Get Your Water Tested
That’s where a pool water testing kit can come in handy.
A testing kit lets you measure a variety of factors that affect the quality of your water so that you can balance your water.
Usually, you have two options when it comes to testing your pool’s water.
You can purchase test strips, which you dip into a water sample to measure pH, chlorine, total alkalinity and calcium hardness.
Remember that high alkalinity, high pH, and high calcium hardness can cause cloudy water.
Another option is to purchase a kit that includes reagents, which you add to the water. The reagents cause the water to turn colors based on the chlorine present or the pH level.
Whatever type of test method you use, it’s important to source the water from your pool correctly.
A good idea is to pull a sample of water from 18 inches below the surface. It’s also ideal to catch your water in the morning before the sun has had a chance to burn off any chlorine.
If there is a problem with the chlorine, pH or other chemical levels in your pool, adjusting those levels can be enough to correct the cloudiness.
For example, if your pool water is too basic, you can add hydrochloric acid or sodium hydrogen sulfate to lower the pH.
If the water is too acidic, you can use sodium carbonate to raise the pH.
Be sure to also use chlorine stabilizer to protect your chlorine levels.
Milky Cloudy Pool Water
This can be caused by high levels of conditioner, TDS, water hardness or a bunch of swimmer waste or bather load. Generally after parties or when a lot of kids are in the pool, the water will become cloudy due to a high level of ammonia in the water. This can be treated with a non-chlorine shock also known as an oxidizer, freeing the contaminants from the water, also working as a clarifier.
Can You Use Baking Soda To Clear Up A Cloudy Pool
NO! Baking soda is a base and will hugely increase the level of pH, which actually causes the water to turn cloudy. Some people may suggest using baking soda as a quick fix if alkalinity is high, but it is not a reliable pool chemical. Chlorine should be the only substance used to clear a cloudy pool.
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Adding Blue Dye To Pool Water
StuartPool said:I know that many lake companies add blue dye to water to reduce alge growth in lakesUsing just basic food color, do you think that it would reduce the growth of alge in a pool?Would this reduce the sun consumption of chlorine?Is it dangerous?
JasonLion said:Party Pool sells red, green, and blue dye suitable for use in swimming pools. It lasts several days and then fades out.
Interior Finishes And Your Pool Water Color
May 13, 2019
Concrete pools provide almost unlimited customization options. Its why we here at Pools by Bradley build pools with gunite. It takes away the limitations of cookie cutter shapes and sizes for pools, so we are able to design countless waterscapes that fit right into your individual yard and space. We can build pools to accommodate large or small spaces, sloped or flat yards, which, in the past, would have prevented the installation of a traditional pool. With all the customization available, there will be a lot of decisions to make, including the interior finish of your pool. The two main choices available are Aggregate and Plaster, both coming in a variety of colors that can be accented with different types of stone, ceramic or glass tiles, giving each pool its own unique look. Here are the main things you need to know when selecting the interior finish and the pool water color for your dream pool.
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How To Turn A Cloudy Pool Sparkling Blue
For a clean, clear and sparkling pool with water thats safe to swim in, youll need to follow a regular maintenance routine.
For pool water thats safe to swim in, Builders shares a list of maintenance tasks to do once a day, once a week and once a month.
Everyday
– Skim leaves and clear the water surface as needed.
– If you use chlorine granules, sprinkle them into the pool at night, around the edge of the water.
Chlorine tablets can be replaced when necessary.
If your pool is stabilised at the optimum level of 40 ppm , add chlorine at night when no ones swimming.
Once a week
– Determine the pH, total alkalinity and amount of free chlorine , and get it into the 7.2 to 7.4 pH zone by adding the appropriate amounts of acid or alkaline additive.
Use soda ash for plaster and fibreglass pools.
Remember to wait two to three hours after a storm before checking the pH, as fresh rainwater can lead to inaccurate readings.
– Shock the pool at night during summer, when it is resting.
– Brush the walls and floor to prevent algae from growing on them.
– Clear the weir and pump baskets. A full basket can reduce the efficiency of your pump, so check your baskets a couple of times a week.
– Backwash and rinse your filter.
Check that your pump, filter and automatic pool cleaner are all working well.
Once a month
To prevent algae and keep your pool water clear, use a clarifier like Bluechem Blue Boost. To get it right, follow these steps
Article courtesy of
Why Would You Need To Turn The Water Blue
When you think about relaxing on a summer day, the image of a beach comes to mind. But going to the beach whenever you want isnt always possible.
Thats why people prefer swimming pools. Though the pool cant entirely simulate the feeling of being at a beach, it can still help you soothe and relax. The cool and calm blue water does the trick!
The blue water helps you get a similar soothing visualization as seawater. Such a setup lets you relax in your yard as if you were at the beach.
Other than this, a blue pool also means a clean pool. If the water is green or brown, the pool isnt safe to swim in.
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How To Make Beautiful Blue Water Using Lightroom’s Color Brush Tool
Lightroom’s color brush is an odd tool, but paired with a range mask, it can be a fantastic means of making water look far more appealing. Here’s how I transformed the muddy brown of this lake into water so blue that you’ll want to jump in and go for a swim.
Range masks have been an excellent addition to Lightroom Classic and have opened up powerful means of making local adjustments to images. Tweaking water is one of my favorite reasons to use the color brush a tool you might not use too often in combination with a Range Mask.
I talk through most of my editing process, but I’ve added subheadings if you want to skip straight to the water.
Is It Safe To Swim In A Green Water Pool
Short answer it depends.
Lakes contain a full ecosystem, complete with aquatic life that feeds on bacteria and toxins. This makes swimming in green water in nature safe. However, the alga is a superfood to more than just humans. This superfood is attractive to bacteria and parasites. These microbes can enter the body through the nose, eyes, ears, mouth, or a tiny cut. In this situation, it is less safe to swim in green pool water the darker the green gets. This is why regular chemical testing is so important this is also the easiest green water to prevent.
Should the green be due to pollen, there may be little to do in the way of minimizing the discoloration short of erecting a building around the pool. Fortunately, assuming there are no allergies to the pollen, it is safe to swim in a pool with that as the cause for green water.
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Determining The Cloudiness Level And How To Fix It
There are different levels of cloudiness for pool water. The solution you use to clear your pool of its cloudiness will depend on the level, or severity, of the cloudiness.
Dull or Flat + Fix
Dull or flat pool water will still be blue but will no longer have its regular sparkle and shine.
The fix:
- Adjust the pH to between 7.2 and 7.6
- Add clarifier to your pool in the amount recommended for your pool size
- Run the pump and filter system for 12 hours.
Hazy + Fix
Hazy water is no longer clear, but you can still see the bottom of the pool although not distinctly.
The fix:
- Adjust the pH to between 7.2 and 7.6
- Add clarifier to your pool in the amount recommended for your pool size
- Run the pump and filter system for 12 hours.
Cloudy + Fix
Cloudy water looks milky. You can still see the bottom of the pool in the shallow end but not in the deep end.
The fix:
- Adjust the pH to between 7.2 and 7.6
- Add the recommended amount of clarifier for your pool size
- Run the pump and filter system for 8 hours
- Turn off the pump for 8 to 10 hours
- Thoroughly vacuum the pool and run to waste
- Run the pump for 4 hours.
Opaque + Fix
Opaque water is so milky that you can no longer see the bottom of the pool at all.
The fix:
- Add water to the pool so the level is above the skimmer box line
- Adjust the pH to 7.8
- For a pool cartridge filter, remove the cartridge, and for a sand filter, set it to recirculate
- Start the pump
Do I Need To Worry About Pool Phosphates
You may have heard pool pros or other pool owners say that to control algae, you need to control pool phosphates, and use phosphate remover to do so.
We have one word for that: No.
No, you dont need to worry about phosphates, and no, you dont need to use phosphate remover.
Trying to remove phosphates from any environment is like trying to remove dust particles from the air. You will never, ever, ever be able to do it completely. Well, unless you build a clean room. The same is true for phosphates. Theyre everywhere and in everything.
Yes, theyre a food source for algae. But to control pests in your vegetable garden, do you remove the vegetables? Of course not. You kill the pests. The same is true for algae.
Sanitize, sanitize, test, balance, and sanitize some more. And use the money you wouldve spent on phosphate remover on a nice pool float.
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Brush The Pool Walls And Floor
Rather than just your usual, regular pool brush, its best to use an algae brush for this task. Algae is tough, and will stubbornly cling to the pools surfaces, so a heavy-duty brush works better than soft nylon bristles to remove it.
Use the brush to scrub the pool walls, floor, steps, and any other surface the algae may be clinging to.
Note: You may be wondering, why dont you brush the pool first, then vacuum it? Dont you want to vacuum up the algae? No. No you dont. You want to kill the algae, and it still has to be in the pool for you to do that. Trust us.
How To Balance Total Alkalinity
Finally, ensure that total alkalinity is within the required range of 80 ppm and 120 ppm to avoid bringing up pH levels and causing calcium scaling. To lower total alkalinity without extra equipment, add muriatic acid and aerate the pool to restore pH levels without having to add a pH increaser, which will increase alkalinity levels too.
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Vacuum Your Pool To Waste
Once you start removing algae and debris from your pool, you obviously dont want anything you take out to make its way back in. So your first step is to vacuum the pool to Waste.
Set the valve on your filter to Waste, then vacuum away, removing as much algae and sediment from the bottom of the pool as you can.
How To Keep Pool From Turning Green: Maintenance Tips For Clear Blue Water
The best way to keep your pool clear and blue is with regular maintenance. There are a number of preventative actions that homeowners can manage on their own, which can be considered pool maintenance for beginners, such as removing debris with a leaf net others are more complex and may be better handled by a professional.
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Clear Black Or Dark Pool Water
Dark pool water may be caused by high levels of manganese in the fill water. This can cause discoloration of the water to a dark blue, purple or black clear color. This can stain the surfaces of the pool with black or purple marks, which can be very unsightly. Mains water contains extremely low levels of manganese, but it can be a problem in wells and water sources near plants which are processing manganese. This can be corrected with regular use of an ion stabilizer or commercial metal on the product.
The Size And Depth Of Your Pool
For those with a smaller, more shallow pool size, youll have a hard time getting rich pool water color from it.
Without getting too much into the physics and optics side, shallow water is easier to see through than deep water.
Think about the last time you went to the beach.
When youre on the shore, you can still see the bottom of the ocean when the water barely covers your ankles. Venture out further, and the ocean floor begins to disappear.
Why is it disappearing?
As theres a greater mass of water at that depth theres less light absorption. This creates a dark, opaque look to the water.
Pools that have a shallow end and a deep end will end up with a color gradient in their water. Additionally, large pools will have a richer and darker water color than small pools due to their additional water mass.
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Still Cloudy After Shocking
One of the most common complaints is that the pool remains cloudy even after using shock formulas. This may occur after using algaecide.
For the first case, its normal for water to be cloudy after shocking. In fact, if the water remains clear after the treatment, theres something wrong with the formula.
On the other hand, cloudy water after algaecide is terrible. Especially if the cloudiness persists even after 24 hours. Such happens when the chlorine is flawed.
To rectify this, you will have to do the shocking therapy all over again.
Why Is My Pool Water Cloudy After Opening A Pool
Depending on how carefully you closed the pool for the winter, at the beginning of summer, you may see algae and cloudy water.
The main cause is usually imbalanced chemicals. If your water is free of algae, all you need to do is test for all the chemicals and adjust. Starting with the pH, then the chlorine, and then other chemicals after that.
If the water still appears cloudy after adjusting all the chemicals, you can try using either water clarifier to remove the debris through the filter or use pool flocculant and then vacuum to remove any particles.
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Pools By Bradley Is Here For You
Whichever pool water color you decide on, make sure the materials and options fit your budget as well as your needs. All of us here at Pools by Bradley live and breathe our mission of designing and building your ultimate outdoor pool atmosphere and this includes your interior finish! We intend to inspire you to improve the recreational time you spend with your family and friends in your new outdoor environment. Our motto is take care of the customer and everything else will take care of itself. When you choose Pools by Bradley to help you build your dream pool, you can rest assured that youre choosing the very best. As a local family owned and operated company founded in back 1996, we have received numerous design awards and honors. Pools by Bradley is rated as one of the top 50 pool builders in the U.S., plus recognized as the Best Pool Company in Orlando by Orlando Magazine several years in a row! We offer custom built pools and spas with additions ranging from water features and lighting effects to rain curtains and water slidesthe skys the limit! Contact us online or call us today at 407-323-7496 or 386-410-7946 to see how we can help you build the pool of your dreams!
I Shocked My Pool So Why Is It Still Cloudy
If your pH is not too high, filtration issues are likely the cause of your cloudy pool. The issue may depend on the type of filter.
- If you have a sand filter, it could take a week or more for the pool to completely clear. That’s even if it’s a working sand filter.
- If you have a cartridge filter, it needs to have a good cartridge. A cartridge can only handle so much. If your pool is cloudy, the cartridge needs to be cleaned DAILY until the pool is clear.
- If you have a diatomaceous-earth filter and the pool is cloudy, then
- Either the pump is not being run on a long enough cycle
- The DE is not fresh because its not being backwashed
- Or the filter is defective and not working properly.
So remember, a cloudy pool can be caused by a bad filter.
If the pool is being filtered properly, you won’t need a clarifier solution. In some cases, you can use a flocking agent, a product called “drop out” or “drop and vac,” that will bind small particles together and sink all of the algae to the bottom of the pool, where it can be vacuumed up as waste.
Green, Cloudy Pool
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