3 Steps to Fixing Cloudy Pool Water – Keeping the pool clean and the water balanced is most of the work in pool maintenance. So, if you are taking all of the steps to add the right chemicals and test your water, it can be very frustrating to go out for a swim and discover cloudy or milky pool water.
3 Steps to Fixing Cloudy Pool Water
What even causes the water to look cloudy in the first place?
Most often pool water becomes cloudy/ milky/murky when the filtration system is run for less than the optimal daily amount of time, which is about 6 hours. It can also happen if there is a shortage of disinfectants or if there is too much organic material content in the water. A pH level that measures above 7.6 begins to form lime and this is what causes that cloudy look.
Cleaning Up Cloudy Pool Water
Cloudy pool water may seem like a huge issue but it is a problem that can be resolved fairly quickly. You want to start by testing the parameters in the pool, balance out the water with the correct chemicals, and let the filter system run long enough to do its job.
Sometimes it is easy enough to clear up by simply extending your filter run times.
Let’s take a closer look at each one of these steps
Test the parameters of the pool water
Before attempting to dump a bunch of cleaners in the pool to help the chemicals balance out you want to make sure you are testing the actual chemical levels of the water so you know the current balance. You can easily use a water tester to check and make sure your disinfectant levels are ideal. This will test for chlorine, bromine, active oxygen, and biguanide.
Ideal chlorine levels in an outdoor pool should be as follows: free chlorine should be at 0.4 ppm, combined chlorine should be at 0.2 ppm, and the total overall chlorine level should be between 0.3 and 1.5 ppm. Many times, with cloudy water the chlorine level is low causing the white or milky color.
It is very important to realize when water is cloudy you cannot correct the level of chlorine merely by testing it. In routine pool maintenance, you want to try and electronically test your water 1 to 2 times per week.
Establishing water balance in your pool
To get the water balance identified and back in place you want to test the pH level, the acid capacity or alkalinity, and the calcium hardness to make sure they are within the correct range. If you need to this is the time to optimize the levels before moving to the next step.
Ideal levels include a salinity of 80 to 120 ppm, a pH value of 7.2 to 7.6, and a calcium hardness level of 200 to 400 ppm.
It is important to correct the alkalinity in the pool which is also sometimes referred to as the acid capacity or TA value because without this you will not have the correct pH level. Once you have done this you will then need to bring the pH level to the correct area if you need to lower the level you can use a PH minus granulate. A higher pH will quickly lead to an increased flame scale which then leads to cloudy water.
If the level is low, you can use pH plus to increase the level which is a common necessity after a pool has come in contact with a rain shower. Both pH plus and pH minus are part of basic pool equipment kits. Once the pH is correct you can then move on to correcting your calcium hardness.
Disinfectants to combat cloudy pool water
If the water balance is back in check, you can then use stabilized chlorine or an alternative disinfectant to finish out the process. You want to make sure you stay away from the chlorine that has active oxygen or biguanides. The effects of these disinfectant chemicals will cancel each other and you will be back at square one with your cloudy pool water.
After you have added this, you can use shock to help improve the filtration in the pool. Shocking the pool will not bring it back to clear as shocking is used to bring chemicals back to balance but it could help in a situation where the water has been in this state for a long period of time.
Letting the pool filter run
Now that you have gone through all of the above steps to fix cloudy pool water, it is good to have the filter system run until the water is clear again. This typically takes between 24 and 36 hours. If the water is running a light white color it is recommended to let the pool pump run for 8 to 12 hours if the water balance is correct.
For more information on maintenance help for pools in Lake Havasu city please contact us anytime.
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