One of the many common problems of a pool owner is dealing with how to clear cloudy pool. Aside from it, being unattractive, if your pool is cloudy, it can also be a health risk. There are factors to why such thing happens, as well as there are solutions to it as well. In this article, we are about to discuss several factors why your pool becomes cloudy, and all the applicable fixes to such a dilemma.
If you own a commercial pool, one of the key factors to attract lots of customers is a clean, healthy, and clear pool. Any indication of dirt, haziness, or cloudiness, is also an indication of a possible decline in profits and unattractiveness. No pool owner would want to suffer spending lots of money on pool maintenance just to save your pool from total destruction. And if you are a responsible pool owner, you would definitely take the initiative in saving your pool as fast as possible.
Part 1. The Common Causes Of Cloudy Pool
If your pool is hazy, you have to take action as soon as possible. There can be many reasons why it has happened, and although some may take time to figure out, no one wants to swim in cloudy or hazy water. You have to figure out possible solutions on how to clear cloudy pool, but before that, knowing the different causes of a cloudy pool can help you a lot.
Some of the possible causes of cloudy pool water are:
1. The Level of Your Pool Sanitizer is Already Depleting.
One of the components that plays a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem inside your pool water is your pool sanitizer. It protects your pool from the attack of debris, and even harmful chemicals from bathers that can alter your pool water chemistry. Of course, as time goes by, and as pool sanitizer is doing its job, it will be consumed, leaving a less effective level on your pool water, which can’t be enough to protect it from lots of bacteria and debris. Sunlight is also a factor to be considered when the sanitizer level is depleting, resulting in hazy pool water. It is your responsibility to always check the levels of your sanitizer to make sure it is enough to protect your pool.
2. The Chemicals in Your Pool are Already Unbalanced.
Another very important factor to consider when you own a pool is to maintain the chemical balance in your pool water. Once pool chemicals are unbalanced, cloudy water can be developed. One factor can be affected by the other one, so it is needed that you are aware of the needed levels of pool chemicals that must be maintained to always keep balance.
3. Dirty and Clogged Pool Filters.
The heart of every pool is your filter, so once it is clogged and dirty, many problems will arise. Also, once your filter is not properly maintained, it can highly contribute to having hazy or cloudy pool water.
These are only a few of the many possible reasons why your pool is cloudy. By learning these main takeaways, you can definitely come up with some of the best solutions or fixes about how to clear cloudy pool. In order to help you devise solutions to such a dilemma, we have listed some of the possible fixes that you can try to do.
Part 2. How Do You Make Your Pool Clean?
By knowing a little about the possible causes of a cloudy pool, let us now proceed to steps about how to clear a cloudy pool. It is a great thing that you have understood the different possible reasons, so you will come up with a solution that can help you maintain a clean and clear pool all the time. Let us discuss how to clear cloudy pool with the various, easy things that you can definitely start doing.
1. Make Sure Your Pool is Clean!
The initial step that must always be ensured is a clean pool. Start by giving your pool a real deep clean. This process can be started by taking away all the huge debris in your pool water, debris can be mostly evident if your pool is located in areas where there are lots of trees. Aside from using a skimmer to make the work faster, you can also use your hand if you want. Once you have made sure that huge debris is already removed, you then need to inspect all the crevices, cracks, walls, surfaces, and floors of your pool. You can get a nice brush and start scrubbing until everything is crystal clear. Once you are finally sure that all debris and dirt are already removed, you can now start deep cleaning using your pool vacuum.
2. Execute pool shocking.
The process of shocking your pool is said to be one of the proven most effective ways to fix a cloudy pool. It is a process where high doses of chlorine are being added to your pool helping you in the cleaning process. By executing this step, you will get rid of algae, bacteria, and lots of debris, making your pool clean and clear! The presence of algae must be considered in pool shocking, the type of algae and even its severity will determine the right amount or dose of pool shock that you have to use in your pool. There is also an option for you to use a non-chlorine shock, by doing so, the same result will be obtained.
3. Use pool clarifiers.
You have to evaluate your pool before deciding on using a specific clarifier. You also have to ensure that you have read the details of the product before you start using it. In case you have already chosen the clarifier that you want, you have to follow the steps below.
- Begin by adding the clarifier to your pool. You have to check the package so you can be able to apply the right dose. You need to consider the volume of the pool and its size as well.
- Wait until the clarifier can take effect. Some might take days to work, so you have to wait. While you wait, you have to keep your filter running.
- In case you have used a flocculant, you need a vacuum to remove all the suspended particles at the bottom of your pool water.
- After some time, and your clarifier has already done its task, you can start testing your pool water. A clear pool water does not indicate chemical balance, even if it is clear on the outside, performing a counter testing is needed.
4. Leave your Filter Running.
Once you have made sure that your pool is clean, and you are also done with pool shocking, you have to keep your filter running and make sure to turn it on for a minimum of eight hours a day. On the other hand, while it is running, it is also needed that you make sure it's clean, as it can also be effective if it is too dirty and clogged. You have to perform deep cleaning in your filter, and in case the filter is too dirty and clogged, you might also want to consider replacing it already.
5. Make your bottom drains work.
Even if you have already used a vacuum or a skimmer, there can still be sediments left at the bottom of your pool. To get rid of this dirt quickly, you can let your bottom drains do the work. In case your pool does not have a bottom drain, you can use your vacuum cleaner. Hook it up and then position it at the center of your pool at the bottom part, and flip it upside down. This will allow the filter to pull the water from your pool’s bottom part, and then release through the use of the return jet.
6. Test again!
Once you are finally done with all the processes above, you have to test your pool water again. Appropriate levels of the most important components must be taken into consideration. Once everything is ensured to be within the acceptable range, then you are finally done! On the other hand, if there are still irregularities, you can repeat the steps as they are, until you can obtain the needed ranges of pool water components.
Part 3. Conclusion
There are also instances when the haziness of your pool is not too severe, in case this happens, you can first try adding a pool flocculant, and see the effect. If the issue is not resolved, you can always refer to the different steps about how to clear cloudy pool, above. After all, the cleanliness of a pool depends on how responsible an owner is.