Swimming Pool Problem Troubleshooting

PROBLEM	POSSIBLE CAUSE	REASON	SOLUTION	PRODUCT REQUIRED
Cloudy Water	Build up of dirt & bather pollution	Ineffective chlorine levels or poor filtration	Backwash filter, then shock treat. Add clarifier to polish water.	All Swim Shock, Crystal Clear
	Start of Algae growth	Insufficient levels of chlorine	Shock treat. After 24 hours backwash filter. Maintain chlorine level above 1.5ppm. Prevent reoccurrence of algae growth	All Swim Shock All Swim Cyanachlor Algicide or Kleenpool
	Chlorine ineffective	Over stabilisation	Dilute pool water and shock treat	All Swim Shock
	Ineffective filtration	Filter blocked or filter media needs renewing	Check filter media or cartridge	See ineffective filtration for more detail (bottom of page)
	Suspended particles	Precipitation of salts due to high pH or high alkalinity	Correct pH and/or alkalinity	All Swim Pool Acid Crystal Clear
Unpleasant Water	High combined chlorine's	Free chlorine levels too low	Dilute pool water and shock treat	All Swim Shock
Eye Irritation	Detergents from cleaning compounds getting into pool water	Reaction between chlorine and detergent	Use chlorine compatible cleaners	All Swim Tile & Liner Cleaner
Sore eyes / throat	Water too acid / alkaline	pH too low / pH too high	Correct pH / Correct pH	All Swim Pak 2 / All Swim Pool Acid
Chlorine level difficult to maintain	Sunlight destroying chlorine	Chlorine not stabilised	Use stabiliser or stabilised chlorine	All Swim Conditioner All Swim Cyanachlor
	Build up of pollutants	Insufficient chlorine	Shock treat	All Swim Shock
	High water temperature	Organisms multiply more quickly	Increase dose of sanitizer	All Swim Cyanachlor or HTH
No chlorine reading despite adding chlorine	Chlorine level may be too high	High chlorine level bleaches reagent in test tablet	Allow chlorine to reduce naturally over a period of time	Contact All Swim
pH too low	low pH of local water supply	Insufficient alkali	Add alkali - ideal pH 7.2 - 7.6	All Swim Pak 2
pH too low	Use of acidic chlorine donors	Insufficient alkali	Add alkali - ideal pH 7.2 - 7.6	All Swim Pak 2
pH too high	High pH of local water supply	Insufficient dry acid	Add dry acid - ideal pH 7.2 - 7.6	All Swim Pool Acid
	Use of alkaline chlorine donors	High alkalinity	Reduce alkalinity to 125ppm check pH	All Swim Pool Acid
	Salts being leached from new concrete pools	Self correcting over a period of time	Add dry acid - ideal pH 7.2 - 7.6	All Swim Pool Acid
pH erratic	Insufficient bicarbonate to buffer pH	Low total alkalinity	Add bicarbonate - ideal 125ppm	All Swim Pak 1
pH locked	Too high a level of bicarbonate	Topping up from mains water can increase alkalinity in hard water areas	Reduce alkalinity to 125ppm check pH	All Swim Pool Acid
Low alkalinity	Bicarbonates reduced by dilution, particularly in soft water areas	Mains water has low levels of bicarbonates	Add bicarbonate minimum 75ppm, consult All Swim	All Swim Pak 1
Pool walls feel slimy	Algae growing	Insufficient chlorine	Shock treat to kill algae, sweep and vacuum pool. Prevent recurrence with algaecide, brush pool walls	Algaecide or Kleen Pool
Dirt on pool wall at water level	Build up of fat, oil & cosmetics	Irregular cleaning of surfaces	Clean with sponge & suitable detergent	All Swim Tile & Liner cleaner
Sharp edges around tiles	Grout being leached by water	Water too soft	Re-grout pool. Increase calcium levels to minimum 175ppm. Consider changing to HTH	HTH
Ineffective Filtration	Incorrect sand level in filter	Not enough sand to filter out particles	Renew and/or top up sand	.
	Correct level of sand	Blocked filter / filter sand	Backwash & use filter aid	Filter Clear
	Cartridge filter in poor condition	Filter allowing particles through	Renew Cartridge	Crystal Clear