Reasons Why Your Pool Water Is Cloudy And What You Can Do About It
Is your pool water cloudy and you aren't sure why or how to fix it? There are quite a few ways to fix this problem - read on to find out!
If you find that the water in your fibreglass pool is dirty, then this could be due to seven reasons. These include:
How Can You Clear The Cloudy Water From Your Pool?
There are seven things that you need to do in order to ensure that the water in your pool isn’t cloudy. These include:
Taking A Free Chlorine Reading Of Your Pool
If there are low levels of free chlorine in the water, then this can commonly turn the water in your fibreglass pool cloudy. When there are low levels of free chlorine, this indicated that there is chloramine in the water. As a result, the water turns cloudy and smells more like chlorine.
When there is too much chloramine in the pool water, the chlorine will not be able to sanitize your pool. As a result, algae and ammonia can grow more rapidly.
The first thing you should do is measure how much free or combined chlorine there is in the water. Deduct the amount of free chlorine in the water from the total chlorine to get the combined chlorine levels.
When your free chlorine is below 3 ppm or if your combined chlorine is more than 0.5 ppm, you’ll need to shock your swimming pool. This is essential in order to kill bacteria in the water before your pool gets algae or even ammonia.
Should you have a saltwater pool and it turns cloudy, then the damage has been done. You’ll need to raise the percentage set within the saltwater chlorine generator or just running the pump alone will not help you clear out the cloudy water.
You’ll need to shut down your saltwater chlorine generators and then manually shock the pool with the help of harsh chlorine.
Ammonia or Algae?
There are times, such as when summer is beginning and the pool is opening after winter, when you may find that the water has turned cloudy. If the free chlorine as well as cyanuric acid levels in the water are from 0 or come close to 0 ppm, then that means that the level of combined chlorine is very high.
Your fibreglass pool needs more chlorine but the level of free chlorine in the water will not rise easily. If this happens to you, then this could fixate that your pool has ammonia. You will need the help of a lot of chlorine to get rid of ammonia from your fibreglass pool.
Another problem you may encounter is algae. During the early stages, algae can make your pool water look dull as well as cloudy. If you want to make sure whether the problem is really algae or not, then do an overnight chlorine loss test. To do this, you’ll need to add chlorine to your pool after the Sun goes down. The next morning, take a free chlorine reading. If the levels of free chlorine drop by at least 1 ppm over the night, then that means that the problem is algae. You’ll need to shock your pool as well as deep clean it to get rid of algae.
Not sure about whether to should install your pool indoors or outdoors? Check out our post on the topic!
Other Reasons Why Your Pool Water Can Be Cloudy
These include:
Imbalance Of Chemicals
Your pool water could either have too much of, or too little chlorine. The pH level, the alkalinity, the calcium hardness or stabilizer levels could be imbalanced.
The Filter Could Be Faulty
When there's poor filtration, then this can indicate that you may not be running your pool filter for long enough. Your filter cartridges could also be worn out or need replacing. There could also be scaling on the filter as well.
Mineral Deposits, Environmental Factors, Debris
It's possible for dust, pollen as well as leaves to build up in the filter and impede the process of cleaning. Insects or even bird droppings could make their way into your pool. Water from rain or after a storm can introduce minerals such as phosphates, nitrates and silicates into your pool. These can also make the water of your pool more cloudy.
How To Tell Which Pool Chemical Is Actually Imbalanced
In order to be able to tell which chemicals might be imbalanced, you’ll need a fast, accurate and simple-to-use test kit. Get a test kit that tests pH levels, the amount of free chlorine, combined chlorine and total chlorine. Your test kit should also test bromine, total alkalinity, calcium hardness and the amount of cyanuric acid in your pool.
There are test kits that can detect metals such as iron, copper, and even biguanide. The recommended levels of chlorine in your pool water should be 3 ppm. This should be the same as the total chlorine, provided the chloramphenicol is 0 ppm.
Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine and Total Chlorine: What Are They?
Free chlorine is the amount of available chlorine that can be used to sanitize the water in your fibreglass pool. Combined chlorine, on the other hand, is the chlorine that has been used up. It could also be oxidized or diluted with compounds of nitrogen and ammonia within the water.
Combined chlorine cannot disinfect and kill microorganisms. The total chlorine in the water is the sum of the free chlorine with the combined chlorine.
Conclusion
There are seven main reasons why the water in your fibreglass pool could turn cloudy. First, you’ll need to isolate what is causing the water to turn cloudy before you can resolve the issue. Use this guide to learn more about what causes the water in the pool to turn cloudy, as well as what you can do about it.
