3 Things to Know About That "Chlorine" Pool Smell

The smell is from chloramines, not chlorine Pure chlorine in water has little odor. The strong smell comes from chloramines, which form when chlorine reacts with ammonia from sweat, urine, and other organic matter.

Low chlorine levels cause the smell When free chlorine is too low, it can’t break down chloramines. They accumulate and create that chemical smell. Counterintuitively, the fix is usually to add more chlorine.

Shock the pool to fix it Test your water. If free chlorine is low but combined chlorine (chloramines) is high, shock the pool to oxidize the chloramines. A clean pool has almost no smell.