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Step 1
The first thing to realize is that cloudy water can happen to any pool even a well maintained pool. Cloudy pool water can be caused by an improper chemical balance, a dirty filter, environmental issues like excessive rain or pollen, low chlorine, dead or alive algae in the water, and not running the pump enough to name a few. In order to clear up the cloudy water you will need to figure out what the cause could be.
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Step 2
Test the water to make sure all the chemicals are in the correct range. The wrong chemical balance can cause water to be cloudy, high PH, high Alkalinity and too much calcium in the water can lead to the appearance of cloudy water. The high PH level can prevent the chlorine from killing algae and bacteria in the pool, and your water will look cloudy.
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Step 3
Make sure the pool is clean on all surfaces. Use the pool brush to brush the bottom and sides of the pool and then vacuum. If the chemicals are balanced but the pool bottom or sides are dirty this can contribute to the cloudy water.
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Step 4
Check your filtration system to make sure that the sand is still good. If the sand is a couple of years old you may want to replace it with new pool sand. Once the sand is replace run the filter for a few days to see if it clears the water. This was the culprit last year when we were opening our pool and had cloudy water.
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Step 5
Run the pump and filter for 24 hours straight for a few days to help filter out the particles in the water. Clarifier can be added to the water to bind to the micro particles to help them filter out. A flocculant can be added to the pool to help bind to the particles to make them bigger so they can be vacuumed out. I have flocked my pool once and didn't like using the product. It did bind to particles but it was very hard to get it out of the pool. We ended up draining half the pool and refilling it to help clear the flocculant. It was more frustrating to clear out the flocculant then trying to make the water clear.
