Unfortunately there isn’t a single answer to the above question of how to clear up a cloudy swimming pool. Before you attempt to implement any sort of cure, you first have find out why your pool is getting cloudy in the first place. A little trouble shooting is likely be in your future.   Below, I’ll outline the common causes of a cloudy pool with some helpful solutions. 1. Chemicals—Fortunately, the most common cause of a cloudy swimming pool is usually concerning the chemicals you are using in your pool and if they are doing their job. When you have a pH imbalance, you will have clouds.  This imbalance may have come from adding chemicals in the wrong rations or maybe a little neglect on your part in keeping up with required maintenance.  Too much sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, or sodium carbonate will cause cloudiness. You’ll be able to determine these issues by taking pH readings.  From there, the idea is to take steps to remedy the imbalance, and then to not use too much of these chemicals. It may also be the case that you’ve used too much in the way of chemicals in general— in this case, cutting back is the easy solution. Shocking your pool regularly is a good remedy. 2. Dead Algae—Related to this is dead algae.  An excess of algae can come from imbalances in chemicals, and when it dies, it creates ominous gray clouds.  The fix, in a few options:

• clarifying product—through the miracle of chemistry, pool clarifiers coagulate the small particles that form the clouds and form them into clouds that are big enough to be caught by your filter.

• filtering and draining—running the drains at the bottom of your pool allows the filter to suck water from the bottom of the pool, leaving the clouds at the bottom.

• above-ground pool option: vacuum—if you have an above-ground pool with no bottom drains, you can use a vacuum as a substitute.  Hook it up, place it at the bottom of the pool, and turn it upside-down and run it.  This will pull the water up as described above.

Finally, one of the best remedies for a cloudy pool is to not let it get that way in the first place.  A lot of routine pool maintenance can be of service here.  Regular filtering, vacuuming, brushing, and shocking your swimming pool will help keep your pool cloud-free and ready to cool you off in the summer heat. Have a question about clearing up the clouds in your swimming pool?  Feel free to contact us here if you have a question.  We supply pool chemical supplies and testing kits across Canada and offer free delivery on hundreds of products.