| It’s high summer, the weather is hot and | | | | oxidized, broken-down material never gets a |
| your pool is in constant use. You test your water, | | | | chance to be properly filtered. It stays suspended |
| keep the chlorine up and shock like you’re | | | | in the water causing cloudiness despite your test |
| supposed to but the pool looks cloudy. The pool | | | | parameters being good. |
| stays stubbornly cloudy despite your best efforts. | | | | OK, WHAT CAN I DO? |
| What’s up with that? | | | | There are several things that can be done to |
| Here’s the scoop. Your pool is having | | | | improve the appearance of your pool water. |
| contaminants added too fast for chlorine and your | | | | -Try a floccing agent. Available at any pool store, |
| filter to handle. Chlorine is an oxidizer. It chemically | | | | a floccing agent drops suspended material to the |
| burns complex organics from swimmers and the | | | | bottom of the pool overnight so that it can be |
| environment like sweat, sun tan lotion, dust and | | | | vacuumed out. |
| other stuff best left unmentioned. It reduces | | | | -Run the pump and filter 24/7 until the weather |
| these nitrogen-based chemicals to simpler | | | | breaks and cooler temps arrive. Make sure your |
| compounds and makes them useless to algae and | | | | filter is clean. Backwash more often if necessary. |
| bacteria as food. This keeps your pool clean and | | | | -Take a one day swimming break to let the |
| sanitary. | | | | chlorine and your filter catch up. (This is a last |
| During hot weather and heavy swimming chlorine | | | | resort.) |
| is being used up at a much higher rate and needs | | | | Use the steps above and your pool water should |
| constant replenishment. In addition, sunlight breaks | | | | clear up quickly. Oh yeah, take a swimming break |
| down chlorine with ultraviolet radiation. Given lots | | | | in a heat wave? I was kidding about that one. |
| of chlorine working on lots of contaminants the | | | | |