How To Quickly Fix Your Cloudy Swimming Pool Water

How to Quickly Fix Your Cloudy Swimming Pool Water

No sane person will want to jump into a pool filled with cloudy pool water, more so when the water resembles a big bowl of milk! This type of water is not only scary, but there’s a possibility that it might be damaging the pool as well as its circulation system. If left untreated for long, it may also start breeding dangerous bacteria.

Before you can start implementing solutions aimed at clearing the swimming pool water, you will want to know what caused it to turn cloudy. It’s the most efficient way to prevent the outbreak and spread of potentially serious illnesses. Additionally, it also ensures your pool won’t sustain too much damage. Solutions recommended for use are dependent on the underlying cause.

Clear Pool Water Yesterday, But Cloudy This Morning. What Changed?

Swimming pool water doesn’t just turn cloudy overnight. It takes a while for this to happen. At first, you may see some signs of cloudiness that are easily blown off. Waiting for the water to turn completely milky means a lot of work and effort will need to go into clearing it. What could have occurred to cause the water to turn cloudy?

1. An Invasion by Sanitizer Snatchers

Leaves and natural debris are at some point going to find their way into your pool. Whenever this happens, the sanitizer in the pool gets to work in an attempt to eliminate the debris. However, the purpose of your sanitizer isn’t to eliminate large, solid debris—this is why the pool has the filtration system. When the system is unable to eliminate them, they begin to slowly eat up the sanitizer.

As you swim, you also get to introduce various solids into the pool water. Urine, sweat, beauty products, and sunscreen are all known to exhaust the chlorine present. This is the sole reason you need to incorporate sanitizer into the pool, and it’s also why you will need to regularly top it up.

When the chlorine is hogged by these contaminants, you are left with no other option but to continue adding sanitizer. With time, it becomes impossible for the chlorine to function. This means the chemicals can’t efficiently eliminate hazardous bacteria, e.g., E. coli, as they will be busy trying to attack the solid debris leading to the formation of cloudy pool water.

2. Failure to Run the Pool Filter

On a normal day, you need to run the filtration system for between 8 to 10 hours. You also need to confirm the filter is working. If you don’t run it as often as is required or if you fail to confirm it’s working as it should, you increase the possibility of getting cloudy water.

The filtration system is intended to relentlessly clean the available water. When it fails, the water becomes stagnant and starts to turn milky in no time.

3. Pool Chemicals

Having too many chemicals in the water will ultimately force it to change its color. Here, what’s included is high calcium hardness, high pH, sanitizers like chlorine, and high alkalinity.

Frequently testing the chemical levels in your swimming pool water is the best way to know the chemicals you have used in large amounts. It’s also recommended to have the swimming pool shocked weekly.

After shocking, the water may become cloudy, but this is to be expected! It’s a common occurrence and the cloudiness will start to disappear within a few hours provided the filtration system is left running.

How to Clean Swimming Pool Water

Now that you have an idea of what is causing the cloudy pool water, it’s time you got around to fixing it.

1. Get the Pool Water Tested

A simple glance at the water will tell you it’s murky and unsightly. But it isn’t possible to know what’s wrong with it without proper testing. For this, you have to get a pool water testing kit.

With the kit, it becomes possible for you to measure numerous factors likely to affect the water quality. You also get an idea of how to easily balance the water.

When it comes to water testing, you will have two options:

• Acquire test strips that you will need to dip inside a sample of water obtained from the pool. Use the strips to measure the pH levels, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, and chlorine levels.
• Obtain a testing kit containing reagents to be added to the cloudy pool water. The water will change colors depending on the pH levels and the amount of chlorine present.

If you establish there is a problem with the chemical levels, pH, or chlorine levels, making changes to these levels will cause the cloudiness to dissipate.

2. Utilize a Pool Clarifier

Taking preventive maintenance is at times all that’s needed to keep the cloudiness at bay. Pool clarifiers are intended to prevent murkiness in the swimming pool water.

When placed in the pool, it causes tiny debris particles to bunch in the water making it possible for the filtration system to eliminate them with ease.

3. Provide Assistance to the Filter

The most likely location for placing a pool filter is at the top. While this works wonders when it comes to removing the floating particles, the same won’t apply for the debris particles at the bottom.

To prevent the pool water from turning cloudy, consider lending some assistance to the pool filter. You can enable it to run more efficiently by:

• Using a pool brush to slowly stir the water to force the debris particles trapped at the bottom to rise to the top
• Vacuuming the pool. Placing the pool’s vacuum cleaner at the bottom or at the center of the pool that doesn’t have any drains will cause it to imitate the motions performed by a bottom drain.

Not many people, including the most daring ones, will be enthusiastic about swimming or diving in a cloudy pool. You can ensure the water doesn’t become cloudy by testing it routinely, changing the chemical levels, and running the filtration system a few hours each day. If you require professional pool maintenance help, get in touch with Clearwater Pools of Atlanta today!