Can You Over-Shock a Hot Tub?

Chemicals are always a little bit tricky in the beginning when it comes to treating your hot tub right, but if you are hunting for information on shocking and you’re worried that you’ve accidentally over-shocked your hot tub, you’re going to want to give this a read.

Shock and its role in hot tubbing
    Okay, so firstly, let’s understand what shocking is when it comes to your tub.  This is a strange term that refers to when you oxidize your water using chlorine.  Shocking will help remove debris, destroy any kind of bacteria and germs that are floating around in your water, and also reactivate the chemicals in the water.  Think of it as a tune-up, chemically speaking.  This is done when you’ve had a lot of people in your tub, many of them might be bringing leaves and other organic matter with them, and you want to get your water back to basics.

Can you over-shock your tub?
    This all sounds great, and you might love the idea of making sure that your water is fresh and sanitary before you get in it.  Shocking is crucial, but you can overdo it.  The main two causes include:

• Adding too much chlorine: Before you even attempt to shock your tub, you’re going to need to do a read to see where your chlorine levels are.  This is going to be important for knowing how much (or how little) to add.  If you add too much, it may over-do it and you’ll need to wait longer before you get in.  

• Shocking too often: In most cases, shocking every week or two is good.  If you are shocking literally after every single use, you can overshock your tub and will have to address it.  If you are having that many people over that you need to shock your tub nightly, you really should consider getting a bigger tub or changing your guest list!

How to deal with over-shocking
    Time is your friend, for most situations.  Wait for the chemical levels to go down to where you need and expect them too and then you can enjoy the hot tub as planned.  If you have a deadline to reach, you can definitely use a neutralizer, but you’ll have to make sure that you use it responsibly, otherwise you’ll go too far.  Be careful and make sure that you follow the directions for your hot tub specifically.

    The honest truth is that every hot tub owner has accidentally over-shocked their hot tub at least once.  It happens from time to time and it’s not the end of the world.  Try to keep it to a minimum, though, as it can damage your hot tub and actually harm your body, too.  So, keep a close eye on the instructions and timings and make sure that you follow them as closely as possible.

    The bottom line is that over-shocking is possible, but being responsible with your chemicals and timing will help you to avoid it as often as possible!

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