Salt water pool shock
Set boost to 100% and let it run 24 hours to shock your salt pool. You can also add 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine for every 10000 gallons. Free chlorine climbs by 10 ppm (parts per million, the unit on your test strip) with that gallon added.
Can you shock a salt water pool?
Yes. Even Hayward states the super chlorinate setting will shock the water.
According to Jandy's manual, the pool counts as shocked once chlorine climbs fast to 5 to 15 ppm. That's the range to target.
Choosing between boost and liquid chlorine
A jug of liquid chlorine or your cell's boost setting: those are the 2 choices you have. A boost setting comes on Hayward, Pentair and CircuPool cells alike.
Hayward's manual describes super chlorinate as shocking the water over 24 hours with the filter pump on. With Pentair, boost mode pushes the cell to 100% across 24 hours of pump run time. Super chlor on CircuPool likewise holds 100% output for 24 hours.
A boost cycle lasts 24 hours. The other route is liquid chlorine.
Figuring the liquid chlorine dose
In 10000 gallons of water, 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine lifts free chlorine 10 ppm. No other figure matters here. The USGS puts water at 8.34 pounds per gallon, though that number won't come up for you.
Divide your pool's gallon count by 10000. The result tells you the gallons of 10% liquid needed for a 10 ppm rise. So a 15000 gallon pool calls for 1.5 gallons.
Products to skip
A salt chlorine generator can't take trichlor or dichlor, so read the bag label first. That warning comes straight from Pentair's guide, which says you must not use them together.
Reach for liquid chlorine or the boost setting when you shock.
Questions people bring to the counter
Which shock works in a salt water pool?
Either pour in 10% liquid chlorine or hit the cell's boost button, which holds 100% for 24 hours. Skip trichlor or dichlor shock if you have a salt chlorine generator. Every gallon of 10% strength liquid chlorine adds 10 ppm to 10000 gallons.
What does adding shock do to a saltwater pool?
Push chlorine up fast to 5 to 15 ppm and the pool water is shocked. Pouring a gallon of 10% liquid chlorine into 10000 gallons lifts your level 10 ppm. Skip trichlor and dichlor; Pentair warns they're wrong for a salt cell.
Which things can wreck a salt water pool?
You must not put trichlor or dichlor in a pool that uses a salt chlorine generator, per Pentair's manual. Use liquid chlorine to shock, or switch your cell to its 24 hour boost mode. Leave the filter pump on for the whole 24 hour super chlorinate cycle.
Which shock works best in a saltwater pool?
Add 10% liquid chlorine until you hit the shock range of 5 to 15 ppm. One gallon lifts 10000 gallons of water by 10 ppm. The boost setting on your cell is another option. That setting pushes output to 100% for 24 hours. Keep trichlor and dichlor out of your salt chlorine generator, always.