Why Does My Pool Smell Like Chlorine?!
Every once in awhile in pool maintenance, you do everything right, your water looks great, and then one morning you wake up to an overwhelming chlorine odor. Your first thought is that maybe you shocked the water too heavily the night before and you now have dangerously high levels of chlorine in the water. In actuality, chlorine odor is an indicator of the presence of an organic compound called chloramine that can be potentially harmful to you and your family.
Chloramine forms in pool water when chlorine combines with ammonia and nitrogen, both of which are regularly supplied by sweat and urine from swimmers, and even from the rain. This means that chloramines are always present but are only a problem when they reach elevated levels. Other than the telltale smell, red eyes and skin irritation after swimming are also indicators. Getting ahold of the situation quickly is important and is the only way to prevent the costly option of having to drain your pool and start over. Unlike chlorine, chloramines do not evaporate in the sun so more direct solutions must be employed.
The most common method for eliminating chloramines is to treat your water with a mega-dose of chlorine, raising the levels to 5-10 ppm for at least 4 hours. If this does not result in a chlorine to ammonia ratio of 7.6 to 1, then you will just end up creating more chloramines. If it succeeds, the shock will disconnect the chlorine molecules from the ammonia and nitrogen and continue to effectively sanitize the water. It is important to closely monitor the water and not allow swimmers back in the pool until chlorine levels have returned to at least 3 ppm. Non-chlorine shocks are also effective at removing chloramines and must be added at equally high levels (1 pound per 10,000 gallons). Some pools and even spas are also equipped with ozone generators that effectively oxidize ammonia and nitrogen compounds.
Before you try any of these options, it is a good idea to have a pool expert analyze your water and give you more detailed advice. While high chloramine levels are not the worst thing that can happen to your pool, it is important to get ahold of the situation quickly so that you can return to enjoying the clean clear water that you were used to. Give our expert team a call as we are standing by to help you make this season great!