Let’s talk about chlorine!

Sanitizers should be viewed as disinfectants for pool water.  Improperly sanitized water leaves the user vulnerable to diseases.  Everyone deserves to enjoy clean, healthy swimming pool water.  Sanitizing pool water involves the application of a product to kill contaminants, like bacteria and other organisms in the water.  Here in Central Florida, chlorine is the most common sanitizer used in pool water, because of its worldwide acceptance and cost-effectiveness.

When chlorine is added to water it forms hypochlorous acid, which is the active form of chlorine that will kill bacteria and keep pool water properly sanitized.  When the pool water warms and bather load increases, it is important to “shock” your pool regularly.  Chlorine products are often used for the purpose of  “shocking” or super-chlorinating to destroy contaminants.  A common and most economical choice is liquid pool bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite).

There are two forms of chlorine, stabilized and unstabilized.  Unstabilized chlorine, liquid bleach, is rapidly degraded by the UV rays of the sun. Again, hypochlrous acid, the active ingredient of chlorine is lost every thirty-five minutes in the absence of stabilizer.  The presence of stabilizer (cyanuric acid)  will protect chlorine from this rapid loss and allow the chlorine to be more effective over a six to eight hour long period of time.  Here in Central Florida, it is important to keep a stabilizer level in the water above what is contained in chlorine tablets (trichlor).  This is done by the addition of a stabilizer product.  Stabilizer leaves pool water by splash-out, draining, or leaks, so should be tested regularly.

In conclusion, remember to test your pool water for proper balance, especially the sanitizer level.  Also, visit our retail store, we test water for free!