During the long “dog days of summer” when the swimming pool is full of swimmers every day all day long and the high temperatures are breaking records more attention is needed to keep your pool a desirable oasis. One way to keep its sparkling appeal is to use chemicals at appropriate times & in the right sequence order to offset trouble. How long after algaecide can you add a clarifier?
After adding the Algaecide to your pool, H2O should have turned from green to a cloudy blue/grey color. Now is the time to add Pool Clarifier and let it circulate for 12 hours. This will clump the dead algae together into small easy to vacuum pieces that settle Shut your pump off & let the cloudiness settle.
Liquid Algaecide is a specialty prevention chemical Algaecides. The standard 40% Algaecide is intended for the prevention of the growth of algae with the strongest but A 60% Algaecide is a stronger concentrated formula that can kill a bloom that turns your pool green.
How Long After Algaecide Can You Add Clarifier
Pool clarifiers and algaecides are very important maintenance chemicals that pool owners must use. They are quite important, especially in the summer season. Keeping your pool sparkling clear and inviting to people that use it is a priority for pool owners.
These two chemicals algeacides and clarifiers go hand in hand in the clarification of your pool, but they do have major differences. They both work in tangent together as one treatment. Much like chlorine that also acts as an algaecide keeping algae at bay and killing it when you super-chlorinating.
Apply algaecides: You must wait at least 24 hours after shocking you’re swimming pool before you apply algaecides. This is because chlorine disrupts some of the polymer chains found in algaecides. The best thing to do is to wait till the chlorine levels have returned to normal (that is 1 to 3 ppm). Then you can add the algaecides according to the manufacturer’s instructions on the label.
If you are applying algaecides and clarifiers separately, then add in the clarifiers about 30 minutes after the application of algaecides. As the algaecides kill the algae, the clarifiers clump them together in addition to other debris in the pool.
Then you can add the algaecides according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The dosage will be dependent on the volume of your pool. The pool pumps must be running all this time to ensure proper circulation.
After adding the Algaecide to your pool, H2O should have turned from green to a cloudy blue/grey color. Now is the time to add Pool Clarifier and let it circulate for 12 hours. This will clump the dead algae together into small easy to vacuum pieces that settle Shut your pump off & let the cloudiness settle.
When to Add Clarifier to Cloudy Pool Water
If you have cloudy pool water but your water chemistry (pH, alkalinity, and chlorine) is well-balanced and your filters are clean, you can add a pool clarifier. Pool clarifiers are helpful to use when you’re opening your pool for the season or with fairly mild cloudy water. However, be sure to kill any algae before using the pool clarifier (this can usually be done by shocking your swimming pool before using a clarifier).
Pool clarifiers are made from polymers that act as coagulants on suspended particles in the pool water. Specifically, clarifiers impart cations or positively charged ions to the pool water, which are attracted to negatively charged suspended solid particles.
Opposites Attract, and when adding a clarifier to a pool, the positive (+) polymer molecules wil quickly bond with the negative (-) particles that make pool water cloudy. As attraction continues, the particle quickly grows from microscopic size to a larger clump that can be removed by your pool filter.
An important distinction to make is most pool clarifiers do not kill particulate matter or consume colloidal solids, they simply gather them up and make larger and larger clumps, to a size that won’t pass through your pool filter. A properly operating pool filter is of great importance, to a clarifier’s success.
Pool Clarifiers are not meant to be used all season long, but are quite helpful at pool opening, after an algae bloom, or battles with cloudy pool water in high temperatures.
Follow directions on the package, but most pools can be retreated after 5-7 days, with a lower dose than first used. When clearing turbid water conditions, remember to keep your pool water chemically balanced properly and run your pool filter for nearly 24 hours per/day.
How Long Adding Clarifier to Water in Pool: Algae Low Chlorine
Be careful not to add too much pool clarifier, especially if you also use a metal-sequestrant product in your pool water. Too much clarifier in the pool can act as a dispersant instead of a coagulant, compounding your water problems!
It’s not uncommon to have cloudy water upon opening the pool, after an algae bloom, or as a result of not enough, inefficient filtering or chlorinating but if you need to use a clarifier regularly to maintain water quality, it could point to other problems. You may have an undersized or worn pool filter, ineffective pool sanitation, and/or poor water balance.
High pH, low chlorine, high TDS, high calcium hardness, high alkalinity, and high cyanuric acid all can lead to cloudy pool water when conditions are right.
Poor filtration, poor circulation, and poor sanitation likewise can lead to poor pool water clarity. It could be that your pool filter is too small, or that the filter media (sand, cartridge, or grids) is clogged and in need of replacement, or maybe you are just not running the filter long enough each day. Filtration needs to change throughout the season, more is needed during summer hot weather and active pool use.
Does algaecide affect alkalinity?
Algaecide does affect pool chemistry by killing algae and reducing the alkalinity level of your pool. If the alkalinity of your pool is less than 80 ppm, after shocking and adding an algaecide, you will need to increase the alkalinity by adding Baking Soda. ……………………………………………Read more
Which Chemical do you Add First Algaecide or Shock?
You should first shock/super chlorinate your pool to levels above 5 ppm-scrub the walls & floor of your pool then wait for the chlorine levels to fall below 5 PPM. When they do, add algaecide to your pool. This will kill off the rest of the algae and provide ……………………………………………….read more
Do I Add Clarifier to Pool or Algaecide First to Pool Water
Order: Shock Chlorine-Algaecide-Clarifier
Algaecides should always be added first. You would want to deal with the algae first. The algaecides kill the algae, then the clarifiers can clump together the dead algae and other particles, which will then be taken care of by your pool filters.
In the late summertime when the usage and temperatures of the pool are both high use Algaecide as a preventative before green algae appears then add a small dose of Clarifier to help settle out any particles that contain dead algae.
This type of clarifier “Pool Water Polisher” sold in pool stores is relatively inexpensive and works in conjunction with algaecide and pool shock. Once a week in late summer should be good.
- Apply maintenance doses: Even after the algae problem has been dealt with, you must still add algaecides every 5 to 7 days just as you would with super-chlorination
- I don’t recommend the 2 in 1 pool product that is an algaecide-containing pool clarifier together. That is up to you!
- Turn the filter pump off–Let the pool settle
- Vacumn debris
In most cases, pool chemicals should only be added to the pool when the pool pump is running. There are a few exceptions to this rule. ALWAYS carefully read and follow the directions on the product label before applying any chemicals to the swimming pool.
Using Clarifier in your pool is easy. It’s important to note that although a clarifier may clear your water if you haven’t solved the underlying issue, the water will cloud again.
Reasons for cloudy water include algae, incorrect pH levels (in particular, if the water is too alkaline), and the filter needs cleaning/backwashing/replacing.
How Long After Adding Algaecide Can You Swim
Most pool supply chains and manufacturers that sell Algaecide recommend waiting 1 hour after adding the chemical or at the (very least 15 minutes) to your swimming pool before swimming. Algaecides are perfectly safe to swim in while working 24-48 hrs.……………………………………………read more
JimGalloway Author/Editor
