Non-Chlorine Pool Shock Benefits

Non-Chlorine pool shock or chlorine shock? This is a common question from pool operators. However, the answer depends on your type of swimming pool and how you use it.

Non-chlorine pool shock has a lot of benefits over chlorine shock. The main benefit is it’s much gentler on your skin, eyes and pool equipment. It oxidizes contaminants quickly to disinfect your pool without odor or chemical residue. You can add the chemical to the pool at any time of day and swim immediately afterwards as it does not increase the free chlorine level. I recommend trying non-chlorine shock for your weekly shock treatment in the summer months when your pool is in constant use. Swimmers will love it.

However, if you have green pool water you will need to use a chlorine-based shock treatment to eliminate the algae bloom. When your pool is not in constant use during the cooler seasons you can use chlorine-based shock as it is more powerful against contaminants and less expensive.

Why Do I Need Pool Shock?

The term “shock the pool” is pool industry language for super chlorinating your pool water. All it means is giving your pool an extra dose of free chlorine to ensure the pool is adequately sanitized. This will kill bacteria, viruses and algae that may exist in the water.

When swimming pool water begins to emit a strong ammonia bleach smell or looks dull, hazy or pale green this indicates there is little or no free chlorine in the water. This will occur after heavy usage, a period of hot weather or a storm which has diluted the pool water. This diminishes the free chlorine leaving your pool open to bacteria and a build-up of chloramines.

Many pool owners fail to shock their pool on a regular basis running the risk of their pool turning green, cloudy or having unbalanced water that begins to damage pool surfaces and equipment.

Adding a shock treatment to your pool will solve the problem.

Please read our article on How to Shock Treatment a Pool

Non-Chlorine Shock Benefits

Non-Chlorine (or chlorine-free) shock has many advantages for pool owners.

1. The main advantage with non-chlorine shock is that it doesn’t raise the free chlorine level in the water so it’s safe for swimming immediately. When adding chlorine shock to a pool you need to wait at least overnight for the free chlorine level to fall back to a normal level below 5ppm.
2. This type of shock is recommended for vinyl lined pools as it won’t fade or bleach the vinyl liner.
3. Non-chlorine shock is pH neutral so there is no adverse effect on the pH level.
4. Is not combined with calcium so won’t add calcium to the pool water.
5. Does not contain cyanuric acid so cannot increase the stabilizer level in your pool.
6. Removes chloramines with the bleach-like smell.
7. Rapidly dissolves in water and easily mixes throughout the pool with the pump operating.
8. The chemical acts quickly to neutralize contaminants with no chemical residue.
9. Works very well against organic contaminants such as dirt, insect, leaves, bird droppings, urine and pharmaceutical products.
10. There is no chemical odor with chlorine-free shock.
11. Apply to the pool water at any time of the day as it is not affected by UV light. Whereas chlorine should be added in the late evening after the sun has set to avoid UV light.
12. Can be used with other chemical sanitation systems.

Non-Chlorine Shock Disadvantages

1. The main disadvantage for non-chlorine based shock chemicals is that they are not effective at killing algae. You really do need the power of chlorine to kill algae.
2. Not effective against killing all bacteria.
3. Non-chlorine shock does not replace the requirement to have free chlorine in the pool. You still need to have a basic level of free chlorine in the pool between 1 and 3ppm.
4. Costs slightly more than chlorine-based shock. Years ago non-chlorine shock was very expensive but these days it’s only 10% to 20% more expensive than chlorine shock. Its increase in popularity and availability has brought the price within reach of the average pool owner.

Benefits of Chlorine Shock

1. Kills algae although you may need to double or triple dose the shock concentration and apply multiple treatments to have an effect.
2. Kills bacteria and viruses.
3. Oxidizes organic material and disinfects the water.
4. Chlorine-based shock is fast acting once it has been circulated around the pool.
5. Cheapest sanitation chemical.

Disadvantages of Chlorine Shock

1. Need to dissolve the chlorine shock in a bucket of water before applying to the pool to avoid damage to vinyl liners and other pool surfaces.
2. Must wait overnight for the free chlorine level to reduce to normal for safe swimming.
3. Has a strong chemical odor that many people do not like.
4. High chlorine level is harsh on skin, eyes, swimwear and pool equipment.
5. Must add the pool at night to avoid the effects of UV light.
6. Must add cyanuric acid to stabilize the chlorine reduce it burning off or evaporating quickly.
7. May increase calcium levels in the water adding to calcium scale problems.
8. Tends to increase the pH level which requires the addition of a pH reducer.
9. More hazardous to use and store. Cannot be mixed with any other chemicals as it can cause explosions.

Conclusion

Non-chlorine shock almost replaces traditional chlorine shock without all the negative side-effects of raised chlorine levels. You can swim in your pool almost immediately after using chlorine free shock. Just let the pool water circulate for 20 minutes before you resume swimming.

However, you still need to have a basic level of free chlorine in the pool (between 1 and 3ppm) to keep the water sanitized.

Non-chlorine shock was very expensive but in recent times the price has reduced to a more affordable level within the reach of most pool owners. I think it is well worth the extra money so you can use the swimming pool during the warm season when you don’t want to wait for chlorine levels to drop.