Imagine the day’s warm and sunny, perfect for swimming, but your gorgeous pool water has turned murky and unappealing.
So, where do you go from there?
As pool owners, we’ve encountered our fair share of this, so we made it a point to seek out cloudy pool water solutions to ensure if there is a problem, it’s fixed fast.
We don’t want you worrying any longer, so let’s take a look at how you can handle the situation so you can see the bottom of your pool again.
Cloudy Pool Water: How to Fix It?
When you first notice an issue with your pool water, it’s easy to feel like giving up or not knowing what to do first. Thankfully, it isn’t as difficult as it seems to fix cloudy water.
In fact, there are three ways you can clean everything up, which we will get more into later on.
First: let’s discuss why your pool water is cloudy in the first place. It’s difficult to correct the issue if you don’t know the root cause. Ignorance can only lead to the problem reoccurring.
Why is My Swimming Pool Cloudy?
As we explained before, the first thing you should focus on is discovering the reasoning behind your cloudy pool water.
There are three possible causes: environmental issues, chemical imbalances, and filtration issues.
Environmental Issues
Sometimes it is the simplest explanation that’s the right one.
When you don’t have a pool cover (or you merely forget sometimes to put it on), nature can wreak havoc on the water. For instance, small animals can declare open season on your pool, birds in particular. If their droppings land in your pool, then it can easily disrupt everything and cause an unfortunate appearance.
Insects can cause some color changes too, which is why it’s helpful to keep your pool covered up.
Besides living creatures, the weather can cause some mishaps with your pool water.
For those of you with inground pools, if you’ve had heavy rain recently, it may cause some of the pulled-up groundwater to run into the pool. That can bring all sorts of dirt and bacteria that can negatively impact the state of the water.
Chemical Imbalances
A chemical imbalance is the most common source of cloudy pool water, so if you want to check anything first, it would be this.
Don’t worry: this is easy to do with the best pool test kits. Depending on the kit, it can test whether the chlorine levels are off, if it is too high in total alkalinity, or if the pH levels aren’t balanced.
You should measure the various chemicals in your pool water regularly, especially if it’s used frequently or by several people.
Filtration Issues
The filter is perhaps one of the most important areas of your pool as it keeps all the nasty things out so the water remains clean and safe. Any problems with it may cause cloudy water that you’re dealing with.
Water should circulate well so that it’s actually pushed through the filtration system.
A lot of issues are attributed to a poor pump. It’s the core function of the filtration system as it makes sure that circulation remains while everything that needs to be filtered out is filtered.
If the pump can’t cycle through at the very least once a day, then it can cause issues with how your water looks.
That’s why it’s important to properly maintain your equipment and ensure you’re using filters and pumps that fit your pool.
Best Ways to Clean Cloudy Pool Water
Now that we know the cause behind everything, we can work on what to use for cloudy pool water issues. There are three main ways you can approach this, and we’ll break them down into separate steps below:
Step 1: Balance the Chemicals
If you’re testing proved that there is an issue with the chemicals, then it’s best to start working on that first.
There are dozens of products you can use depending on what the specific problem is, so they’re easy to find. To solve the problem fast, however, you’d want the best pool chemicals like the ClearResult pool chemicals, for instance.
Once everything is balanced and your filter does its job, the pool should look its lovely blue color again.
Step 2: Pool Clarifier Method
This is a simple pool fix when everything else checks out such as the filter working optimally and the chemicals appearing well-balanced.
Since a lot of the causes of cloudy water is a build-up of small particles, a pool clarifier will clump those together so that they’re large enough for the filter them out better.
Step 3: Pool Flocculant Method
If you want a fast method, then go the route of pool flocculant, also called “floc”.
It works similar to a clarifier as they both lump up those pesky particles into bigger lumps that are simpler to manage.
However, the pool floc doesn’t rely on the filter to get rid of the particles. This is because you should turn the filter off for about two days or so and use the product. During this time, the build-up will clump and sink to the floor of the pool.
When this happens, you’ll need to manually vacuum the pool floor to see the results.
Step 4: Filter Maintenance
Sometimes, you can merely let your filter do its intended job. Still, it may need some assistance with that.
The pool’s skimmer should work hand-in-hand with the filter to take debris and particles from the surface. You can help all that get to the surface in the first place.
This can be done by using a pool brush to stir the water, so to speak, so that the particles move.
For those with an inground pool, you can make great use of the bottom drain. It works with the filter as it lets it pull water directly from the floor and cycle clean water up to the surface, clearing the appearance of the water.
How to Fix Cloudy Pool Water After Shocking
If you’re providing proper maintenance to your pool via shocking, then you may have noticed that the water looks cloudy afterward.
Now, you’re probably wondering, “How to make my pool water clear if I’m taking care of it properly?”
There’s no need to worry, however, as it’s a normal occurrence. Typically, it’s temporary so it may fix itself within 24 hours.
You may also clean your filter or use a pool clarifier to resolve the problem.
In Conclusion
Us pool owners understand just how enjoyable they can be, but murky or cloudy water can really turn us off from swimming in them.
So, if you ever encounter this problem (which you more than likely will at some point), then refer to our guide to find out the problem and how you can easily fix it.
Once you do, you can go back to enjoying your pristine, clear blue water in no time.
