Water is amazing. At least 71 percent of the earth’s surface is water and well over half of our body weight is water. We need to drink water to stay healthy and hydrated. It really is a miraculous elixir.

So what do we do when we have too much chlorine in our swimming pool? That’s right, add water! Just add water to your pool if you need to dilute its chlorine level. You can even drain some water before adding water to speed up the chlorine dilution process, but beware…

You might be surprised to learn that a well-managed pool has NO chlorine smell; and believe it or not, a pool with a heavy chlorine smell is underchlorinated! That strong chlorine pool smell that warns swimmers of eye, skin and other more potentially serious irritations is actually from chloramines. 

Chloramines are chemical compounds that can build up if your pool is not properly treated. Here’s what happens…Chlorine is added to your pool to combat harmful bacteria. However, when it interacts with perspiration, oils and urine from swimmers, chloramines can form. As chloramines increase, the ability of chlorine to rid your pool of germs decreases.

That is why the swimming pool and spa water balance is so important. The solution is shock treatment. Shocking your pool is basically the process of just adding extra chlorine to destroy the compounds that cause chloramines. 

Pool managers use test kits to properly measure and manage their water balance. If you have any questions, feel free to come to SE Pool Supply and Chemical in New Smyrna Beach for help, ‘cause that’s our jam!