The pool is a great gathering place for family, friends and teams, especially in the summer. However, everyone may avoid a refreshing swim if your pool water smells like rotten eggs.
Contrary to popular belief, this smell isn’t due to abundant chlorine. Instead, chloramines are why your pool smells like chlorine, fish or eggs. Shocking your pool is the first way to remove bacteria, algae and other contaminants in the water. However, other remedies are available if it still smells after you’ve done this step.
Chloramines are contaminants that form in pool water when free chlorine and organic substances — such as sweat, skin cells, oils and urine — combine. Adding chlorine to a pool releases hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions to kill the bacteria. These two active chemicals create free chlorine.
Specifically, chloramines form when hypochlorous acid interacts with ammonia or nitrogen. Chloramines are where the nostalgic pool smell comes from and are the main reason your pool water smells musty over a longer amount of time.
Chloramines can cause skin and eye irritation and can contribute to more extreme issues after prolonged exposure, such as asthma. For this reason, chloramines should be minimized or eliminated in your pools. Here are some methods you can use to get rid of chloramines.
It may seem counterintuitive, but you can add more chlorine to your pool to offset chloramines. You can use chlorine shock products once a week to destroy ammonia and other contaminants effectively. Higher free chlorine in the water breaks ammonia-chlorine bonds, breaking down current compounds and preventing future chloramines from forming.
Adding chlorine achieves breakpoint chlorination — the point where enough chlorine is added to eliminate combined chlorine molecules. This technique is even used in safe drinking water treatments to meet disinfection demands and oxidize the contaminants.
You can also try non-chlorine shock products — such as hydrogen peroxide or potassium mono-persulphate — to control chloramines in your pool. Oxidizing pool contaminants lowers the chlorine demand and allows free chlorine to disinfect more efficiently. Keep in mind that adding these products could lead to a false high when measuring the chlorine in your pool, but it will level itself out after a couple of days.
You can purchase ultraviolet (UV) light filters for your pool to significantly reduce chloramine concentrations. In addition to its primary disinfection ability, UV light can inactivate chlorine-resistant microorganisms. UV light systems are best used alongside the recommended regular chlorine concentrations.
Ozone is another option to use in addition to chlorination, as its disinfection properties can control chloramines. If properly mixed and dissolved, ozone reacts rapidly to reduce odors. However, if you use ozone, be sure to quench it with a granular activated carbon filter before swimming or returning your water to the pool.
Whether you are a new or experienced pool owner, working with chemicals can be challenging on your own. Instead, leave it to the professionals at Lotus Pools. We have over 45 years of experience working with pools across the Chicago area.
We offer regular pool maintenance services to help you tackle all aspects of pool health. These capabilities include weekly pool maintenance to effectively manage your chloramine levels. We understand what it takes to ensure your pool is well-balanced, healthy and in pristine condition so you can jump right in on a hot summer day.
Trust the experts at Lotus Pools to deliver quality pool maintenance at competitive rates. Let us take the dirty work off your hands so you can best enjoy the fun aspects of having a pool. Contact us for a service call today.
