Regardless of whether you’re concerned about chlorine in your fish tank, drinking water, or swimming pool, you might be interested to learn how to properly de-chlorinate water. You may know that chlorine is added to the water supply and helps control the proliferation of bacteria while neutralizing other harmful substances.
That said, chlorine is also harmful; it is fatal to aquatic life and can cause potential problems in humans.
Chlorine is a common chemical additive that is used to control bacterial growth in pools. With effective chlorination, swimmers can let pool water come in contact with their skin and can even incidentally swallow swimming pool water with little risk of infection.
Although chlorine is beneficial in controlled situations, it’s harmful to our environment and lakes when released in a non-controlled setting.
This is why it is important to de-chlorinate your pool regularly. Here are three ways to de-chlorinate your swimming pool.
Use Chemicals
You could use de-chlorination liquid or tablets, like sodium thiosulphate, to chemically de-chlorinate the swimming pool. Although chlorine levels will gradually lower, thanks mainly to UV rays, sodium thiosulphate could expedite this process significantly. Swimmers often experience itchy skin, red eyes, and damage to their hair when chlorine levels are too high. Sodium thiosulfate helps neutralize chlorine and reduces the level to more acceptable ranges.
Sulfur dioxide is one of the most common chemicals for de-chlorination of pools. However, sodium metabisulfite, carbon absorption, and hydrogen peroxide are used for this purpose as well.
When you are purchasing the chemical, make sure the product you buy from a swimming pool retailer mentions that it meets the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency.
If you’re looking for the most effective method of de-chlorination, then carbon absorption is the way to go. That said, it is usually more expensive compared to many of the other methods, like sulfur-based de-chlorination tablets. You will need to ask a swimming pool professional about carbon filters that are best for your swimming pool.
Using Vitamin C tablets is another inexpensive way to de-chlorinate your pool water. Depending on the specific brand, one tablet can easily treat about hundred gallons of water.
Also, installing a water treatment system at home is a great idea.
Use Sunlight
Do not add chlorine to your swimming pool to lower chlorine levels in your pool. If you stop adding, say, chlorine tablets that you often put in the swimming pool, then exposure to sunlight or solar-powered pool heating solutions from Hydrosolar.ca would help slowly de-chlorinate the water.
Also, keep in mind that you will have to leave your swimming pool uncovered for at least two weeks. This will allow ultraviolet rays to quickly break down chlorine molecules in your pool. Uncover the pool on a bright and sunny day for a few hours and let nature do its magic. It is worth mentioning that leaving your swimming pool uncovered on just one cloudless afternoon for a few hours could eradicate at least ninety percent of the pool’s chlorine. In addition, using natural sunlight is a much better alternative to using UV lamps.
On the other hand, if you need to de-chlorinate your swimming pool water for irrigating a shrub or a tree, you could use a bucket. Scoop out a bucket full of water and keep it in a bright sunny spot. Leave the bucket in the sun for about one week, and the chlorine will evaporate.
Although you’ve stopped adding chlorine to your swimming pool, you must continue to run the pump. The pump would help ensure thorough de-chlorination by circulating the water in the pool.
Test the Water
After 2 weeks without adding chlorine to your swimming pool and with your pump running, you must test the chlorine levels. One of the most accurate ways to measure chlorine concentrations is via a DPD (N-Diethylparaphenylenediamine) test, but you can also use test strips or a colorimeter.
Note that DPD test kits usually use a comparator. It allows you to accurately compare your sample with color standards. All you have to do is put the sample in the slot and then compare the color to the standards that are on the side of this instrument. Colorimeters are instruments that use white light for determining chlorine levels in water.
As it’s a separate instrument, it will not be included in a standard DPD test kit. You can also use test strips to determine chlorine levels in your pool water. In most cases, they’re the cheapest and simplest option.
Use one of these testing methods to accurately determine whether the chlorine level is close to zero or at an acceptable level (<0.1 mg/L) at least. In case the color in your water sample shows an acceptable level of chlorine, then you’ve successfully de-chlorinated your swimming pool.
On the other hand, if the chlorine level isn’t acceptable, you may let it de-chlorinate naturally for another couple of weeks, or use an effective chemical method.
Conclusion
You can use any of these three methods to de-chlorinate your pool. A clean and healthy environment is important to us all. It affects both our health and our economy. Every little effort helps.