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.
You can add Clarifier and/or Flocculents, in the correct dosage, to bond the microparticles. This will allow the particles causing your cloudy pool to become big enough to filter (Clarifier) or heavy enough to sink (Flocculent) to the bottom of the pool to be vacuumed. We recommend this Clarifier and this Flocculent.
But while it is possible to have both cloudy water AND high chlorine levels in the pool, the cause of cloudiness is NOT because of high chlorine levels – rather, your pool's cloudy water is caused by some other underlying issues such as water balance, filtration, algae, or water mold issues.
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.
Cloudy or milky swimming pool water is caused by seven main issues: improper levels of chlorine, imbalanced pH and alkalinity, very high calcium hardness (CH) levels, faulty or clogged filter, early stages of algae, ammonia, and debris.
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.
For the most part, yes. It can be unattractive and it should be addressed, but it is mostly safe to swim in cloudy water. The only exception would be if the pool is cloudy because there are too many chemicals in it. This pool water would be unsafe to swim in and should be avoided.
Exposure to high levels of chlorine can cause lung irritation, skin and eye damage, and provoke asthma. Not only is it bad for your health, but it can be bad for your pool due to the increase in chlorine. High chlorine levels decrease the pH of your pool's water, making it more acidic.
But if the cloudy water persists long after you've shocked the pool, you're likely having an issue with water balance, circulation, or filtration. Heavy use of a calcium based pool shock (cal-hypo) may increase Calcium Hardness over a period of time, increasing your odds of cloudy water.
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.
When the pH levels are imbalanced, it renders the free chlorine ineffective and the levels decrease. Too little free chlorine forms chloramine and it is this combined chlorine that results in your pool's cloudy appearance.
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.
Baking Soda
Most remedies call for adding additional chlorine into the water. If your water's pH balance is between 7.2 and 7.5, however, you can add baking soda to the water to help clear it up. This serves as a replacement for chlorine because baking soda is a natural cleaning agent.
Here is why: Sunlight is white, which is made up of all the colours of the spectrum. The molecules in pool water absorb light from the red end of the spectrum when sunlight falls on the water. By removing the red, the light which ends up being reflected has a slightly blue hue which can vary in richness by water depth.
Pools can immediately turn green after shocking or adding chlorine when they have metals like copper or iron in the water. These metals oxidize when exposed to high levels of chlorine, which makes the pool water turn green. Metals in the water are caused by some algaecides and using well water.
But is it safe to swim in a pool with algae? Whether mild or severe, it isn't recommended. Significant amounts of swimming pool algae welcome a breeding ground of harmful bacteria that feed on algae. These bacteria pose health risks to swimmers, most commonly resulting in a skin rash.
Most floating chlorinators can hold anywhere from two to eight weeks worth of chlorine, depending on conditions such as the season and your pool's size. An automatic feeder works in a similar way, allowing it to mix with the pool water slowly and deliberately. This type generally comes in a large bucket.
Skim the top of the pool for debris that may have settled on the pool surface. Add one pound of diluted granular shock to the water for every 7,000 gallons of pool water. Run the filter for 24 hours and retest the water. The slimy looking film can be an early onset of algae.
A film can form on the water from a combination of body oils, lotions, and dirt that build up due to heavy usage. This film can also form when the pool's filtration system doesn't operate correctly.