What Is A Swimming Pool Flocculant Understanding The Basics
Okay now that youve got a comprehensive understanding of a pool clarifier, lets discuss swimming pool flocculants.
While swimming pool clarifiers are designed to act gradually, flocculants are intended to act very quickly, allowing you to clear your water almost instantly.
The basic way flocculant works is simple. A flocculant quickly binds to all of the particles in your water, and sinks them all to the bottom of your pool. Then, you simply vacuum it all out.
The main drawback of flocculants is that you have to do all of the work rather than letting your pool filter clear up your water, you have to vacuum out the floc that has collected on the bottom of your pool.
After adding floc, youll let your pool filter run for 2 hours, so the chemical can mix into the water. Then, shut off the filter and pump for 8 hours. The pool must sit still. Do this overnight.
The next morning, youll see a cloud at the bottom of your pool. Using a manual vacuum, youll then filter out all of this debris, and your pool will be crystal-clear.
Can You Put Too Much Clarifier Or Flocculant In A Pool
The simple answer to this question is yes, and that is why it is so important to read the instructions on any brand of pool clarifier or flocculant you use. Too much clarifier can compound your water problems and cause murky water that becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. You can reuse a clarifier after 5-7 days, but if youre constantly seeing cloudy water, there may be other problems.
Adding too much flocculant can cause its own issues. Flocculant is aluminum sulfate, which is designed to clump with the particles youre trying to remove. But if you add too much, the flocculant will start to agglomerate with itself instead of those particles. These flocculant clumps will not drop to the pool floor and can clog up your filter. Too much of this product can also cause damage to your pools surface and may even injure your skin.
Can You Swim With Floc In The Pool
A lot of people ask this question in this line of work. The answer depends on certain factors. If you just added the flocculant to your pool, its not advisable to swim in the pool immediately as this reduces the effectiveness of the flocculant. Youre advised to swim after the flocculant has sunk to the pool of your pool and been removed.
You might as well wait for the whole flocculation process to be over with before swimming because it doesnt take too much time. The longest it can take is a day. But if you need to use your pool immediately, applying a clarifier would be your best option.
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How Often Can You Put Clarifier In Your Pool
When should Pool Clarifiers be Used? Pool Clarifiers are not meant to be used all season long, but are quite helpful at pool opening, after an algae bloom, or battles with cloudy pool water. Follow label directions, but most pools can be retreated after 5-7 days, with a lower dosage than initially used.
Total Available Chlorine Vs Free Available Chlorine
As pool water warms in summer, more chlorine is needed. If theres a difference between your Total Available Chlorine and Free Available Chlorine levels, treat your pool with a non-chlorine shock. We recommend using Leslies Fresh N Clear, which is an oxidizer with a built-in clarifier. It works by breaking up organic contaminants that bind to the chlorine and prevent it from doing its job. Use a non-chlorine shock if your Free Available Chlorine level is 2.0 parts per million or higher.
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What On Earth Is Pool Clarifier
Clarifier is a concentrated chemical substance that condenses the tiny particles and bacteria in your pool into larger clumps that can be easily picked up by your pool filter. Were talking about minute particles that are too small for your filter to catch or to be picked up in your skimmer.
Pool clarifiers are products full of polymers that act as coagulants on foreign particles floating in the water. If you want to get scientific about it, when you pour clarifier into your pool, youre adding positively charged ions to the water.
Almost like tiny magnets in your pool, these positive ions are attracted to the negative charge in suspended particles, thereby causing them to form clumps that can then be filtered out by the pools filtration system.
But wait! Youve heard of clarifier before from some pool guy you talked to. He also mentioned some crazy f word that was supposed to clear the water in your pool. So, which is it? Clarifier or flocculant?
Can You Shock A Pool After Adding Clarifier
8) How long after adding chemicals can I swim? Alkalinity Balance, pH up, pH down, Calcium Balance, Water Stabilizer, and clarifier are all swim-safe chemicals. Wait about 20 minutes, and you are free to swim. We suggest adding algaecide, Super Erace, and shock at night, after everyone is out of the pool.
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Filter Your Pool Water 24/7
In order for this method to work, you need to keep you pool pump and filter running until the water is clear. Your pool filter is going to do all the work filtering out the tiny particles that are making your water cloudy.
Dont worry, once the water is clear you can go back to running your pump and filter around 8-12 hours per day instead of 24/7.
Note: If you have a D.E. filter, your pool will clear faster. DE Filters pick up fine particles. If you have a sand filter, it will take longer because it doesnt have the same filtering power as a DE filter. And if you have a cartridge filter, thats right in the middle between the two other types of pool filters.
Top Versus Bottom Simple As That
The main difference comes in when you have to get those clumps out of your pool. Whereas clarifier brings the particle clumps to the top and leaves your pool filter to do the heavy-lifting, floc requires some elbow grease on your part.
Once youve added flocculant to your pool, youre left with a ton of clumpy gunk on the floor of your gorgeous pool. Yuck. From here, it has to be vacuumed up. By you. Yep, thats where we come to the downside of floc.
Flocculant works really fast, but it requires a bit more effort on your part. In fact, you actually cant even use an automatic vacuum for this one. You have to do it manually on waste mode, which means youll be removing water from your pool.
The real advantage of flocculant is its speed in de-clouding your pool. If you dont have days to wait for clarifier to work, you should definitely give floc a try. Whether youre planning a pool party for the next day or just dont like to wait, using floc will be your best bet.
There you have it: fast-acting flocculant with added manual labor versus slower-acting clarifier with no work on your part. The choice is yours.
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Why Are Pool Clarifiers Needed
Its not uncommon to have cloudy water upon opening the pool, or after an algae bloom, or as a result of reduced filtering or chlorinating but if you need to use clarifier regularly to maintain water quality, it could point to other problems. You may have an undersized or worn pool filter, or ineffective pool sanitation and/or poor water balance.
High pH, low chlorine, high TDS, high calcium hardness, high alkalinity, high cyanuric acid all can lead to cloudy pool water when conditions are right. See my previous post 50 Causes of Cloudy Pool Water and you can see there are many, many reasons for turbid pool water.
Poor filtration, poor circulation, poor sanitation likewise can lead to poor pool water clarity. It could be that your pool filter is too small, or that the filter media are in need of replacement, or perhaps you are just not running the filter long enough each day. Filtration needs change throughout the season, more is needed during hot weather and active pool use.
Shock Your Pool At Night
To get rid of all the gross and dangerous crud in your cloudy pool water, shock your pool. This mega-dose of chlorine will help eliminate cloudiness caused by bacteria, organic contaminants, and algae.
Note: If the cloudy water in your pool is due to a pool algae bloom, youll have to double or triple shock depending on the type of algae thats invaded your pool. And always shock your pool at dusk or night for maximum effectiveness. Read more about that here.
Why is my pool cloudy after shocking?Adding pool shock to an otherwise perfectly clean and balanced pool can even cause temporary cloudiness. But if you add the proper dose of shock, it can clear your pool right away if your pool water filtration and circulation are working properly.
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How Often Can You Put Clarifier In Pool
When should Pool Clarifiers be Used? Pool Clarifiers are not meant to be used all season long, but are quite helpful at pool opening, after an algae bloom, or battles with cloudy pool water. Follow label directions, but most pools can be retreated after 5-7 days, with a lower dosage than initially used.
When In Doubt Add Clarifier
Even when the tests are normal, chlorine levels are perfect, the filter is clean, and the circulation is good, sometimes your pool water just needs a little boost to stay clean and clear. Add a water clarifier, such as Leslies Ultra Bright Advanced. Clarifiers bring tiny particles together so they can be more easily removed by your filtration system. After adding the product to your pool, run the pump continuously on high speed until your water turns crystal clear again.
When your pool water turns cloudy, its not just an eyesore in your otherwise beautiful backyard its also a safety concern. Never swim in a pool that’s cloudy! Learn why in our recent blog post, “Understanding the Dangers of Cloudy Pool Water.”
A properly maintained pool should always be clean and clear. If its anything less than that, its important to get a handle on it quickly. If you need more help troubleshooting your cloudy water issues, bring a water sample to your local Leslies, and let our friendly associates help you find the right solution.
At Leslies, were here to help you create a safe, sanitary, and enjoyable pool experience.
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What Do I Do If I Put Too Much Clarifier In My Hot Tub
This is why it is advisable to go with the manufacturers guide or direction to avoid using too much of it. But if you mistakenly add too much of it, you only need to filter the clarifier out.
Alternatively, you can just drain the water and refill it again. You should also be mindful of your filter pressure or media.
Which One Is Better
Clarifier is great for mild to moderate cloudiness but wont work when the water is extremely cloudy or swamp-like. Its also great for ongoing maintenance and to keep your water looking sparkly and clean.Clarifier is a lot slower to work than flocculant and usually takes several days to clear up a pool. Youll need to continuously filter your pool for 24-48 hours after using clarifier and then filter 8-10 hrs per day for several days but thats about the only work youll need to do.If youre in a hurry or have extra cloudy pool water, flocculant is what you want. It works in as little as a few hours. However, there is a price to pay for that speed. Cue the evil laugh hohoho!Since flocculant drops everything to the pool floor, youll need to manually vacuum up the mess. And youll need to set your filter valve to waste. You dont want to run all that muck at the bottom of your pool through your filter. If you do, you will block up your filter.So not only will you spend quite a bit of time vacuuming, but youll also lose a lot of water since the water that is sucked up in the vacuuming process will be sent to waste instead of being circulated back into the pool. But youll have clear water in a few hours. Another important point about floc is that you normally cant use it with cartridge filters unless you have special plumbing with a waste valve installed. If you dont have a waste valve, youll block up the filter and will be up for a new filter before you know it.
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Pool Water Clarifier Ingredients
Liquid clarifiers contain water along with an active ingredient like Aluminium Chlorohydrate . Clarifier tablets use a similar chemical except. Since theyre a dry tablet, they dont contain water. Tablets are often more concentrated than the liquid form.Different Types of Swimming Pool ClarifierPolyDADMAC this is a very common type of pool clarifier and contains ammonium chloride. Just in case you want to show off your chemistry knowledge, the full name for PolyDADMAC is Poly Dimethyl Diallyl Ammonium Chloride.Aluminium Sulfate this is also a very commonly used ingredient in pool clarifiers. Aluminium derivatives are commonly used in water treatment plants around the world to help clear water. Polyacrylamines they often come in gel or tablet form. They are again used in water treatment plants and in other processes like paper making. Natural Clarifiers it is possible to buy pool clarifiers made from natural ingredients. Natural clarifiers can be made from Chitosan. Chitosan is something that is made from crustaceans. So Which One Do You Need?You could use any of these. They are all common in water treatment and have been used safely for many years. We recommend this one here.
How To Correct Having Too Much Clarifier
If you have accidentally added too much clarifier into your pool, and identified the problem, the next step is clearing it out. This can be done in various ways depending on the situation.
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How To Use Pool Clarifier
Using Clarifier in your pool is easy. Its important to note that although clarifier may clear your water, if you havent solved the underlying issue, the water will cloud again.Reasons for cloudy water include algae, incorrect pH levels , the filter needs cleaning/backwashing/replacing.
Another reason is not enough chlorine/sanitizer and finally, check that youre running your filter long enough and its working properly. In swimming season youll need to run it more. Its also good to run it longer after heavy rain and wind as there will be more contaminants in the water that need to be filtered out.
To use clarifier, make sure the pool has been balanced correctly, run the filter for at least 24 hours. Then you simply follow the directions on the pack and filter, filter, filter your water. It will take 2-5 days to work. You may also need to vacuum the floor of the pool after a day or so.
Should I Use A Pool Clarifier
When should Pool Clarifiers be Used? Pool Clarifiers are not meant to be used all season long, but are quite helpful at pool opening, after an algae bloom, or battles with cloudy pool water. Follow label directions, but most pools can be retreated after 5-7 days, with a lower dosage than initially used.
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Pool Flocculants Or Clarifiers
The terms are sometimes used interchangeably in other industries, but for swimming pools and spas, a Flocculant will attract suspended particles to itself, resulting in marble sized clumps that sink slowly to the bottom of the pool. The filter pump remains off during treatment, and after 8-12 hours a thick white carpet needs to be slowly vacuumed to waste.
Clarifiers on the other hand, work with your filter to trap visible and invisible particles floating in the water. Some particles may settle out, but most do not become heavy enough to sink. Instead they are drawn into the filter with constant circulation during treatment.
What Causes Cloudy Pool Water
Poor water chemistry causes most cases of cloudy water. Test your water to make sure it’s properly balanced.Chlorine issues often cause cloudy water. Adding a recommended dose of shock to your pool can clear it right up.Poor circulation or filtration can contribute to cloudy water. Make sure your pump and filter are working properly.Weather events or increased swimmer use can cause cloudy water. Sometimes, all you need to do is add a clarifier
Some of the more common reasons a pool will turn murky include low or no chlorine, combined chlorine, water balance issues, poor circulation, filtration problems, weather events, and increased swimmer use.
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