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Cloudy pools can be a nightmare for any pool owner. We shared some reasons why your pool can be cloudy in our blog, 'Why Is My Swimming Pool Cloudy?'. However, if you’ve corrected all of those issues, ensured your filtration is sufficient, that your chlorine levels are balanced, and you've no contaminants, it might be time to try out the following options.

 

Using Pool Clarifier To Clear Cloudy Water

A pool clarifier works with your pool filter system to clear up cloudiness in your water. This is the easiest method for clearing cloudy pool water, but it takes a few days, depending on the power of your pool filter system. It works with any type of filter and is best for milder issues with cloudy water.

Skim, Brush, and Vacuum Your Pool

A pool clarifier works with your pool filter system to clear up cloudiness in your water. This is the easiest method for clearing cloudy pool water, but it takes a few days, depending on the power of your pool filter system. It works with any type of filter and is best for milder issues with cloudy water.

If you think you have an algae problem, resolve it before proceeding to the next step.

Test and Balance Your Water

Test your water with test strips or a liquid test kit. Test strips are quicker and easier to use. However, they are less accurate than a liquid test kit.

Adjust your pH and alkalinity as needed until your water is balanced.

Shock Your Pool

Shocking your pool to eliminate contaminants or chloramines in your cloudy pool water can add a high dose of chlorine. We have a blog post with a beginner's guide to shocking your pool. 

Run Your Filter

You’ll need to continuously run your filter over the next few days to help clear up the cloudy water. After the water is clear, you can return to your standard filter run times. 

The time it takes to clear your water entirely depends on what type of filter you own. D.E. filters work on extra-fine particles and will clear up cloudy water quickest. Next comes sand filters, and finally, cartridge filters take the longest.

Increase Your Pool Circulation

Your skimmer is located at the surface of your pool, so it can’t reach the debris or cloudy water at the bottom. However, increasing your pool's circulation can help all the pool water pass through the filter, not just the water at the top.

• Position Your Return Jets: Point your return jet(s) down at a 45° angle and ensure they’re all pointed in the same direction. This helps churn the cloudy water up from the bottom of the pool to the top, where your main skimmer can get it and pull it through your filter system.
• Use Your Bottom Drains: If you have an inground pool, ensure that the main drain at the bottom is operational and pulling water from the bottom of the pool into your filter system. This will speed up filtering and clear the pool water more quickly, but the water doesn’t need to be crystal clear.
• Turn Your Vacuum Upside Down: If you have an above ground pool with no main drain, you can hook up your manual vacuum cleaner and turn it upside down at the bottom of the pool to mimic a central drain.

After your pool water has circulated and the shock has dissipated, it’s time to add your clarifier. A clarifier binds tiny particles into bigger particles that your filter can capture. Be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure you’re adding the correct amount for your pool size. Add it every other day as your filter runs until your water clears.

If your water is extremely cloudy, a pool clarifier might not be enough, and you’ll need to use a pool flocculant.

Using A Pool Flocculant To Clear Cloudy Water

Pool flocculant, also known as pool floc, causes particles to clump together, creating large clumps that sink to the bottom of your pool. It’s much faster to work than a pool clarifier, and more powerful, but it requires significantly more effort and necessitates extensive manual vacuuming.

Your pool filter may not always remove the particles that coagulate at the bottom of your pool. Therefore, you will need to vacuum the water out of your pool while bypassing your filter media (using the waste setting).

Balance Your pH

Test your water’s pH levels with either test strips or a liquid test kit. Then, ensure that you judge your pH as needed, either with a pH increaser or pH decreaser.

Add Pool Flocculant To Your Water

Pool flocculant binds the contaminants that cause cloudy pool water. The large clumps will then sink to the bottom of your pool. Be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure you’re adding the correct amount of flocculant for your pool size.

Circulate Your Water

Circulate the pool water with your filter system for at least two hours. If you have a multiport valve, set it to recirculate to bypass your filter.

After circulating the pool flocculant for about two hours, turn off the filter system for the next 8-12 hours, or overnight, to allow the particles to settle to the bottom of the pool. Ensure your automatic timer doesn’t turn the filter on in the middle of the night.

Vacuum Water Out Of Your Pool

You should now see a big cloud of water at the bottom of your pool. This means that the pool flocculant collected all the particles, making the water cloudy, and sank them to the bottom. Now it’s time to vacuum!

Your filtration system won’t be able to handle the flocculant; it will just blow the clumps back through the return jets and into your pool. Instead, you will have to vacuum the water out of your pool.

If your filter has a multiport valve, set it to waste. This will send water out of the backwash port as you vacuum it. Keep a garden hose with a filter while you vacuum to refill the pool.

If you don’t have a multiport valve, open the drain port on your filter and let the water drain out as you vacuum. Use a backwash hose to direct the water exiting your pool.