What makes a pool cloudy? Can it easily be fixed? While there can be a number of reasons why you have cloudy pool water, typically the pH balance and the chlorine (or its alternative) are out of balance or the pool doesn’t have the required amount. Fortunately, there are three known cloudy swimming pool water remedies that should help clear up your water and get it swim-ready in no time.
The first typical culprit behind your cloudy pool can be a low chlorine level. Bring out your test kit and make sure that the chlorine level is at least 3 parts per million. If you happen to have levels below that amount, then you can gradually chlorinate your pool until the levels reach where they need to be. Unfortunately, it’s not the quickest of the cloudy swimming pool water remedies, so a bit of patience will be required. If the outside air temps are over 100 degrees consistently, you may need to raise your chlorine levels as high as 4 to 5 parts per million for the initial treatment to clear up the water. On the positive side, however, doing this task alone tends to clear up most cloudy pool waters.
The next step is to check your pH balance and make sure that it’s anywhere around 7.2 to 7.6 in your pool (and make sure that you do this after you’ve checked the chlorine, otherwise you’ll just be adding more needless work to the task). When increasing or decreasing the pH in your pool, take your time and do so slowly so that you get the right balance in your pool. Always adjust the PH down incrementally by adding acid to the water when the pool is running and never adding over a quart at a time. Check it every 4-6 hours and add more as needed to reach the correct PH reading.
This is best done when things such as the pH and chlorine levels have been tested, if there’s not too much calcium in the pool and if your sand filter is clean. When each of these other cloudy swimming pool water remedies check out, then you can add a clarifier to your pool water. When a clarifier is added, it’ll coagulate the small particles which are causing that hazy water, and those will then be easily removed by your filter.
Shasta Pools is a Phoenix pool builder who provides a variety of services including swimming pool remodeling, commercial pool building, and pool service and repair. Since its establishment in 1967, Shasta has helped over 80,000 families realize their dream of pool ownership. By providing exceptional value, quality craftsmanship and superior customer service, the Shasta team continues to fulfill the corporate mission of astonishing and delighting their customers and exceeding expectations. You can learn more about Shasta Pools & Spas by visiting them online, or by connecting with them on Facebook or Twitter.
