It happened at night. The air was still. The bugs were loud. I stood at the edge of the pool with a bag of shock in my hand and a weird sense of power in my heart.
I poured it in like a movie character fixing their mistakes. There was fizzing. There was swirling. It was beautiful.
I expected clarity. I expected redemption. I got clouds.
The next morning, it stared at me. Not in a friendly way. In a judgmental, fogged-up, you don’t know what you’re doing kind of way.
The water had gone from greenish to a creamy white haze, like some weird latte made of regret.
So I whispered to the skimmer: “What do you want from me?”
I remembered things I had forgotten. I had not cleaned the filter. That was mistake one. I had not run the pump long enough. Mistake two. I hadn’t brushed the walls. I had simply dumped the shock and walked away, assuming chemistry would just do its thing.
But chemistry needs time. And help.
So I changed. I brushed every wall like I was scrubbing away guilt. I cleaned the filter like it was an ex’s Instagram history. I ran the pump, not for hours, but for days. No breaks. Just flow.
I tested the water again. Still cloudy. But less so. It was trying. On day two, I added clarifier. Just a little. Like a gentle apology.
By the third morning, it had cleared. The pool forgave me. The clouds were gone. I saw the bottom again, and maybe, just maybe, I saw myself.
The Shocking lesson?
- Don’t expect instant results
- Clean your filter
- Brush your pool
- Run the pump like it’s on a mission
- Only add clarifier when the water is ready, not when you’re impatient
If you shocked your pool and it looks worse, just breathe. The water will find its way. You just have to help it along. And maybe apologize. Out loud. To the pool. It hears you.
What causes cloudy pool water? — CDC’s Healthy Swimming
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/residential/pool-maintenance.html
Having the right tools can make a big difference when you’re fixing mistakes like this one. Check out our pool equipment and parts section to see what might help.
