If you have mild water pools then pool clarifiers are great pool chemicals to get rid of cloudiness in your pool water.
But can you shock a pool after adding clarifier?
Yes, you can shock a pool after adding a clarifier but it’s always recommended to shock your pool first then you can add clarifiers.
Because clarifiers may remove the cloudiness from your pool water but clarifiers don’t remove any algae from your water.
So you need to shock your pool with shock treatment to remove the algae from the pool water then you can use a clarifier.
But when can you shock a pool after adding a clarifier? How long clarifier takes take to clear the pool? And which one is better clarifier or flocculant?
We will answer all of your questions in this article, and provide you with step by step process for shocking and using clarifiers in your pool.
Let’s get started.
Why You Should Shock A Pool Before Adding Clarifier?
Because clarifier just removes the cloudiness of your pool but to killing bacteria and algae it’s always recommended to shock your pool.
When you shock your pool with high chlorine dosage then it not only kills the bacteria and algae but also keeps your water clean and fresh.
So always shock your pool first then you can add clarifiers to your pool.
Also Read: Can You Shock Pool After Adding Baking Soda?
Can you shock a pool after adding clarifiers?
As I said before, if you have a choice then always shock your pool first before adding clarifiers.
But if you added clarifiers first then you keep the filter running for 24 hours, then after 2 to 3 days your pool water should be clearer then you can clean your filter and reset your water chemistry.
When can I add shock after clarifier?
You can shock your pool after 4 days once you see the clarifiers remove the cloudiness of your pool water.
Keep your pool filter running for 24 hours then you can wait another 2 to 3 days until your pool becomes clear and clean.
After that, you can shock your pool but make sure you know how much chlorine you should add before you shock your pool.
Also Read: Can You Shock Pool After Adding Calcium?
How to Shock And Use Clarifier For A Pool?
You need to know the exact steps when you are shocking and using a clarifier to remove the cloudiness of your pool.
Here are some proven and tested steps and processes for maintaining your pool with shock treatment and clarifier.
Step 1: Check & Balance Water Chemicals
Before you do anything, it’s really important that you should test your water chemistry first.
Because if your pool water has cloudiness or is not clean then you need to check what causing your pool water to become cloudy and not clear.
So always test the water chemicals and balance the chemicals before you do anything.
You should balance the chlorine levels, pH level, alkalinity, and calcium hardness of your pool.
Once all the chemicals in the water are balanced then you can start the next step.
Step 2: Shock Treatment
When you maintain the chlorine level in your pool in the first step, you need to shock your pool.
Because shocking your pool with chlorine can remove all the bacteria, and algae.
Once you do shock treatment then you can go to the next step which is using a filter pump.
Step 3: Use the Filter Pump
After shocking your pool you need to turn on the filter and pump to clear the pool water before adding a clarifier.
You should at least circulate your water for 1 hour using a pump and filter before you add a clarifier to your pool.
Step 4: Add Clarifier
After using the pool filter now it’s time to add a clarifier to your pool.
But find the ideal dosage of clarifier based on the volume of your pool.
And check the label of the clarifier which can determine how much you should add.
Step 5: Monitor & Filter
While adding clarifiers, always keep an eye on the filter and pump during the debris removal.
Always check whether the filter is working or not.
If you suspect that the filter might be clogged then shut down the pump and filter for some amount of time and wash and rinse the filter.
Pool Clarifiers Vs Flocculant? ( Which one is better?)
If your pool is a little cloudy then you can use a pool clarifier with the cartridge filter because pool clarifiers can remove a small amount of cloudiness from your pool.
But if your pool is extremely cloudy then there is no better option than Flocculant.
The Flocculant is more effective than pool clarifiers.
And both come in powder form.
But if you use flocculant then you need to manually vacuum the excess particles from your filter.
Final Words
It doesn’t matter if you use a pool clarifier or flocculant because they both can remove the cloudiness from your pool water.
But you should always maintain and balance the pool chemicals before you do anything.
You need to balance the calcium hardness, pH Level, alkalinity, and other pool chemistry.
If you have any questions regarding pool clarifiers and shocking then you can ask them in the comment section of this article.
