5 Things to Know About Pool Chloramines

Chloramines mean your pool’s chlorine has already neutralized contaminants but hasn’t been refreshed. Free chlorine is the active sanitizer—zero means nothing is left to kill algae or bacteria.

Combined chlorine, or chloramines, is the waste product that smells like bleach and irritates eyes and skin. That “pool smell” people complain about is actually chloramines, not chlorine.

You need to shock the pool to break down chloramines. Add enough chlorine to get free chlorine to about 10 times the combined chlorine level.

Test the water again after a few hours. If free chlorine holds, the pool is good. If not, something in the water is consuming chlorine faster than you can add it.

A well-chlorinated pool has almost no smell. Fix chloramine problems before anyone swims.