Too Much Pool Clarifier? (Here Are The 2 Best Solutions!)

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Can You Add Too Much Pool Clarifier?

Did this just happen to your pool? It was a bit cloudy and you thought adding a pool clarifier would clear it up for the pool party this weekend. Instead of becoming crystal clear, your pool has turned milky white! Did you add too much pool clarifier? How can you fix it?

Too much pool clarifier can actually turn your pool cloudy instead of making it sparkling clear. Here are the 2 best solutions:

1. Long & Easy Solution: Run the pool filter continuously for 3 – 5 days
2. Quick & Hard Solution: Add a dose of Flocculant

I know this is counter intuitive. You would think that more of a good thing should make things better. Adding more of a pool clarifier should make the pool a lot clearer or take less time. Unfortunately pool chemistry does not work that way! Instead the exact opposite happens. 

So it is important to know how a pool clarifier works, how much do you need to add to your pool and how to fix your pool if you have put too much pool clarifier.

Is It Bad To Put Too Much Clarifier In Your Pool?

It sure is! Not just because it messed up your pool party or your weekend swimming plans. Not just because your pool looks terrible. 

Too much pool clarifier is bad for your wallet too! A cloudy or milky pool as a result of overuse of the pool clarifier makes your filter work extra hard and for longer hours. 

To be fair, the extra pool clarifier has not added to the quantity of solids.

It has just coagulated them into bigger pieces. Your pool is milky or cloudier, because the filter pump has been overwhelmed by the filtration demand.

The sudden influx of solid particles, that are now big enough to get trapped in the filter, starts clogging up the filter medium. The pressure on the pump starts rising. To bring this pressure down to standard operating level you will need to backwash (Sand and DE Filters) or clean (Cartridge Filter).

Backwashing a sand or DE filter or cleaning the cartridge, by itself is not a bad thing. In fact you must do it regularly as part of your routine pool maintenance. It is bad because you have to do it several times, in the course of a few days.

Apart from the extra work, backwashing leads to a loss of pool water along with the costly pool chemicals in it.

What Happens If I Use Too Much Pool Clarifier?

You want to make your pool crystal clear because it has gone a bit cloudy and lost its sparkle. It is what I would want too!

The only reason a pool gets cloudy is because it has a high amount of microscopic solid particles floating in it. The particles are too small to get trapped by the pool filter medium or affect the clarity of your pool too much.

The source of the particles can be anything, an increase in the number of swimmers over the weekend, a storm or even the aftermath of shocking your pool.

Yes, shocking your pool will often make your pool cloudy. 

Shock kills germs, bacteria and algae. The dead stuff is harmless, but it does float around the pool, making the waters look murky.

The pool water chemistry is another reason a pool can turn cloudy. If chlorine levels are low or the alkalinity is high then your pool is not well sanitized. Pathogens and algae are growing in your pool and turning your pool cloud.

So do check the pool water chemistry levels and make sure your pool is balanced, before you resort to a pool clarifier!

The last reason your pool could get cloudy is if your filter is not running long enough or the filter medium has got clogged up. So before you add a pool clarifier check if:

• your pool filter is running long enough & often enough? Run it at least 8-10 hours per day during summer.
• your filter is clogging up? Check out my earlier blog post How Often Should Pool Filters Be Cleaned? (All You Need To Know!)

What Is A Pool Clarifier?

A pool clarifier is a chemical, usually a polymeric compound of aluminum chloride or aluminum sulfate. The pool clarifier has cations (positively charged), which will attach to the microscopic solid particles in your pool, which have anions (negatively charged).

The pool clarifier is thus able to join several microscopic solid particles into a larger solid particle. This process is called coagulation. The coagulated particles are now large enough to be trapped by the filter medium.

The coagulated particles will initially make your pool look a bit cloudy. But the pool begins to turn clear as the filter removes the coagulated particles from the pool water.

This is all great if you have added the right quantity of pool clarifier. The pool filter works its way through the coagulated particles and clears up your pool. 

But if you have overused the pool clarifier, the filter is not able to handle the spike in coagulated solid particles. Your pool will remain murky, cloudy, milky (whatever you may call it!) till the pool filter is able to work its way through all the coagulated solid particles.

How Much Clarifier Do I Add To My Pool?

So now you know the importance of knowing how much clarifier you need to add to your pool. The best practice is to add it in small steps, so that you never end up using too much pool clarifier.

All pool clarifiers will state the quantity that should be added based on the volume of water in your pool. Most pool clarifiers recommend adding 1 ounce for every 5,000 gallons of water.

It is also important to ensure that the pool clarifier is diluted in half a bucket of pool water and then broadcast around the perimeter of the pool. Keep the pool filter running while adding the pool clarifier. This will ensure that the pool clarifier is well spread out and circulated.

How Do You Fix Too Much Pool Clarifier?

If you have, unknowingly added too much pool clarifier, and the water has gone all milky, then do not despair. 

There are two ways to clear up your pool and restore it to a crystalline blue color. 

The Long & Easy Fix!

This is the better method if you are not in a hurry. Just run your filter pump continuously, 24 hours a day for 3-5 days. The pump will slowly but surely start trapping the coagulated solid particles that are clouding up your pool.

Keep a close watch on the pressure gauge at all times. If it goes up by more than 10 psi above the normal operating pressure for a Sand or DE Filter, then it is time to backwash. In the case of a Cartridge Filter if the pressure reading hits 10 psi, it is time to clean the cartridge. 

After the first 3-5 days, you should see a noticeable reduction in the cloudiness of the pool. At this time, you can reduce the running time of your filter to 8-10 hours per day. 

Soon your pool should be crystal clear!

The Quick & Hard Fix!

You can add a Flocculant to the pool water with excess pool clarifier. The flocculant will sink the already coagulated solid particles to the pool floor.

The result will be a clearer pool but a dirty pool bottom. So the next step is to vacuum the pool floor and run the vacuum hose through the pool filter. 

Of course you must change the filter setting to “waste”. You do not want all those solid particles going through the filter and clogging up the filter medium.

There are three disadvantages to this fix.

1. It is difficult to use this fix with a cartridge filter that does not have a “waste” setting.
2. Vacuuming is hard work. And you may have to do it a few times.
3. You lose a lot of pool water, including the pool chemicals in it.

But you will have a clear pool much faster!

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Clorox Pool&Spa Crazy Clarifier helps you maintain a crystal clear pool all summer! It works by combining small contaminants in your pool into larger ones so your filter can trap & take them out. Use this clarifier once a week, 1 ounce per 5,000 gallons of pool water. You can order it from Amazon by clicking the link below:

Clorox Pool&Spa Crazy Clarifier

Thank you very much for reading the post. I do hope you found it informative and helpful.