Heavy Rain, do I need to shock?

[stephanie4136]

We've had some extremely heavy rain over the last 2 days, so I was wondering do I need to shock? Is there actually a schedule for how frequently to shock (ie. weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) or is it on an as needed basis? I haven't shocked since I finished up my Baq conversion, have just been testing daily and raising FC to 4 in the evening so that I still have around 2 the next evening. Just want to make sure the excessive rain doesn't send my water out of control. Thanks! :-D

 

[reebok]

have you tested your water? that would be the answer. otherwise, it's just a blind guess. if you want one, my blind guess is probably not.
edit: also, the excellent pool school article has reasons to shock. otherwise, it's not really necessary unless you're following a different pool care method. pool-school/shocking_your_pool

 

[JasonLion]

You don't normally need to shock. After a storm it is a good idea to add a little extra chlorine, to help take care of the extra debris that got into the pool, but shocking is not normally required. If the FC level actually goes to zero, then you should shock. Usually that doesn't happen.

 

[stephanie4136]

Thank you.

Here are my test results: (haven't added any bleach since yesterday evening)

FC 2.5
CC 0
TC 2.5
pH 7.5
T/A 100
CH 60
CYA 30 on Monday, but I added a little on Wednesday because I had to add some water because of evap.

 

[PaulR]

CYA 30 on Monday, but I added a little on Wednesday because I had to add some water because of evap.

I thought you had rain? You don't lose CYA from evaporation (I wish!) the only reason to add more is it's too low to begin with, or because you're removing water (backwashing, splashing, draining out rainwater, etc).
--paulr

 

[sevver]

You don't normally need to shock. After a storm it is a good idea to add a little extra chlorine, to help take care of the extra debris that got into the pool, but shocking is not normally required. If the FC level actually goes to zero, then you should shock. Usually that doesn't happen.

This is what I do, I add about half again as much, maybe double the chlorine after a storm. The only time I really shock per say is after a heavy party weekend with alot of people in the pool. But I don't really test shock levels, I just basically triple the normal dose. Being exact is really only necessary to clear up algae IMHO. If you can prevent it, pool maintenance is easy.

 

[stephanie4136]

CYA 30 on Monday, but I added a little on Wednesday because I had to add some water because of evap.

I thought you had rain? You don't lose CYA from evaporation (I wish!) the only reason to add more is it's too low to begin with, or because you're removing water (backwashing, splashing, draining out rainwater, etc).
--paulr

I added the water before we got the rain (didn't realize we would get so much!), after the rain it was actually above the skimmer so I had to drain some. The kids always splash out quite a bit, plus I figured we had some loss due to evap because the sun is right on our pool until late evening. I only added a very small amount of CYA because I thought I needed to since I had added some water.

 

[cubbybeave08]

Stephanie...if your chlorine is 2.5 FC I would add enough to get it up to 5-7 ppm if you have had a heavy rain that will take care of any extra organics that are floating around. Other than that i would not shock...I used to shock every weekend last year with Cal Hypo...But at the extra prodding for Frustrated Pool Mom, i have been trying to go without doing that. She says I shouldn't have to...I did just for a little extra...but at this point this year we have not been in the pool but three or four times...so I haven't seen as much usage...But I plan to not use the Cal Hypo if i can avoid it...

get that FC up!!! and you'll be fine