Cloudy water when solar pool heater is turned on.

[poolish]

I am new here and did my best to find an answer in this forum before posting. So please excuse me if I am in the wrong forum or did not find an answer that already exists.

I have an old Favco solar pool heating system that has worked just fine for the past three summers I have owned my home in Arcadia, CA. Jim Bell of Bell Solar Systems - now owned by Tenco - worked for Favco and estimated the system was about 30 years old!

On the 2 occasions I have turned on the solar system this year the pool has become murky. The first time was very bad (whiteish cloudy, unable to see the bottom) so we turned off the system. It happened again when I turned on the system yesterday, though the water was nowhere near as cloudy (not whitish but hazy. I can easily see the bottom. My pool guy is unable to source the problem. Tenco Solar is coming next week to look and I have used them in the past to repair leaks in the panels. They seem to know their stuff about systems but I wanted to get some advance idea, if possible about the likelihood of the solar system being the cause. And if it may be, why now?

Many thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Have you found an answer? We had a similar problem, different brand of solar heater etc. Pool guy said that the temperatures were so high and fluctuating that unless we ran the heater each day, the water trapped in the solar tubes was growing bacteria. When they entered the pool, they multiplied even more rapidly because we couldn't see them and didn't increase our chlorine or algae treatments. Hope you get it sorted!

[Cjc]

I'd love to know the answer to this too. My sand filter is on a timer set for morning and afternoon and during the week is brilliant, crystal clear water and the water from the solar heating on the roof heats the water nicely on warm days.
I noticed recently that, on weekends when I've got the creepy crawly on and I've turned the filter on for longer, the water starts to come out cloudy.
Its annoying because you see the lovely pool all week, turn the filter on to help heat the pool that little bit extra on a Saturday morning, get the kids ready, friends might pop over and the pools gone all cloudy.

[PhD43]

What you need to do it get your pool water circulating better so the filter can collect the particulates that make your pool water cloudy. I had problems with cloudy pool water and my pool store suggested that I purchase the circulator. I have not had a problem with cloudy pool water for years now. I replaced all my fixed wall returns with the circulators and my pool came alive. What a difference it made in my pool. I don't fight with algae anymore either. It is a low cost item and within a month the circulators paid for themselves and I am much happier with my hassle free pool.