Non Chlorine Shock -- Hydrogen Peroxide, Ozone, and More

Non chlorine shock is type of pool and spa maintenance treatment that's perfect for certain situations. Living in San Diego, hot tubs and pools abound. And over the years, I've grown to somewhat hate the smell of chlorine. And the more I've been studying the amounts of foreign toxins and chemicals our bodies are constantly being introduced to, the more I appreciate systems like non chlorine shock that attempt to use less amounts of chemicals and still maintain water purity. So what exactly is non chlorine shock treatment? Non chlorine shock treatment is a a chemical system that's introduced into a pool or spa that reconfigures the chlorine back into normal levels. Here is the explanation in plain English.

Chlorine is added to pools in order to kill bacteria, germs, and harmful organisms right? But what happens is that most of the chlorine added to pools and spas go after other things in the environment, things like skin cells, sweat, bugs, dirt, and whatever other foreign particles manage to enter the pool. When the chlorine encounters these foreign particles, it oxidizes them and the byproduct of this reaction is called chloramines, or combined chlorine. These chloramine molecules give off a very strong chlorine smell and cause irritation to the eyes and nose. In order to get the chlorine back to correct levels of sanitation, the water must be shocked.

Regular chlorine shock involves added large amounts of chlorine, or super-chlorinating the water in order to break down the chloramines and other foreign material and bring the water back to normal sanitation levels. But many people don't like the idea of adding huge concentrations of chlorine to the water they're going to swim in. I'm one of them. That's where non chlorine shock comes in. Non chlorine shock is another method of bringing the chlorine back into normal sanitary levels without adding chlorine.

There are a few different ways to perform non chlorine shock. The most popular of which is:

1. Monopersulfate -- MPS

• Monopersulfate is a type of non chlorine shock treatment that is gaining lots of popularity by spa users. Using MPS cuts down on the chlorine odors produced by chloramines and MPS works much quicker than chlorine shock treatment, allowing bathers to enter the water much sooner, as little as 30 minutes after the shock treatment is applied. That's pretty quick. Monopersulfate does not sanitize the water directly. Rather, it purifies the water by oxidizing impurities, thereby saving more of the chlorine for the germs and bacteria. Monopersulfate can be used with bromine as well as mineral purification systems.

2. Hydrogen Peroxide Shock

• Hydrogen peroxide is an amazing natural chemical, very useful in sanitation and cleaning. I've written extensively on the benefits of hydrogen peroxide. In this case, hydrogen peroxide can be used to sanitize large bodies of water like spas or pools. But because hydrogen peroxide breaks down quickly, only 35% strength hydrogen peroxide is suitable for pools and spas. The regular grocery store variety is only 3% strength, so you'll have to custom order this most likely. In order to use hydrogen peroxide effectively as a water sanitizer, you'll need to first shock the water with a high dose of hydrogen peroxide. For more specific instructions, click here.
• People also use hydrogen peroxide for shocking wells. This process is a bit more tricky since you don't really know the volume of the water you're dealing with. But hydrogen peroxide will definitely do the trick in most cases and is safe in limited quantities for drinking. You can't drink 35% hydrogen peroxide straight. But diluted enough in the water, it's safe for consumption. And it will break down rather quickly anyway. If you're interested in 35% strength hydrogen peroxide in bulk, I've found a cheap source and left you a link just below.

3. Ozone Generators

• Though this is not a form of shock treatment, ozone generators are recommended for use with many more natural water sanitation methods like hydrogen peroxide or mineral sanitation. Basically, ozone generators draw regular oxygen, O2, into a machine which then combines them with other oxygen molecules to form O3, which is ozone. This ozone is then released into the pool and is able to break down organic compounds like lotions, sweat, skin, bugs, etc, and eliminate them from the water. This allows the actual sanitation chemicals to focus specifically on the germs and bacteria, thereby reducing your need to shock the system at all. I've read a number of reviews and testimonials about these systems, and people seem really happy with them in conjunction with their non chlorine methods of sanitation.

Now that you've learned about different methods of non chlorine shock, let's talk a little bit about non chlorine sanitation methods for your pool or spa. These two methods won't completely keep the need for chlorine away, but will definitely greatly decrease it.  One of them, we already discussed above, hydrogen peroxide sanitation. This method by itself is really only suitable for spas because of the large volume of hydrogen peroxide that's needed to maintain safe levels of sanitation. However, in conjunction with an ozone generator, you'll definitely see an improvement in sanitation and hydrogen peroxide usage to keep the water clean and keep the harsh chemicals down.

An ozone generator is also great in conjunction with another with another natural sanitation method known as mineral sanitation. Mineral sanitation basically relies on silver to kill bacteria and germs. Sound strange? It's actually not. Ionized silver, which is just silver molecules that are ionized and suspended in water, is a very effective drink against sickness that I've been taking for years to ward off illness. Silver kills harmful single celled organisms by inhibiting their respiration. It's very powerful against germs. Mineral sanitation, when used in conjunction with ozone generators to eliminate organic compounds can be a very nice way to keep your water clean and chemical free.