If your pool water looks cloudy, smells strange, or your chlorine just isn’t holding no matter how much you add — there’s a good chance you’re dealing with ammonia. We’ve been seeing a lot of this lately in the Tri-Cities area, especially at this time of year. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is Ammonia in a Pool?
Ammonia (NH₃) is a nitrogen-based compound that reacts aggressively with chlorine in your pool water. When ammonia is present, it combines with free chlorine to form chloramines — compounds that are largely ineffective at sanitizing your pool. This is why pools with high ammonia levels can have plenty of chlorine added but still test low or zero on free chlorine.
In short: ammonia eats your chlorine before it can do its job.
Where Does Ammonia Come From?
Ammonia enters pool water from a number of common sources:
- Swimmer waste — Sweat, urine, and body oils are the #1 source of ammonia in pools. The more swimmers, the higher the ammonia load. This is especially common after a busy weekend of pool parties.
- Fertilizers and lawn runoff — Nitrogen-based fertilizers applied near the pool area can wash in after rain or irrigation. Eastern Washington lawns get fertilized heavily in spring and early summer, making this a big contributor right now.
- Animals — Birds, dogs, or other wildlife getting into the pool bring ammonia with them.
- Fill water — In some cases, the source water itself (well water especially) can contain elevated nitrogen or ammonia compounds.
- Algae decomposition — As algae dies and breaks down, it releases nitrogen compounds including ammonia into the water.
What Does Ammonia Do to Your Pool?
High ammonia causes a cascade of problems:
- Chlorine demand skyrockets — Ammonia reacts with chlorine almost instantly. You can add shock after shock and still get a zero free chlorine reading. This “chlorine demand” problem can feel never-ending until the ammonia is addressed directly.
- Cloudy water — Chloramines and the byproducts of the ammonia-chlorine reaction cause hazy, dull-looking water.
- Strong chemical smell — That sharp “pool smell” people associate with over-chlorinated water is actually chloramines, not chlorine. It’s a sign of ammonia reacting with your sanitizer.
- Eye and skin irritation — Chloramines are far more irritating than free chlorine. Red eyes and itchy skin after swimming are often an ammonia problem, not a chlorine problem.
- Unsafe water — Without effective free chlorine, your pool can’t sanitize properly. Bacteria and algae can take hold quickly.
How to Get Rid of Ammonia in Your Pool
Getting rid of ammonia requires a process called breakpoint chlorination — essentially, you add enough chlorine to overwhelm and destroy all the ammonia and chloramines in the water. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Test Your Water First
Before adding anything, bring a water sample in for a professional test. Our WaterLink SpinTouch system gives us a complete chemical profile in minutes — including ammonia levels — so we know exactly what we’re dealing with. Guessing wastes money and chemicals.
Step 2: Balance Your Water Chemistry
Before shocking, make sure your pH is in range (7.2–7.6) and your alkalinity is balanced. Chlorine works much less effectively outside this range, and you’ll burn through even more product if the chemistry is off.
Step 3: Shock — and Then Some
To hit breakpoint chlorination, you need to raise free chlorine to 10x the ammonia level in your pool. For example, if ammonia is at 1 ppm, you need to raise free chlorine to at least 10 ppm. In severe cases this may require multiple heavy shock treatments over several days.
Use a calcium hypochlorite shock (like Durachlor) for best results. Avoid adding any stabilizer (cyanuric acid) during this process — it can interfere with the reaction.
Step 4: Run Your Filter Continuously
Keep your filter running 24/7 throughout the treatment process. Backwash or clean your filter as needed — it will get loaded with byproducts as the ammonia is destroyed.
Step 5: Retest and Repeat if Necessary
After 24 hours, test your water again. If free chlorine is still dropping quickly and ammonia remains elevated, repeat the shock treatment. Severe ammonia problems can require 2–4 rounds of treatment to fully resolve.
Preventing Ammonia Problems
- Shock regularly — Weekly shocking during heavy swim season prevents ammonia from building up.
- Encourage swimmers to shower first — Removing sweat and sunscreen before entering reduces the ammonia load significantly.
- Keep lawn chemicals away from the pool — Create a buffer zone and avoid over-fertilizing near the water.
- Test your water frequently — Catching ammonia early makes it much easier to treat. Bring your water in — we test for free.
Not Sure What’s Going On With Your Pool Water? We Can Help.
Ammonia problems can be frustrating — especially when you’re adding chlorine and nothing seems to work. If your pool water isn’t responding the way it should, bring in a sample and let us run a full analysis on our WaterLink SpinTouch. It’s free, it takes a few minutes, and it gives you real answers instead of guesswork.
We carry everything you need to treat ammonia issues, including Durachlor shock, balancing chemicals, and our full line of SpaPure and Flippin’ Frog water care products. Stop in or give us a call — we’re happy to walk you through it.
📍 AquaZen Pool, Spa & Sauna
3121 Leslie Rd Ste 103, Richland WA
📞 (509) 502-8966
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm | Sat 10am–5pm | Sun 12pm–4pm
