Suggestions for Clearing Up Sunscreen

SandyO · Jun 30, 2016

Thanks to you I am now a total pool snob. I love my clear water. We often have upwards of 10 kids in the pool at a time and on super sunny days the sunscreen seems to melt right off them and cloud up the water. Of course, nobody besides me notices this - they all say it is still clear and fine.

What do you do to combat the sunscreen that gets into your pool? Float a tennis ball? Nothing?

So far I just bump up the chlorine to just over my high end based on my CYA and then wait for it to do it's job. Is there something I could be doing to help it along?

JoyfulNoise · Jun 30, 2016

Scum-bug in the skimmer and/or Pig brand oil-only polypropylene absorbent mat floating on the water -

wjr75 · Jun 30, 2016

Pool Perfect has enzymes that help break the stuff down. I still have a bottle of it that I use a cap full after a big party.

JVTrain · Jun 30, 2016

I throw a scum ball in each of my skimmers before a big gathering. Seems to help.

wjr75 · Jun 30, 2016

I bag of non-chlorinated shock MPS after a party may also help. There was a thread that Chem Geek had suggested it and I sometimes do that also.

JoyfulNoise · Jun 30, 2016

If the oils reside in the surface, then mechanical methods (scum bug, etc) are best. If the water is clouded, then you may need to treat chemically. Before investing money in enzymes (which can cause excess FC demand) or expensive non-chlorine shock (which can register falsely as CCs on your FAS-DPD test), it is simplest to just raise your FC up to a higher level (maybe a 20% FC/CYA ratio) for 24 hours and see if that helps to clear it.

SandyO · Jun 30, 2016

Great advice!

Since I have the chlorine on hand, I'm going to start with that as my cheapest method and bump it up a little more than I had been. But the scumbugs look cool and I might just have to find one.

Thank you!