pool water is foggy

Question
I swim regularly at a public swimming pool and am sensitive to the water, need to wear googles and nose clip or can't swim there. Recently the water has not been very clear, it has been cloudy. Does this mean that the chemicals are out of balance? Should I be concerned for my health?  

Answer
The reason you are probably so sensitive to the water is the chlorine used to keep the water clean. It can be a little harsh for some people. The water could be cloudy for a couple different reasons. 1. The balance could be off. The chlorine could be low, pH low or high, total alkalinity low or high or 2. They could have just added a high dose of chlorine all at one time to kill bacteria or algae. If thats the case, there is bleached out dead stuff in the water. As far as being concerned for your health...I would say dont worry about it. However, because it is a public pool and many different people could be bringing many different substances into the water, it is much more safe with a higher chlorine level.  If the chlorine drops below the normal level, its just like swimming in a lake otherwise. The pH of rain water is somewhere around 3-4 and pools almost never get that low, so you dont really need to worry about that. Total alkalinity is just the amount of dissolved solids in the water, so that you also dont need to worry about. Really, the only time you need to get concerned about your health is when you see what people call "pink algae". There is no such thing as pink algae, it's bacteria that has built up on the sides of the pool. If you are really concerned and nobody is there to tell you if the pool water is balanced, you can get your own testing kit or testing strips and see for yourself. That would set you back about $7-10 or less. I hope that answers your question.