Keeping Your Water Balanced As a pool owner, you have the significant job of keeping your pool’s water balanced. A question that many pool owners have when they test their pool water is should raise the pH or shock the pool first. Following the correct sequence of pool chemical treatments can help ensure that your pool remains clean, clear, and safe for swimming. In this guide, we’re going to discuss how to properly adjust your pool’s pH and shock it, and how a robot pool cleaner can help keep your pool clean along the way.
Why pH Is Important and the Need to Shock Your Pool
Shocking your pool and raising the pH is essential to help with water balance. Here’s a quick breakdown of why they matter:
Scenario 4, Pool pH is Low (Acidic): If your pH level in the pool is too low (acidic) this can cause damage to your pool equipment, irritation to skin and eyes, and make other chemicals less effective.
Pool Shock: Pool shock is applied to kill contaminants such as bacteria, algae, and chloramines. Shocking raises the chlorine level momentarily, which serves to disinfect water.
But the sequence of steps you take matters for how effective these treatments will be.
Must I Raise pH First Before Shocking?
The general rule of thumb is to increase the pH first, then shock your pool. Here’s why:
Shock does better in a balanced pH: Chlorine is most effective in a pool with a pH of between 7.2 and 7.6. When the pH is too low, the chlorine that is added does not disinfect and eliminate impurities very well. This will allow the chlorine to be more effective when shocking the pool.
You can raise pH before shocking: pH increasers (like soda ash or baking soda) dissolve easier without the pool being shocked. To add shock with an already low pH causes the chemicals to react unevenly, making it more difficult to balance.
So first off, clean the pool with a pool cleaning robot (like the Beatbot AquaSense Pro) make sure the pool is clear of debris, and provide the pool is free for your pH-raising treatment. That will make the chemicals disperse more evenly.
A Robot Pool Cleaner During pH Adjustment and Pool Shocking
Once you adjust the pH and shock your pool, it can be really helpful to have a robot pool cleaner to keep the water clean and circulating.
Moving the Water Around Efficiently
One example of this is the Beatbot AquaSense, which is a pool cleaner robot that is designed to swim around your pool and agitate the water which helps the chemicals to dissolve more evenly. When you add a pH increaser or shock, it needs to be evenly distributed throughout the pool. This can promote no-shake and speedier results, a swimming pool robot cleaner can guarantee this course.
Keep Your Pool Cleaner, For Better Results
If your pool is free of debris, the chemicals you introduce will be able to work in more ways without fighting as many obstacles. Using a robot pool vacuum a few times a week helps keep the pool cleaner, so the pH and shocks are more effective.
Pool Skimmer Aids in Removing Floating Debris
Swipe the Pool skimmer before & after pH adjustment and shocking process to remove floating debris. This keeps your pool clean and makes sure none of the chemicals get absorbed or blocked on the surface by debris.
How to Raise pH and Shock Your Pool (Step by Step)
Here is a practical, step-by-step cheat sheet on the process:
1) Test Your Pool’s pH: You can test your pool’s pH level with a pool testing kit. If it’s less than 7.2, you’ll have to raise it.
Adjust pH Increaser — Add the right amount of pH increaser (like soda ash or baking soda) for a pH of 7.4–7.6.
Clean the Pool: While you wait for the pH chemicals to dissolve, use a robotic pool cleaner such as Beatbot AquaSense Pro to scrub the pool.
Shock the Pool: After balancing the pH, add the pool shock that will disinfect and kill other contaminants. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions closely.
Run Your Pool Pump: Let your pool pump run for at least 8 hours so the chemicals can circulate.
Test the Water Again: Once the circulation process is completed, measure your water again and make sure that the pH and chlorine levels are sufficient.
Regular Cleaning and Care, to Keep Pool Water Healthy
After raising the pH and shocking your pool, you need to continue balancing the water. Beatbot AquaSense[Robot Pool Cleaner] With the help of a robot pool cleaner like Beatbot AquaSense, your pool is scrubbed, scourged, and kept free of debris and algae.
Consistency is Key
Using your pool robot cleaner regularly prevents the build-up of contaminants that could make it more durable to come back down the road, No debris on the pool will ensure the long-term balance of chemicals in the water.
Conclusion: Should You Raise the pH or Shock Your Pool?
So to wrap it all up, you want your pH to be high prior to shocking your pool so you’ll have maximum effectiveness for the chlorine. During this process, a robot pool cleaner such as the Beatbot AquaSense Pro can help in getting the job done by circulating the water and clearing debris. If you follow the proper steps and have the proper equipment, you can have clean/confident swimming water for your entire pool season.
