Cloudy water is one of the most concerning aspects of running a commercial swimming pool, and generally is a result of poor attention to one of three areas:
1. Sanitation 2. Filtration 3. Water balance
When the disinfection system fails, either due to equipment failure, controller malfunction, or lack of halogen (chlorine or bromine), the water can turn cloudy quickly, especially if there are swimmers using the pool. This can also occur if there is chlorine in the water and for some reason the pH spikes upwards dramatically.
Overloaded filters that have not been maintained correctly or filter channeling can also result in cloudy water.
If the operator is not balancing the water to Langlier Saturation Index, cloudy water can result. This should be done weekly, at minimum.
All these are simple maintenance issues, but if ignored can prove costly, with loss of revenues for multiple days as a result of pool closure to meet Dept. of Heath code regulations. The main drain must be clearly visible at all times. Sadly, turbid water has proven fatal on more than one occasion, such as the mid-West incident in 2014 when a woman was found at the bottom of the pool a number of days after she had drowned.
If you don’t have clear water, check the 3 points listed above, and call your trusted commercial pool person for further assistance.