# Need answer fast - what could make a swimming pool boil furiously? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165 "2024-12-26T05:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/1 "2024-12-26T05:48:39Z")
It’s near midnight now at my apartment complex and the tenant swimming pool is bubbling and roiling furiously and sending out huge clouds of vapor. The area has a strong smell of chlorine. What causes this? Do such swimming pools have some sort of carbonation system? The apartment maintenance won’t check it out until tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/2 "2024-12-26T06:07:05Z")
Edit - it is **not** a hot tub ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/3 "2024-12-26T06:10:40Z")
> **[Why You Have Bubbles In Your Pool (3 Possible Reasons)](https://poolonomics.com/bubbles-in-pool/)** > > Among the many issues that can arise with pools, bubbles is one of them. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/4 "2024-12-26T07:02:44Z")
Thanks, great info. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/5 "2024-12-26T07:09:41Z")
Normal pool plumbing issues that cause bubbles don’t typically “roil furiously”. Is it possible that someone dumped dry ice into it? That will definitely roil and bubble furiously and will have a visible vapor as well. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uk-kOifNDCw/maxresdefault.jpg "Dry Ice in a Swimming Pool") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk-kOifNDCw) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/6 "2024-12-26T07:18:56Z")
Possible, but I doubt someone would play a prank like that here. And the bubbles have been boiling for so long that it seems a much longer amount of time than dry ice could last. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/7 "2024-12-26T07:23:44Z")
Do you have the ability to post a photo? If not, is it coming out of the “jets”? (If that doesn’t mean anything, pools are closed systems and jets are where the water enters the pool, much like you’d see in a hot tub or jacuzzi, but usually only a couple per pool) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/8 "2024-12-26T08:31:54Z")
Do you get the feeling the water is hot? Don’t go there unless it’s very safe. I can’t believe management isn’t on this. The Fire Dept. might be interested. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/9 "2024-12-26T13:52:37Z")
Could be geologic activity. Is there a volcano nearby? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/10 "2024-12-26T14:22:13Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The apartment maintenance won’t check it out until tomorrow. I would have guessed that, whatever it is, it was something that maintenance was doing deliberately. Maybe the process for adding the chlorinating chemicals produces bubbles while it’s being added? Also, is this an outdoor pool? In what climate? In most of the US, pools would be empty this time of year. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/11 "2024-12-26T14:28:50Z")
Thankfully, I am no longer a pool owner, but when I was, this sort of thing was usually caused by air being sucked into the skimmer. That creates lots of bubbles. The “steam” is most likely just caused by the pool being warmer than the air. Or magma upwelling. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/12 "2024-12-26T14:30:14Z")
We stayed in a hotel in Caldwell Idaho in early January where they had a full outdoor pool (there was a way to enter it from an inside foyer and swim under a glass wall). The outdoor surface of the pool bore a layer of foam peanuts. It was a few decades ago, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/13 "2024-12-26T14:34:34Z")
Volatile chemical content springs to mind. **Do Not Swim.** ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/14 "2024-12-26T14:38:10Z")
Well, if it enough chlorine to make the water roil, swimming would probably kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/15 "2024-12-26T14:51:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > We stayed in a hotel in Caldwell Idaho in early January where they had a full outdoor pool (there was a way to enter it from an inside foyer and swim under a glass wall). The outdoor surface of the pool bore a layer of foam peanuts. It was a few decades ago, though. In that part of the country, the pool might have been fed by a geothermal spring. I’ve been to a few such places. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/16 "2024-12-26T14:57:54Z")
It was not. It was a regular heated pool. The peanuts were just there for insulation and to reduce evaporation loss. Caldwell is in the meh-est part of the state. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/17 "2024-12-26T15:10:28Z")
Is it extremely cold? Could it be something like sea smoke? > **[Sea smoke](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_smoke)** > > Sea smoke, frost smoke, or steam fog is fog which is formed when very cold air moves over warmer water. Arctic sea smoke is sea smoke forming over small patches of open water in sea ice. > It forms when a light wind of very cold air mixes with a shallow layer of saturated warm air immediately above the warmer water. The warmer air is cooled beyond the dew point and can no longer hold as much water vapor, so the excess condenses out. The effect is similar to the "steam" produced over a hot bath... We live right on the ocean, and when the air temp gets close to 0 F, the water can become covered with a low layer of fog. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/18 "2024-12-26T15:37:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can’t believe management isn’t on this. A possible air leak in a pool, on a holiday? > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The Fire Dept. might be interested. Not unless there’s a suspicion of some hazardous chemical dumped into the pool to cause it or there’s another imminent danger to the community. At most, if they thought the pump was in danger of catching file they’d shut it off & do a lockout/tagout until a appropriate party comes to look at it. @Velocity is it an outdoor pool or an indoor one? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/19 "2024-12-26T16:37:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > the tenant swimming pool is bubbling and roiling furiously and sending out huge clouds of vapor. Still happenin’ today? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165/20 "2024-12-26T16:49:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In most of the US, pools would be empty this time of year. Who empties their pool in the winter, season after season? As a pool owner in the Northeast for over twenty years, I can attest that the water is usually only emptied out if there is some serious work that needs to be done. In my pool ownership years there were two times when I emptied it: when I had a new liner installed in the early 2000s, and when I had it filled in with dirt a few years back. To close a pool for the winter you put a tarp over it and winterize the plumbing. I eventually installed one of those fancy covers that stretch taught and they advertise with an illustration of an elephant standing on it. The cover was thick mesh so that rainwater would go right through but leaves would not go in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-what-could-make-a-swimming-pool-boil-furiously/1012165.md?page=2)