when there is spillage of the liquid Chlorine, avoid contact. Chlorination agents are commonly more likely to ignite if they contact gasoline, detergents, and some flammable things. Avoid storage in a place where direct sunlight hits or is high temperature.
- Measure the level of Chlorine in the swimming pool: Many individuals will skip testing to add the liquid Chlorine as a shock whenever they like. Don’t be part of the population doing that, and you are exposing yourself to many problems. Take your time to test the water condition to deduct how much is needed.
- It is advised you carry this out towards the sunset. AT this time, the swimming pool wouldn’t be exposed to the ultraviolent that accompanies sunlight. In the absence of UV, the liquid Chlorine will be able to work without the limitation of UV, which will try to slow down its reaction and make it ineffective.
- Never use two or more chlorine products together. Don’t use chlorine tablets with liquid Chlorine because you want to maximize effectiveness. You will only utter the condition of your pool to a barely good one.
Read: What Should The Chlorine Level Be In A Swimming Pool
How To Add Chlorine To The Swimming Pool
It will be more preferred if you can afford an automated dispensing device or a chlorine dispenser. This will make the circulation of the liquid Chlorine even in the swimming pool.
It doesn’t need to be advised you use the normal pouring through a bucket. Still, the automated dispensers are aid more in chlorination processes like chlorine tablets or powdery chlorine circulation.
- Put to mind that you should never add liquid Chlorine directly to your swimming pool. It has to be firstly mixed with a calculated amount of water. The required amount of water will only be given by the manufacturer of the liquid Chlorine you bought. Take your time to read through the user’s manual or ask the sales representative present in the pool store. The amount varies, so there is no recommendation from our side.
- The water to be used in mixing the liquid Chlorine should be warm, and the bucket to be used should be sacrificed solely for the purpose as time goes on.
- Add the advised amount and stir until an even solution emerge.
- Stop all your pumps, filter system, or anything in your swimming pool mechanical facilities.
- Your dress should have long sleeves, and the protective gears should be in place.
- Pour the solution into the swimming pool and try to stir it with a stick yourself. This is not compulsory, though; osmosis will occur. There will be movement of solvent molecules of liquid Chlorine until the water is fully saturated.
- Cyanuric acid can be added after 24 hours. This will prevent the penetration of UV rays into the swimming pool water. It does this by creating a barrier or elastic surface to protect the Chlorine in the pool.
After How Many Hours Can Swimming Activities Resume?
You can resume swimming after the chlorine level reads below 5ppm. It is usually in a range of 4 to 5 hours for the liquid Chlorine to have fully worked out and safe for anyone to dive into the swimming pool.
In situations where there is an unusual liquid chlorine addition, maybe due to the condition of the swimming pool water, consult your swimming pool maintenance company or store for recommendations on the amounts of hours to spare for the chlorination processes to ease off and the pool will be good to be used.
Advantages of Liquid Chlorine
- Chlorination makes the water free of germs with the right amount. It prevents exposure to health issues like diarrhea, skin infections, swimmer’s ears, and microbes in general.
- Liquid Chlorine is affordable and effective for maintenance usage.
- It clears mold buildup, bacteria, and mildew in the swimming pool.
- Liquid Chlorine is safe to store in the house with its noninflammable and noncombustible reactions. Although there might be reactions to the environment present in cases of spillages, it is usually a mild reaction.
- Liquid Chlorine is easy to use. Most manufacturers package the instruction alongside the product for easy usability.
- Cyanuric and calcium constituents aren’t found in liquid Chlorine, making water control easy since there are fewer complications in the chemical balances prompted by it. This doesn’t seem like a direct advantage, but people who are new to swimming pools are spared the complexity of calculating amounts when combined. Individual addition concepts are much easier to understand.
- It clears the water much faster, and in less than a day, swimmers can use the swimming pool after usage.
- Liquid Chlorine has fewer side effects on pool accessories.
Signs Of Deficiency Of Chlorine
It is advised to carry out a chlorine test on your swimming pool before assuming anything. Some signs that might be observed also result from other water condition constituent issues like pH, cyanuric acid, calcium content, and others. The result will point directly to whether the chlorine level is deficient or enough.
- If the combined chlorine level is below 0.2 ppm.
- Skin reactions after swimming. There might be slight rashes, diarrhea, and other reactions observed after swimming. This is due to the perseverance of bacteria, fungi, and pathogens in the swimming pool’s water without an active repellant.
- Malodorous and murky water. If there are foul smells from the swimming pool, they are usually a result of built-up particles and microbes which took over the swimming pool. The surface will go murky. Since Chlorine also helps in clearance and acts as a bleaching agent, in its absence, the water doesn’t have any medium to take the same function.
How Often Should Liquid Chlorine Be Added To The Swimming Pool?
Liquid Chlorine is mostly used as a shocking agent rather than a normal chlorination substance. While you are advised to test your chlorine level every three days, shocking is different.
If you notice a murky surface of your swimming pool, it might be the time to shock your pool. Shock your swimming pool once every two weeks, but in cases where the swimming [pool is for commercial use, shock it every week.
Use liquid Chlorine after a massive pool party or after any environmental influence like rain and storm occur, and there are changes in the chlorine level.
If the combined chlorine level is below 0.2ppm, it is time for liquid Chlorine to come into the picture.
Effects Of Too Much Liquid Chlorine In The Swimming Pool
- Skin infections
- Diarrhea
- The concentrated smell of Chlorine
- Various other health issues.
Clearing Off Excess Liquid Chlorine
After confirmation of excess Chlorine in your water, you can clear it off with natural means. Nature will give an imprint of its handiwork in days. Test a day or two after the pool’s exposure to the sun, and it would be lower.
If you focus on balancing your swimming pool’s pH condition, the chlorine level will be regulated automatically with the chemicals applied.
You can also visit your local pool’s store with your chlorine level readings and ask for recommendations. You will probably be given products to purchase and use. Remember to ask for instructions on whatever you are offered.
What Makes Chlorine Levels Go Low?
Chlorine works to neutralize the impacts and spread of bacteria, pathogens, microbes, and living particles in the swimming pool. In the process of this neutralization, it loses its constituents gradually, and over the days, it loses much until it becomes ineffective.
Sunlight and ultraviolet exposures evaporate chlorine constituents, reducing the amount present in the swimming pool. Excessive swimming timespan and pool parties also contribute to low chlorine levels.
Alternative For Liquid Chlorine In The Swimming Pool
Although liquid Chlorine is to increase the chlorine level in the pool, its application comes with a different specification – shocking. For the ordinary raising of chlorine levels, there are:
- Chlorine tablets
- The Chlorine sticks
- Chlorine powders
All come at different forms and prices. Their usages are of good effects, but there are usually different preferences from prospective swimming pool owners.
