Do I HAVE to shock or "boost" my saltwater pool if my levels are OK?

[homesteader]

Hello everyone- apologies in advance if I am posting incorrectly. I have been researching on TFP for months but am new the concept of posting in the forum.
We are new pool owners- have a 16 x 32 AG Intex Ultra Frame with the SWG and sand filter. My question is simple- it says to "boost" or shock after heavy bathing loads or heavy rain (we don't use the pool that often but we have had an exceptionally wet summer- so it is always raining). If my levels are all checking out OK, do I have to boost or shock? I have not had a problem with anything being too low or too high, and the chlorine is always where it should be.
Don't want to put the unncessary strain on my SWG of it running 56 hours to boost after every rain or party if it isn't necessary

Thanks in advance!

 

[Richard320]

Nope.

If you're hosting a party, dial the percentage up a couple notches a few hours before and leave it up for the duration and for a few hours afterwards.

A little rain won't have much effect. A lot might. If the pool starts overflowing, you'll also be losing salt, so things might get weird. And if the pool starts looking cloudy, you don't have time to wait for the SWG to catch up. That's when you reach for a jug of bleach.

 

[JCarsten]

Re: Do I HAVE to shock or "boost" my saltwater pool if my levels are OK?

People with much more experience than me will be along shortly to go more in depth. I am also a brand new pool owner with a SWG. I can give you my anecdotal experience from yesterday.

My FC was a little high to begin with over the weekend (7 ppm). We just had our pool finished and our contractor had the SWG set to run 8a-5p at 65%. It rained all day Wednesday and Thursday. Our SWG ran as intended those 2 days. I checked the FC and CC last night when I got home. Even with the heavy water replacement and some dirt washing into the pool from the heavy rain, I was at 15 FC and less than .5 CC.

The lack of sunlight or swimmers actually caused our SWG to over-produce chlorine during the stormy weather.

One of the experts here may disagree with me. But I say, if your numbers (with a good test kit) stay where you want them, then you're doing the right thing.

- - - Updated - - -

And while I was typing, one of the guys I was talking about replied

 

[homesteader]

Re: Do I HAVE to shock or "boost" my saltwater pool if my levels are OK?

Unfortunately I am not able to dial up or back my SWG. I can only set it to run for a set amount of hours a day. As it is now it runs 7 hours a day. I can run it longer when needed to boost chlorine levels. I hadn't thought about the salt loss with the pool overflowing so thank you! It has overflowed several times. It's been a very wet summer in Iowa. I put the recommended amount of salt in when we set up the pool but the salt test shows it at only 5000ppm. I haven't gotten a low salt error and the water does have a salty taste so I almost don't believe the test strips.
It is good to know that I don't have to dump a bunch of chemical in to raise the chlorine way up after parties and rain unless my chlorine level is actually low. Someone had me almost convinced that you should always shock once a week to kill bacteria

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Sorry! 1600ppm on the salt. 5 on the test strip is 1600. Still half what the manual says I should have it at

 

[BoDarville]

I haven't "shocked" (SLAMmed) my pool in over 3 years and all is well. Follow Richard320's advice if you are planning a pool party. I've had several parties and this is what I do. You may also need to give the filter some extra run time after the party.