Inflatable pools are a lot of fun for not just kids but even adults as well, especially during those hot summer afternoons when the coolness the pool provides can be refreshing.
However, it takes only a clean pool to make playing in it worthwhile, and one question that most people keep asking is: can I treat my inflatable pool with chlorine. The answer is Yes and No depending on the size of your inflatable pool.
Chlorine can be used in treating your inflatable pool so that it remains germ-free and so safe for everyone to play in. Today we will show you how you can take care of that pool that has been taking care of you during those hot days.
What Is Chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element, a greenish-yellow gas is denoted by the letters Cl, and it is a corrosive and toxic element in its raw form and can be very irritating to the eye and respiratory system, but when it reacts with other compounds or elements, it becomes a useful compound.
Chlorine is an essential element for making many products that help in ensuring through health and safety of people. It is useful in nutrition, food, water, medicine, security, transportation, advanced technology, and the like. It is made from ordinary salt, and it is one of the most abundant and essential minerals available.
What are the Benefits of Chlorine?
There are lots of benefits that chlorine yields to us both for domestic and general purposes. But in terms of making water safe for us, chlorine plays one of the vital functions.
Chlorine in our drinking water ensures that we don’t ingest infected water into our systems, while chlorine in our pools ensures that other ectoparasites like lice and ringworm do not infest our skin.
We must realize that even saltwater pools still need to be chlorinated because other cleaning methods only clean the water before you enter the pool, and they do nothing to ensure that the pool remains as hygienic as before, however, chlorine in the pool had a residual effect in the pool and takes care of any contaminants that might get into the pool.
Hence chlorine in an inflated pool protects us from gastrointestinal, skin, ear, wound, neurologic, eye, and respiratory infections that are caused mostly by bacteria in the E Coli family that chlorine is effective against.
We must however state that chlorine in your pool does not stop you from observing sound personal hygiene which will complement the work of the chlorine.
Can You Put Chlorine in an Inflatable Pool
Basically, large swimming pools are treated with chlorine. It is common for pool owners to use chlorine to maintain their pools’ pH levels. Some owners of large inflatable pools prefer to use chlorine to prevent bacterial growth.
But the question is can you put chlorine in an inflatable pool? Well, the answer is both Yes and No!
Yes if you have a large inflatable pool, this is because a stagnant water body can attract all kinds of bacteria which can be pathogens that cause a lot of diseases that humans suffer today.
The more dirty an environment or pool is, the faster these bacteria can multiply and cause more havoc.
Hence keeping your inflatable pool clean is your first defense against any water-borne disease that might be lurking around.
It also ensures that the life of your pool is prolonged and that you do not have to be engaged in avoidable major repairs.
However, small inflatable pools don’t require chlorine. You can also go for alternative methods to clean your inflatable pools if you do not want to use chemicals as they may have side effects.
You don’t want to waste the time, effort, and cash, hence you have to make the hygiene of your pool a priority.
Here are some ways you can keep your inflatable pool clean without using chlorine.
- Refilling Inflatable Pools with Fresh Water
- Use a Saltwater System
- Use Baking Soda
- Bleaching
- Use a Pool Covers
- Use a Pump Filter and Pool Vacuum
How Much Chlorine is Necessary?
The amount of chlorine you add to your inflatable pool depends on the size of the pool, how often the pool is used, and other such factors.
The chlorine demand of a pool increases with the size of the pool, this is obviously to take care of the more contaminant that is contained in it.
The increase in the amount of contaminants which includes sweat, body lotions, sunscreen, and hair product that comes from those who use the inflatable pool increases the chlorine demand of the pool.
Hence if you have more unhygienic swimmers, you will need more chlorine in your pool. So if you want to reduce the chlorine demand of your pool, then encourage the swimmers to shower before entering the pool.
Make them see the danger of peeing in the pool and any form of contaminant should not be brought them the pool.
Asides from the fact that swimmers can increase the chlorine need of your pool, even if they take all the precautions we talked about, you still need to add chlorine to your pool because the sun can break down free chlorine and make them unavailable in the pool.
You can add a chlorine stabilizer like cyanuric acid to reduce the effect the sun has on the chlorine levels of your pool.
By and large, the amount of chlorine your inflatable pool need is a quarter of a teaspoon for every 10 gallons. A medium-sized pool usually holds about 100 gallons, and you need to apply this chlorine just once in 2 weeks.
I Think My Pool Has Too Much Chlorine
This expression is one of the things you will hear from people who apply chlorine to their inflatable pool and this is because for certain reasons.
For starters, they may complain that their pool water irritates their eyes, gives them itchy skin, and off an unpleasant odor, these signs may people have come to associate with chlorine.
But in the real sense, these signs are indications that you do not have enough chlorine in your pool, which means you need to add more chlorine and not less.
These signs mean that the little chlorine in your pool is converted very fast to Chloramines which give off a bad smell and cause irritation, you can remedy the situation by adding more chlorine.
If you feel irritation in your inflatable pool, it could also be due to inadequate pH value, these low or high pH values could be that the water is acidic or basic and so must be rebalanced.
Another complaint people attribute to chlorine in their pool is that their hair turns green after swimming, this has nothing to do with Chlorine either, it is simply copper which is found in the water reacting with proteins in the swimmer’s hair or the pH of the water is too high or low.
What Are the Risks of Chlorine?
If you use the right amount of Chlorine in your pool, you do not have anything to worry about because it poses no threat at all.
It will shock you to know that there is more Chlorine in the water we drink than in the ones in our pool which buttresses the fact that Chlorine is safe if we use the right amount.
The only issue with Chlorine is with regards to the person handling it and adding it to the pool. There are Chlorine pellets, liquid, and sticks and following the directions in the manual is very key.
You should never use any form of Chlorine that is more than a year old because as the days go by, it loses its effectiveness, and so, it is not to be bought and stored for long.
The different forms of Chlorine should never be mixed to be used together and as much as possible, never inhale the fumes of Chlorine because it is toxic in that raw form.
How To Apply Chlorine In Your Inflatable Pool
The steps below will show you how you can apply Chlorine to your inflatable pool:
1. The first thing to do is to determine the amount of water your pool hold as this will inform the amount of Chlorine you will need to apply.
You can follow the recommendation that is in the manufacturer’s manual to determine the amount of Chlorine that goes into your pool. The recommended quantity is 2 1/2 teaspoons for every 100 gallons.
2. Read the directions on the manual and understand them properly before you begin, and you should not forget to put on your safety goggles and gloves.
3. You should conduct a reliable test which is a series of tests that tests the following: The Chlorine content of the water ( this includes the free and the total Chlorine content).
This test also measures the degree of acidity or alkalinity of the water( this is what the pH of the water measures, a value from 1 to less than 7 is acidic, and any value greater than 7 means the water is alkaline and the value 7 means the water is neutral).
The test can also test the amount of Chlorine stabilizer cyanuric acid in the water. You can get the strip for these tests online or in-store, or you can take your water for test in your local pool store.
4. The result of the test will determine if you need to adjust the pH of your water, using alkalinity increasers or decreasers. (Most times, it is the alkalinity of the water that needs to be balanced).
The ideal pH value for any pool is 7.2, lower values mean the water becomes acidic which will encourage the growth of germs, while higher values mean that some germs can survive the water.
The test will also tell you how much Chlorine you should add to the pool, but if the Chlorine level is high, then you will have to add a Chlorine neutralizer that will balance the Chlorine in the water, or you can dilute the water.
5. At this point, you should add a Chlorine stabilizer also known as a pool conditioner to prevent the Chlorine from being burned off by the sun.
6. Once every week or two, you should get rid of leftover particles that result from Chlorine killing the bacteria in your pool. This process is known as pool shocking and it is simply done by adding a product known as a pool sock to the pool water (a high dosage of chlorine can serve as a pool shock, but this is not the best option). After shocking your pool, then give it at least 8 hours before swimming in it.
How To Keep An Inflatable Pool Clean
1. Always ensure that you remove all the visible debris that you see in the pool, be they leaves, toys, dead bugs, clothing, or other such materials. These all gave the potential to carry pathogens. A simple net can be used to remove these materials.
2. To remove the debris that is at the bottom of the inflatable pool, use a pool vacuum, this will ensure that all the dirt at the edges and bottom of the pool is removed from the pond.
3. You can keep the interior of the pool clean by brushing the pool. You can fit the pool brush in the vacuum and then use it to brush the pool, but your best bet would be to drain the pool so that you can thoroughly clean the inflatable material.
4. Apply Chlorine and chlorine stabilizer from time to time to ensure that the pond is free from any disease-causing organisms.
5. Always check your pool filter to ensure that it is working adequately, and change it the moment you notice that it is not filtering the water as supposed.
6. It is a good sanitary habit to always keep your inflatable pool covered or deflated when it is not in use, this keeps it from debris getting into it, it reduces the amount of time and energy you will need to keep it clean and generally helps to increase the useful lifespan of the inflatable pool.
Conclusion
Chlorine is a very important protective agent not only in our inflatable pool but also in our drinking water. It kills any harmful organism in the water that can cause us illnesses and diseases.
Using the right amount of Chlorine is essential in order not to create health problems for the swimmers.
Many people associate certain irritations and odors with Chlorine in the water, but this is not the case, because when the right amount of Chlorine is used in water, it is not toxic.
So go ahead and protect yourself and your family from water-borne infections by chlorinating your inflatable pool water.
Helpful Articles:
- Best Inflatable Pool Cleaner Tool
- Can You Set Up an Inflatable Pool on Concrete?
- How to Keep Inflatable Pool Water Clean With Salt
- Can I Put an Inflatable Pool on my Deck
- How Long Can You Leave Water in an Inflatable Pool
We trust this article helped you know how to keep a kiddie pool clean. You may also want to check out How to Keep Inflatable Pool Water Clean With Salt.
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