What Is Making Your Pool Water Cloudy?
No matter how clean your pool water starts out, without regular maintenance, it will start to show signs of environmental stress, an unsightly appearance or even residue. The cloudy appearance of water is caused by tiny particles that reflect sunlight back. These particulars are nearly impossible to see, but even though they are tiny, they have a major impact!
Like anything, cloudy water varies. Without proper care, your water can go from dull to opaque, very quickly. In addition to looking terrible, not being able to see the bottom of your pool can point to the potential for serious health risks.
What Causes Cloudy Water?
There are plenty of reasons that your pool water may be cloudy, but the most common ones are:
Filtration Issues: When dealing with a pool, there is nothing more important than an efficient filtration system. Without a smooth running system, your water will not only be cloudy, but it will be unsanitary as well. Something as simple as a clogged filter can result in gross buildup and can weigh down on the overall condition of your space. Poor filtration is the main cause of cloudy pools and is often caused by clogged filter, a strained pump, or just poor filtration techniques and not running it long enough.
Phosphates: Phosphates are organic materials that occur naturally in pool water. This can be caused by organic cast-off like, pollen, leaves, lawn fertilizers and more. When phosphate levels are high, it feeds algae, allowing it to grow and thrive. Algae will turn your pool’s water green and cloudy.
Chemical Imbalance: Chlorine and bromine are commonly found around pools – and for good reason! When the chemical balance or pH levels are thrown off, it decreases the impact of chlorine and can make it ineffective. In this case, ineffective chlorine cannot kill bacteria and other natural organisms, which can result in algae and poor water quality, which lead to RWIs, such as swimmer’s ear or skin irritations.
Alkalinity Levels: If total alkalinity levels are too high, you can expect cloudy water. This cloudiness is due to an imbalance in pH levels and lead to calcium scaling. In the same way imbalanced chemicals can reduce the effectiveness of chlorine and sanitizers, so does higher alkalinity levels.
High Traffic: The more people enter your swimming pool, the larger the impact on your water chemistry. Makeup, sunscreen, hair oils, sweat, topical medications and everything that can be found on the body, can make its way into your pool water. These will reflect light back away from the pool, making it difficult to see the bottom.
Heavy Rains: Adding any additional water to your pool can dilute the chemical levels. Heavy rains can lead to a large influx of unexpected water, wrecking water balance. In addition to diluting the chemicals that you have added, rainfall can carry nitrates, phosphates and other chemicals to run off into the pool.
Professional Pool Cleaning: Getting Back to Crystal Clear Water
With so many potential reasons for murky water, the first step to getting things clean again is identifying exactly what your issue is. A thorough cleaning is a must, but so is a trained eye, and that is what makes experienced pool care, so important. Hiring expert care, like treatments from Puddle Pools can help to balance chemical levels, as well as inspect those more complicated areas.
