Pool Chlorine Smell Means a Poorly Sanitized Pool
The pool chlorine smell around your swimming pool or spa is not an indication of too much chlorine. In fact, the smell is actually an indication of too little or no free chlorine in your pool water. When your pool smells like chlorine, it is an indication of a poorly sanitized swimming pool. The smell is due to a by-product of chlorine called chloramines.
Chloramines are developed when you have insufficient levels of free chlorine reacting with ammonia and other nitrogen containing compounds.
These compounds are found in the water, human sweat, and urine of your pool bathers.
The result of this reaction is the formation of chloramines. This is what is responsible for that chlorine in and around your pools and spas. Chloramines contribute to the combined chlorine levels which can cause eye irritations and mucous membranes.
Individuals that are pool and spa owners often complain about their swimming pool water not having a completely clean look. Still, they notice a strong smell of chlorine around their facility. Again, they assume that their chlorine residual is on par. Sadly, they are wrong.
How To Determine The Chlorine Smell
So how do you combat this sanitation problem? Well! To determine if your pool disinfection is at risk due to a high pool chlorine smell, you must measure both the free chlorine and the total chlorine.
This can only be done by performing a test on the water of the swimming pool or spa.
From this test, you will be able to correctly calculate or determine the unwanted, eye irritating combined chlorine compounds.
The formula that we use in the industry is Combined Chlorine = Total Chlorine - Free Chlorine.
From your results obtained, you may be able to notice right away that you do in fact have too little or no free chlorine in your pool water. This means that your pool/spa water has too much of the unwanted combined pool chlorine or chloramines.
How To Eliminate Pool Chlorine Smell
Once you have determined that your swimming pool has too much combined chlorine, you must treat the water right away. In other words, you must bring your free chlorine residual up to industry standard.
To achieve this, you must shock treat you pool or spa. For you to increase the disinfection level of your pool or spa, chlorine shock treatment is required.
There are other pool chemicals that are non-chlorine base, which are used as well; however, I find that a chlorine base pool chemical works best for me. Now if you are sensitive to chlorine, then, use a non-chlorine base pool chemical to help get rid of your pool chlorine smell.
The reason for us shocking the pool or spa at this point is so that we could raise the level of the disinfection in the water.
This will dissipate your combined chlorine levels.
Always remember that chloramines or combined chlorine are lousy when it comes to pool water disinfection.
Why? Because they are poor sanitizers and oxidizers. Another word to describe this type of treatment is super-chlorination. Once you have gotten rid of your chloramine problem, you should no longer experience any form of pool chlorine smell.
A swimming pool chlorine smell is a serious pool water problem.
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