Cleaning up after a fun July 4th pool party can be a rather unpleasant chore.  How do you clean what you can't see?!  

Of course, we are talking about CC or Combined Chlorine...they don't call us Chemical Geeks for nothin'! 

 

When caring for a pool or spa, keep in mind there are three forms of chlorine for which you will be testing...

An easier way to think about it is FREE (FC) is good chlorine and COMBINED (CC) is bad chlorine.  CC is formed when FC hooks up with wastes that are introduced to the pool via swimmers or from the environment around the pool.  Ideally, CC levels should be maintained as low as possible (ideally at 0ppm).  When CC is too high, it reduces the efficiency of the FC.  This can lead to A  LOT of water quality issues.  So, after your "major rager" of a July 4th party with half the neighborhood in the pool, you will most likely have a  CC level that needs addressed.  

---

There are two ways to chemically remove or reduce COMBINED CHLORINE:

Breakpoint Chlorination

This consists of adding massive amounts of FC (10x the amount of CC) to overwhelm and break down the CC.  Several factors that should be looked at prior to breakpoint chlorination are; pH, stabilizer level, and time of day FC are added.  These factors influence the killing power of the FC and may require additional chlorine be added to overcome them.  You may have to obliterate the pool with FC if your CC is too high.  If you don't add enough FC to overwhelm the CC you can be adding to the level of CC making the problem even worse!  

Chlorine Free Shock

These products work in a slightly different manner.  They oxidize contaminants allowing the CC to break down.  Using chlorine free shock can't add to the creation of CC, in turn, it cannot make the problem worse.  If your pool still has a CC reading after treatment, simply add more to remove it.  With most products of this genre, the great news is, you can typically swim within 15 minutes of dosing.  The bonus?  You aren't increasing your FC levels high enough to void warranties on your pool equipment and surfaces. 

 

There is a lot more information on this topic, but a good rule of thumb is after periods of high use, pools should test and ensure that COMBINED (CC) levels aren't high, treat promptly to keep the pool looking and operating great.  APi products such as:

 

all contain a chlorine free shock to prevent COMBINED CHLORINE formation and greatly reduce the amount of time spent troubleshooting! 

 

For more information on these or any of our products, visit us at our YouTube channel or call/text us at (877) 274-7261.