Cloudy Pool Water – What Should I Do About it?

Posted on: November 30th, 2015 by Allen Pool Service

There are several different ways that a swimming pool can get dirty, each with its own cause and cure. A cloudy pool is no exception: in order to clear up a cloudy pool, you must follow a unique set of steps that isolate and eradicate the clouding agent. Our swimming pool maintenance experts at Allen Pool Service will walk you through the steps to cure your cloudy pool. Read on!

Identify Your Pool Water As Cloudy

So what exactly constitutes “cloudy” swimming pool water? Cloudiness is a different kind of dirtiness, less an issue of debris floating around your water than a change in the water itself. A cloudy swimming pool will often take on an opaque tone with white or green hues, giving your pool an uninviting look.

First, Test Your Pool Water

This cloudiness can be caused by a number of factors, so it’s essential that we test your pool water to determine how to handle it. Our standard pool water testing checks for symptoms like water hardness, pH, and alkalinity. Depending on what we find, we can add the proper chemicals to address these issues and wait the recommended time for them to take effect, at least four hours.

Test and Activate Your Chlorine

One of the primary causes of cloudiness is a lack of chlorine. This will also be revealed with our pool water test, but it should be resolved only other water issues have been addressed. Then, we may use a pool clarifying product like a pool “shock” or oxidizing shock.  This is a chemical that will not raise the level of chlorine in your pool but will help activate the chlorine that is already in it. By breaking up the contaminants that keep the chlorine from doing its job, adding a clarifying shock product may be the key to de-clouding your pool.

Run Your Pump

Finally, it’s time to run your swimming pool pump in order to cycle the chemicals as recommended. You should run the pump for at least eight hours and then see whether the cloudiness has been cured. If not, we will first check your filter pressure gauge: if your filter pressure has increased substantially during these hours (meaning about 8-10 PSI higher than the starting pressure), this means that there is too much pressure on your filter and that your filter cartridges need to be cleaned or replaced. Doing so will allow your chemicals to cycle properly.

In most cases, this cycle of adding the proper chemicals, activating your chlorine correctly, and pumping your water through clean, functioning filters for eight hours, should solve the cloudiness issues, plus allow us to identify fixes to avoid cloudiness in the future.

If up need some advice or assistance with your cloudy swimming pool water, Allen Pool Service is the place for you. Our swimming pool maintenance professionals can answer your questions and solve any issues that you might have. Call us at (770) 451-1621 or contact us online.