Why do I need “to shock” my hot tub?
The main reason anyone shocks their hot tub is to clean the water as follows:
- To kill bacteria– Chlorine based shock treatments are designed to sanitize the hot tub water and ensure it is safe for bathers.
- Remove organic contaminants– Shocking helps to remove organic compounds which are added to the water by bathers – blood, sweat, tears, shite, peepee, snot, etc
- Reactivate sanitizers– Your sanitizer (bromine or chlorine) becomes ‘used’ as it attaches to various contaminants, a shock treatment breaks the bonds so that the contaminants are caught in the filtration system and chlorine or bromine can continue killing bacteria.
Types of Shock:
There are 2 types of shock treatments.
Chlorine Shock
Normally used after very heavy use, or after a fresh water change to bring the chlorine/bromine level higher.
A chlorine shock will raise your chlorine levels and therefore you may have to wait a while for levels to return to 3 – 5ppm. You must leave your cover off for at least 20 minutes and run a regular jet cycle to let your hot tub aerate. This will help prevent chemical damage on the cover and pillows of your hot tub.
You can still use a chlorine shock even if you use a bromine sanitizer, however, you should never mix chemicals dry. Add the chlorine shock after a water change or heavy use and wait for the chlorine level to reduce before adding your bromine.
Non-Chlorine Shock
A non-chlorine shock does not sanitize the water which is why its main use is as a weekly treatment to oxidize the water and help remove contaminants and clear cloudy water. Non-chlorine shock will help your chlorine work better by creating ‘Free chlorine’ which is the type of chlorine needed to kill bacteria. This product will also help those on bromine to activate the bromine and help it work more effectively.
At Splash we recommend using Dazzle “shock” products. Mention this blog article when you come in to our Edgemont store for a 15% discount! Happy shocking!
