The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows drinking water treatment plants to use chloramine and chlorine to disinfect drinking water. Research shows that chloramine and chlorine both have benefits and drawbacks. Chlorine is a highly effective method of disinfection.

Chlorine kills bacteria though a fairly simple chemical reaction. Both kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell, rendering them oxidized and harmless. The difference between HOCl and OCl- is the speed at which they oxidize.

The drawbacks of chlorination are:

• Relatively low protection against protozoa.
• Lower disinfection effectiveness in turbid waters.
• Potential taste and odor objections.
• Must ensure quality control of solution.
• Potential long-term effects of chlorination by-products.

Liquid chlorine does not raise pH. When added to water, liquid chlorine (which has a pH of 13) makes HOCl (hypochlorous acid – the killing form of chlorine) and NaOH (sodium hydroxide), which raises pH. So the net effect on pH is zero (or almost zero).

Low chlorine level is the primary cause of cloudy water. If all the chemicals are balanced, but water is still cloudy, there might be fine particles inside the pool, and you need to use a clarifier or pool flocculant and then vacuum up the pool. If all do not work, try backwashing your filter since it might be clogged.

An undesired aftereffect of shocking your pool is this: it can cause cloudy pool water. In some instances, the cloudiness is a temporary thing (source). Running your pool’s filter right after shocking can help it quickly clear away the particles and debris that cloud the water.

Although, if you overdo the shock treatment, you risk getting green hair from chlorine due to the excess chlorine oxidizing the copper in the water. You can execute a shock treatment with a few different types of pool shock, just be mindful of how much you’re using.

To cure cloudy pool water, superchlorination is usually the easiest fix. Be sure to test your pH levels after the hyper-chlorination treatment, and slowly add baking soda to your pool water, if needed, to get to between 7.2 and 7.8. Higher pH levels can lead to cloudiness.

Baking Soda is Sodium Bicarbonate If your pool water alkalinity is lower than it should be, one way to increase it is to go to your local pool supply store and pick up a bottle of “alkalinity increaser.” But did you know alkalinity increaser is just sodium bicarbonate? Simple baking soda.

But baking soda is not a reliable pool water cleaning chemical. Using baking soda in a swimming pool is not a good idea as well. It has a lot of side effects such as increasing the level of pH as well as Alkalinity at the same time. Chlorine is the most effective substance for clearing the cloudy pool.

Follow these simple steps to prevent cloudy pool water in the future:

1. Run the pump for at least 8 hours daily.
2. Maintain a pH within the ideal range of 7.2-7.6.
3. Maintain chlorine within the ideal range of 1-4 ppm.
4. Shock your water with a pool shock weekly and more frequently after heavy rain, high heat or heavy use.

Pool water turns green because of algae in the water. Algae can grow rapidly, particularly when it’s warm like Summer, which is why it can surprise you overnight. This generally comes down to an imbalance or lack of chlorine in the water.

Pool water with a high total alkalinity (TA) is often associated with cloudiness. This is because it can cause an imbalance in the pH levels and lead to calcium scaling. Typically if your TA is higher than 200 ppm, you’re at risk of a cloudy pool and just like imbalanced pH levels, your chlorine will be less effective.

The algae and bacteria start growing, and in a few weeks, you’ll have a cloudy pool. The solution to maintaining a clear pool is to use readily available liquid bleach as your chlorine source.