There is a slew of concerns that pool owners learn to get familiar with during pool ownership. One of the most frustrating and rare problems that are pretty misunderstood is the terms chlorine lock and chlorine demand. Some say chlorine lock is a sales gimmick, while many experts believe chlorine demand is the real problem.

In this guide, we’ll uncover what chlorine lock and chlorine demand are all about.

Let’s dive right in!

What is Chlorine Lock?

Chlorine lock is a condition wherein CYA levels exceed your chlorine levels. Why does this happen? Well, in the normal case, when you’re dealing with small amounts of cyanuric acid. The chlorine levels can easily handle the acidity level. If you want to know more about cyanuric acid, click here.

But as the amount of cyanuric acid increases, this causes a sudden drop in your chlorine levels, which is generally known as “chlorine lock.” The theory says that when this scenario happens, chlorine won’t be able to do its job as a sanitizer because it’s “locked up.”

This theory sounds like a real threat to pool care for obvious reasons. How do you even break something called chlorine lock, right? Don’t worry, though – chlorine lock is not real! Why? Because there is no evidence to prove the theory’s claim.

To most pool owners testing their water only to find out a lack of chlorine, your pool actually lacks chlorine!; leading you to fail the test for chlorine effectiveness. 

What is Chlorine Demand?

• Chlorine demand is the real thing. Contrary to chlorine lock, chlorine demand is a real issue among pool owners and operators. One of the reasons these words are frequently used in conjunction with one another is because while individuals believe they have chlorine lock, they are actually experiencing chlorine demand.
  
• Chlorine demand happens when something heavy is causing an imbalance in your pool’s chemistry. Ultimately, chlorine demand is when your pool is not getting the chlorine it needs to maintain its sanitizing properties. 
  
• Chlorine demand usually occurs when outside forces come into play in influencing the balance in your pool’s chemistry.
  
  Example: If the location of your pool makes it prone to organic pollutants or debris such as tree branches, more chlorine may be required to maintain water quality. As a result, your demand for chlorine is higher. Conversely, if you don’t apply more chlorine, its effectiveness loses potency.

Is Chlorine Lock the Same Thing as Chlorine Demand?

Although these phrases are frequently used interchangeably, they do not refer to the same problem.

Chlorine demand is a genuine and manageable problem, which you can resolve by adding enough chlorine to your pool until it registers to chlorine readings in your liquid test kit or test strips.

Chlorine lock is a fake problem, and some pool owners and professionals will use the phrase when what they truly mean is chlorine demand. So, if a pool professional informs you that your pool is suffering from a chlorine lock, you’ll know that the only way to cure the problem is to add additional chlorine to your pool.

How to Identify Chlorine Demand?

It is important to address the problem as soon as it arises to easily restore your pool to its former glory. Testing is the most efficient technique of determining whether or not your pool is experiencing chlorine demand. First and foremost, you’ll want to add chlorine to your swimming pool.

After allowing enough time for the freshly added chlorine to circulate, get your testing kit ready.

Check the chlorine level in your swimming pool water. A low value or no reading will confirm that your pool is suffering from a chlorine demand. 

The impacts will most likely not be seen on the surface of the swimming pool water itself. So, if it has been a while since you last checked your pool water and you discover that the chlorine level is low, you will need to do some detective work to find out why.

Green or pink slimy residue can accumulate along the inside borders of swimming pools. You can also find these pesky things inside skimmers and light fixtures. So keep a watch out for these key locations, and, of course, check the chlorine levels regularly.

Moreover, the real perpetrator behind chlorine lock is chloramines. Chloramines are the byproducts of all the nasty stuff like plant debris, urine, and fecal matter destroyed by chlorine.

These chloramines are also the compound that causes eye and skin irritation for bathers in your pool. They are also responsible for the chlorine-like odors that you can smell near swimming pools.

How to Break Chlorine Demand

Treating chlorine demand is quite straightforward; here’s a couple of treatment methods you can follow. 

Pool shock is the common approach for chlorine demand to pool owners. For those who aren’t familiar with the procedure, shocking a pool is the process of adding a large amount of chlorine to your water to “shock the system.”

Pool shock is high levels of Calcium hypochlorite. That chemical provides fast and effective results compared to traditional chlorine.

Whenever you do a shock treatment, you must determine the proper amount of pool shock to use. You’ll want to stick to the 3 pounds of shock per 10,000 gallons of water ratio rule. Yes, unfortunately, you’ll have to do the math. Read more about how to administer pool shock and importance of pool stabilizer.

For accurate calculations, you’ll need to know the water capacity of your pool; if you don’t know how many gallons of water are in your pool, feel free to use a volume calculator to figure it out. Nevertheless, shock treatment should be sufficient to break chlorine demand.

It’s advisable to do the shocking at night because the sun will limit its effectiveness. 

Another option but quite less effective is draining your pool and refilling it with new water. If you’ve already added the freshwater but chlorine demand is still the issue, outside factors likely contribute to the high bacteria in your water. If this is the case, then preventive measures must come into play. 

Preventive Measure Against Chlorine Demand

The most obvious preventive measure is to maintain your pool properly. As per our observation, chlorine demand is caused by pollutants that are interfering with the pool chemistry. If the chemical equilibrium is maintained, we should be able to avoid this problem.

Ensure you have a strict pool care routine that includes adding chlorine regularly and often testing your pool water.

Sometimes, following a strict timetable is not always adequate to combat chlorine demand. Suppose you have a pool that is prone to be contaminated by leaves and dirt; investing in a pool cover to give your pool protection while not in use is a wonderful idea.

External factors such as leaves and branches may introduce germs to your water. However, with a pool cover, these should catch unwanted intruders.

Also, many pool owners cannot keep their pools open all four seasons because of the weather conditions in their area. A closed and stationary pool is prone to bacteria growth. Therefore, when your pool is closed in the winter season, you must winterize your pool or cover it with utmost care. In addition, the Winterpool can make miracles in your pool during the winter season. 

Winterpool is loaded with chemicals that help to keep your pool water healthy during winter. Although it does not provide complete protection against germs, it does help to balance the water and does not need regular maintenance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Now that you understand the difference between chlorine lock and chlorine demand, you can rest confident that you understand chlorine-related problems you and your pool may encounter soon. Keep in mind that if someone tells you that your pool has something called chlorine lock, they are most likely referring to chlorine demand.