It could take up to 24 hours for the pool water to clear after treating with Algaecide. We suggest waiting at least 48-72 hours before adding any more items (shock, algaecide, etc) to your pool water. If there are no signs of clearing you may need to shock your pool or drain and refill with fresh water.
To treat pool water made cloudy by a lack of chlorine, simply keep adding chlorine to the water until the water maintains a chlorine residual of 2ppm or more. If you suspect that the cloudiness is caused by poor water balance, simply add a pH/alkalinity decreasing chemical until the water comes into balance.
Just make sure your pump and filter are running properly. If you add algaecide, keep in mind that some algaecide contains copper, which can actually make a pool cloudy. If the cloudiness persists 24 hours after shocking, then it's possible that you used a poor-quality chlorine shock.
Now is the time to add Pool Clarifier and let it circulate for 12 hours. This will clump the algae together into vaccumable pieces. Shut your pump off and let the cloudiness settle. This may take up to a few days for very cloudy pools.
How long does it take for a cloudy pool to clear? Depending on how cloudy your water is, it may take 2-3 days for your water to clear. If you're using a clarifier, you'll need to run your filter 24/7, keep your water chemistry balanced, and add the proper amount of water clarifier every other day until it's clear.
The presence of too much algaecide can lead to a foamy pool water. Small bubbles will begin to be produced as the water is pushed through the return jet and back into the pool. Do not confuse these bubbles and foam with another common problem, which is air in your pool lines.
Pour the algaecide dose into the water, depositing it in several areas around the pool. Your swimming pool pump should be running at this time to help circulate the algaecide. Wait about 30 minutes before allowing anyone to swim after the algaecide application.
Add a dose of algaecide, bring your chlorine level high by shocking, and run the filter continuously until the problem clears. The next day you should vacuum up the dead algae and backwash your filter. Algae thrives in hot weather and in pools with low or no chlorine.
Let the water circulate for at least two hours.
Circulate the water for about 2 hours to ensure the flocculant is fully mixed in, then shut off your pump and let it sit overnight. During this time, the chemical will start to bind the particles together and settle them to the bottom of the pool.
You should wait at least 24 hours before shocking the pool after adding algaecide. After shocking, always check the free chlorine and total chlorine levels because they could increase very high if you do not wait long enough before shocking.
Cloudy water may still be safe to swim in, but if the chemicals are not balanced, then swimmers can experience red eyes, irritated skin, and rashes. If the cause is environmental factors, it can usually be cleared up with a clarifier and regular cleaning.
The simple answer is No. Baking soda cannot be used to clear up a cloudy pool because it is a base. Bases raise PH levels, which causes the water to turn cloudy. Some people suggest using baking soda as a quick fix to high alkalinity levels, but it's not reliable as a pool chemical.
In addition to adding algaecide after shocking your pool, you should add algaecide to your pool water when closing down for the year. Dark, humid weather is a prime time for algae growth, and you do not want any surprises when opening it up again.
Algaecide should be added to your pool water on a weekly basis. Preventing algae is the key to fun in your pool. Algaecides act as a backup to your normal sanitization program and prevent algae from starting and growing in the pool. Algaecide should be added after every shock treatment.
While shocking and adding algaecide is effective in getting rid of algae, it should not be done together. This is because when you mix chlorine and algaecide together, it renders both of them useless. Hence, you should first shock the pool and wait for the chlorine levels to fall below 5 PPM.
Add Algaecide After Shocking
Wait for the pH to fall to a safe level for swimming (3 ppm or below) and then add a product such as Pool Time Algicide + Clarifier in the amount recommended in the product instructions. Pour this incrementally into the water as you walk around the pool.
Add an initial dose of 97 to 128 oz of Pool Time Algicide + Clarifier per 10,000 gallons of water to rid the water of algae. Thereafter, add 24 to 48 oz (per 10,000 gallons) weekly during the swimming season to prevent re-growth of algae.
Rapid pH Change
It drastically raises the pH in the water around it, which leads to clouding. This explains why the cloudiness does not happen all at once, rather the process creates a cloudy plume that slowly expands across the pool.
Excessive levels of pool chemicals can cause your water to become cloudy. High pH, high alkalinity, high chlorine or other sanitisers, and high calcium hardness are all common culprits.
There are a few different types of algaecides that contain various chemicals to suppress and fight off algae. Many of them include copper or copper sulfate. It's this copper that oxidizes in the water. And when copper oxidizes it turns a green color causing your pool to look green.
The first thing we recommend for getting rid of pool foam is to use a hand skimmer. It can get rid of most of the foam right away, and with balanced pool water, the rest of the foam should quickly clear up. As we mentioned, algaecide may cause foaming, but there are non-foaming algaecides available.