Pool Flocculant: How Does It Work and Is It Better Than Pool Clarifier?

Pool Flocculant: How Does It Work and Is It Better Than Pool Clarifier?

If you’ve got cloudy pool water and you want to clear it up fast, pool flocculant can help. It’s fast and effective at clearing up cloudy water. But it won’t work in every cloudy pool situation. So when should you use flocculant? And when should you use a clarifier instead?

Here’s a quick guide on the difference between flocculant and clarifier, and how to use flocculant to clear cloudy water. You can watch the quick video below. Or keep reading for the complete pool flocculant tutorial.

What Are the Benefits of Pool Flocculant?

In many cloudy water situations, pool flocculant is an effective option for clearing up your pool:

• Pool flocculant works quickly. Unlike a clarifier, you won’t have to wait days for flocculant to do its job. The particles quickly coagulate together and sink to your pool floor in a matter of hours.
• Pool flocculant is very effective. Flocculant keeps particles clumped together until you remove them with a vacuum. No stragglers are left behind, causing cloudy spots in your swimming pool water.
• Pool flocculant works well with sand filters and diatomaceous earth or DE filters. Those filters have multiport valves that include a “Waste” setting. And that means it’s easy to bypass the filter when vacuuming out the clumped particles and flocculant.

What Are the Downsides of Pool Flocculant?

Before you opt for a pool flocculant over a pool clarifier, there are a few reasons why it might not be ideal:

• Pool flocculant requires more work. Once the clumps form on the bottom of the pool, you’ll need to remove them with a manual pool vacuum. An automatic pool vacuum will not work.
• You’ll lose pool water using pool flocculant. When you vacuum the clumps out, you’ll need to vacuum on the “waste” setting and bypass the filter. All of that water will leave your pool, and your water level will drop.
• You can’t use pool flocculant with a cartridge filter. Unless you have a custom plumbing setup that allows you to bypass the filter when you vacuum, you won’t be able to use pool flocculant with a cartridge filter system.

How Long Does it Take for Pool Flocculant to Work?

Pool flocculant can clear up your cloudy pool water in 1 or 2 days. Though it works faster than pool clarifiers, it will need 8 to 16 hours to clump together the particles before you can vacuum. Add flocculant to your pool with your filter on “recirculate.” Then let the flocculant sit overnight with your pool pump off. Once it has settled to the bottom of your pool, use a manual vacuum to remove all of the coagulated particles.

How To Use Pool Flocculant

Before you use pool flocculant, make sure your pool filter has a “waste” setting. Remember, the coagulated particles cannot be removed by your filter, so you must be able to bypass your filter and vacuum the water out of your pool.

1. Set Filter to Recirculate

Turn your sand filter or DE filter multiport valve to “recirculate.” Do not allow pool flocculant to get into your filter. It’ll block everything up, rendering your filter useless until you replace the filter medium altogether.

2. Balance pH

Your pH should be between 7.4 and 7.6 before adding pool floc. Test your water levels. Then, adjust your pH with a pH increaser or pH decreaser.

3. Add Flocculant (Floc) to Pool Water

Add the correct amount of flocculant based on your size pool. If you need help figuring out your pool’s volume, you can use a pool calculator to help you. Be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions before adding any chemical to your water.

4. Circulate the Flocculant

Run the pool pump for two hours to circulate the floc throughout the water. Remember to keep your filter set to “recirculate,” not “filter.”

5. Let Pool Flocculant Sit for 8 Hours

Turn off your pump and allow the pool to sit for at least eight hours. This is easiest to do overnight. If you have an automatic timer set on your system, remember to turn it off.

6. Vacuum Particle Clumps Out of Pool

Set your pool filter to ”Waste” and connect your manual vacuum. If you don’t have a multiport valve, open your filter’s drain port and let the water drain out as you vacuum. And if you need help vacuuming your pool, be sure to check out our guide on How To Use A Manual Pool Vacuum.

As you vacuum the particle clumps from the bottom of your pool, the movement may stir up the particles and cloud your pool again. If this happens, take a break, allow the particles to settle, then begin vacuuming again. Try to move slowly. And you may need to vacuum two or three times to remove all the clumps.

7. Check Pool’s Water Level

If your water level has gone down (it likely will), use a garden hose with a filter to add fresh, clear water and bring the level back up where it needs to be. You can also keep the hose in the pool while you’re vacuuming, though this may also stir up the particles.

8. Test and Balance Water

Because you’ve removed and replaced water in your pool, you’ll need to rebalance your water chemistry. Test your pool water and adjust your Alkalinity and pH. Once those levels are balanced, add chlorine. Be sure to run your filter system normally when rebalancing your water.