Proper use of Water Clarifier

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Freedbaby

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Jan 31, 2013
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Let me first start off by saying that I have done some searches and it seems in the right instance and used properly, water clarifier can work.

Here is the situation. I re-plumbed my pool to hard PVC pipe because I needed to move the equipment when I started building the deck. I had some 1 1/2" PVC pipe laying in the shed that had some mud dauber nests in it. I poked all the nests out but didn't clean the walls of the pipe first (like an absolute idiot) and as soon as I turned on the pump when the job was complete, a blast of a reddish/brownish mud blew into the pool. Before this moment, the pool was CRYSTAL clear and my levels were just where I wanted them.

I have increased the level of bleach for the last few weeks, run the pump longer hours and it has only improved marginally. You can still not really make out the bottom of the pool. I am having a party in a couple weeks for my daughters birthday and while it doesn't have to be perfect perfect perfect...I gotta get it clearer than it is now.

So, onto the use of a clarifier. Any important tips that are NOT on the bottle? Keep in mind that I do NOT have an algae problem, this is tiny particles of mud that were blown into the pool.

This is at a weekend house so here is my plan:

1) Get there on Friday night and put proper amount of clarifier in pool
2) Let pool pump run all night and all through saturday until sun goes down.
3) Turn pump off Saturday evening and leave it off all through the night.
4) Wake up Sunday morning and put my new Pool Rover Jr. in (which is new and never been used yet)

Looking forward to hearing your responses.
 
That all sounds very reasonable if you have done an overnight FC loss test and are not losing any chlorine overnight. Times when the filter stops making any progress on clearing up the water, yet you aren't losing any chlorine overnight, are the times when it can be worth trying clarifier. If the clarifier works the water will probably be clear on Saturday morning, or at least dramatically improved.

The other possibility is that there is something wrong with the filter. That seems rather unlikely since everything was perfect before you did the plumbing, but it is still a possibility. If something is wrong with the filter then even if you do manage to clear up the cloudiness, it will come back over a couple of weeks. That all seems quite unlikely, but worth keeping in mind just in case.
 
Make sure you aren't using a cationic polymeric clarifier if you are using a metal sequestrant in the pool. Otherwise these will combine to create a precipitated mess.

Clarifiers can work well when they work, and when they don't they just waste time and money. The DE in a sand filter is usually more reliable which is why we recommend that first.
 
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