What is the importance of adding chlorine to swimming pools?

Chlorine comes in the form of tablets or solutions. A perfect amount of chlorine must be added to your swimming pool according to its volume to help eliminate bacteria and make the water safe for swimming.

Chlorine kills bacteria through a simple chemical reaction. Once it is added to water it breaks down into many different chemicals including hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion. Both kill micro-organisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell, rendering them oxidised and harmless.

            The levels of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion vary with the pool’s pH level. If the pH is too high, not enough hypochlorous acid is present and pool cleaning can take much longer than normal. Ideally, the level of pH in the pool should be between 7.2-7.6; 7.4 is ideal -- this is the pH of human tears. Once the hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion^-are done cleaning the pool, they either combine with another chemicals, such as ammonia, or are broken down into single atoms. Both of these processes render the chlorine harmless. Sunlight speeds these processes up. You have to keep adding chlorine to the pool as it breaks down.

Some chlorine tablets and granules are mixed with an additive called cyanuric acid, commonly known as stabilizer or sun block. This chemical protects the chlorine molecule from the sun and prolongs the life of chlorine in the pool. Although this is a good thing, prolonged use of this type of tablet or granule can make the cyanuric levels too high. Which then overprotects the chlorine molecule and stops it being an effective sanitiser. Test your cyanuric acid level regularly. The ideal level is 25-35ppm. If it crosses 50ppm you should switch to a chlorine product that does not have cyanuric acid included. And use this until your level has dropped back down to the ideal level or lower.

            Chlorine tablets and liquid chlorine are available at Aquaneo Pool Store. Too much chlorine can lead to unpleasant odour, cause itchiness and hazardous side effects. We also have pool chlorine remover available at our store. We deliver all over Australia.