Chapter One: The Clues
It started on a quiet Saturday morning. The water shimmered under the sun but not in a good way. Cloudy. Milky. And no matter how much brushing, skimming, or sweet-talking the filter got, nothing changed.
The homeowner paced the deck, muttering, “I’ve done everything right.”
That was the first clue they hadn’t.
The test kit revealed sky-high pH, almost no chlorine, and a filter that hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. I could already see where this story was headed.
Chapter Two: The Interrogation
“Tell me exactly what you’ve been doing,” I asked, notebook ready. They listed a heroic lineup of mistakes without even realizing it.
- Skimmed daily but ignored testing the water.
- Backwashed once a month “because it seemed fine.”
- Tossed in a clarifier every few days like it was seasoning.
- Never actually shocked the pool because “it didn’t look dirty.”
There it was. The forgotten shock. The unsung hero of sanitizing, neglected because the water looked okay. That chlorine level was so low it practically sent me an SOS.
Chapter Three: The Scene of the Crime
I walked around the pool, inspecting the usual suspects. The filter was caked with gunk. The return jets barely moved the surface. Dead spots everywhere. Poor circulation and no shock — a recipe for cloudy misery.
The homeowner stood there, sheepish, realizing the truth. “I guess I missed a few things.”
Case Closed
I handed them the action plan:
- Test the water every few days, no guessing.
- Balance pH and alkalinity before worrying about cloudiness.
- Shock at least once a week, even if it looks fine.
- Clean or backwash the filter regularly.
- Run the pump long enough to keep water moving.
They nodded, finally seeing the light through the haze. The water wouldn’t clear overnight, but the mystery was solved.
Sometimes the biggest crime is assuming the pool will take care of itself.
And just like that, case closed.
