After hitting your pool, it's safe to swim once your chlorine levels are around 5 ppm or after 24 hours. Imagine coming home after a long day inside and all you'd like to do is jump into your pool. As you approach the pool to start swimming, you notice that some green algae have started to grow on the surface of the pool. After testing the chemistry of water, you realize that an increase in chlorine is needed.
Therefore, you hit the pool hoping to get rid of algae quickly. How long can you swim after crashing in a pool? The general rule is 24 hours, however, in some cases you can swim earlier. In general, after impacting a pool, no one should swim in the pool for a minimum of 6 hours and up to 24 hours. This time may vary depending on the type of shock absorber used and the levels of free chlorine, which you should test to make sure it is below 5 ppm before someone swims, no matter how long it has been since the pool was impacted.
Impacting a swimming pool is the term given to water treatment that inhibits the growth of these bacteria and algae. The top 3 of these chemicals are calcium hypochlorite, sodium dichlorite, and potassium monopersulfate. The type of chemical you use will determine how long you have to wait before you can swim in the pool, among other things. For skim readers, the short answer is to wait 24 hours after a heavy shock dose.
Or if you really want to swim before 24 hours are up, test the water to make sure the chlorine is within safe levels. Because crashing a pool uses more chlorine than usual, it will take a little longer for the water to acclimate. However, if you have a saltwater generator and you are constantly testing and monitoring your chemical levels, it shouldn't be necessary to apply electric shocks to your pool frequently. If you accidentally drank the water in a recently shocked pool, you could even risk poisoning and death.
As you can see, even the type of shock you use can affect other chemicals that are already in your pool. Keep in mind that shaking the pool is considered a process of adding chemicals to the pool so that the water chemistry is ideal for chlorine to work efficiently. Crashing a pool is part of the regular pool maintenance that pool owners must perform to keep the pool water quality in good condition. The three main chemicals used for shocking pools are calcium hypochlorite, sodium dichlorite, and potassium monopersulfate, and the wait time before you can swim in a shock pool will vary depending on the chemical used.
Your first step will be to follow guidelines on the chemicals you have used to hit your pool. However, even without general consensus, we were able to discover many compelling factors that helped reduce when the pool is safe for swimmers again after a crash. If a shock occurs during the day, you should wait one hour for every pound of shock product added and then test the water to make sure the levels are safe for swimming. Normally, 12 hours is enough to wait after the pool crash before swimming, although it can take 24 hours.
While this procedure is essential to having your pool clean and healthy, you also need to know how long to wait after hitting a swimming pool to make sure the water is safe for you and other swimmers. If all else fails, call a professional to take a look at it instead of risking swimming in an unsafe pool.
