The smell of chlorine around a pool is usually accompanied by irritation to the eyes, nose, lungs and skin of the swimmers. The pool smell is not due to chlorine but to chloramines, chemical compounds that build up in pool water when there is not enough free chlorine.
Chloramines are the result of two ingredients:
- chlorine and
- sweat, oils or urine that are brought into the pool by the swimmers.
Chlorine disinfectants are added to pool water to destroy germs that can cause illness. Sweat, oils and urine are unwanted additions to pool water. Showering before swimming can help minimize the formation of chloramines and the smelly pool.
The Chemistry of Chloramines
When chlorine disinfectants are added to water, two chemicals are formed: hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion. Hypochlorous acid is known as “free available chlorine” or FAC and has the potential to destroy waterborne germs. Pool operators manage the FAC level of pool water for the safety of swimmers. Free available chlorine is reduced when it reacts with swimmer waste to form these smelly chloramines.
Minimizing Chloramine Smells
Swimmers with red, irritated eyes complain that there is too much chlorine in the pool. When pool water is irritating, there is almost always not enough free chlorine in the pool water.
Chloramines, which produce the typical pool smell, can be destroyed using chlorine or non-chlorine shocks. A shock treatment destroys the ammonia and organic compounds that combine with chlorine to make chloramines.
Tags: free chlorine , chloramine , chloramines , disinfectants , Pool waterRelated pool posts:
February 9th, 2008 at 17:59
Who could ever have guessed that the chlorine smell means too little chlorine.
Chloramines sound mean and dangerous. I did a quick search for chloramines and found some pretty bad press. Try a chloramine search and you’ll see it for yourself.
February 22nd, 2008 at 18:44
I’ve been told that wee in the pool makes more chloramines and chlorine smell. I seem to notice more smelly pools are frequented by kids and younger people.
So I should try stay away from the kiddies and pools full of sweaty sunbathers. I prefer swimming at pools that enforce a strict shower before bathing anyway.
May 6th, 2008 at 00:20
I grew up with a chlorine pool and on the swim team and had brittle hair and itchy skin. When we installed an chlorine free system in our pool I found a whole new experience. My eyes didn’t burn anymore and the feeling it gives the skin is hard to describe- like putting on lotion but there is no lotion that feels as good. . We went ahead and had the system put in our house too and the water from the tap tastes way better than bottled water. Bottled water to me tastes dead and slightly metallic. I can’t recommend it enough. It uses no chlorine and no salt so there are no chloramines in the water.
May 21st, 2008 at 16:18
I have high combined chlorine and high phosphates..i have used phosfree and shocked sever times still no help..any ideas
July 21st, 2008 at 13:18
If you are waiting till the odor of your pool is bad to make the determination that the water is out of balance you have waited way to long. You should be testing your pool water on a regular basis and making adjustments along the way to prevent your pool water from ever having a strong odor.
March 4th, 2009 at 16:09
I agree with Lu. We have a Saltwater Generator. Ours is an above ground pool by Intex. Lu is right, the water feels like lotion and you don’t have that burning in your eyes when you swim. Mostly, though, the one thing that I love about this new Saltwater Generator is that it saves me time. All I need is regular salt. I don’t need to go to some special pool store to get chlorine, I just need salt. And, it doesn’t need that much of it. You pretty much set it up once and it runs and keeps it clean and free of germs for an entire season. You just have to be careful and follow the directions (and give the salt at least a day to fully dissolve before running the pump) otherwise you’ll be disappointed. I think most people who don’t like their system, just didn’t set it up right.
March 6th, 2009 at 16:37
Why don’t you do a post on SWGs? My kids like that they can open their eyes underwater in our saltwater pool, which they have a hard time doing in their friend’s pools. We don’t have smell issues or red eyes, just clear slightly salty water.
May 29th, 2009 at 01:16
We have serious problems with two things:
1) Algae keeps coming back despite ever-other-day brushing and vacuuming.
2) Our pool does not retain chlorine at all.
Also a question: has any of you heard about Ahh-some water clarifier? If so, what has been your experience with it?
Thanks,
Geronimo in SoCal.
July 6th, 2009 at 06:20
Have you ever tried this Pool Magic product, Its fantastic for removing algae and you can either use minimal chlorine or some other oxidiser. Maintains the swimming pool to a very high standard at low cost and great convenience in time and chemical saving. try it……………..