The safest first move is usually a separating test, not another product. The Pool Problem Solver ranks plausible causes from what you can actually observe, shows which check can distinguish them, and names the point where owner troubleshooting should stop. It never calculates a chemical dose or presents a ranked branch as a confirmed diagnosis.
Evidence-led triage
Pool Problem Solver
Describe the visible symptom and a few system observations. The solver ranks plausible branches, identifies the safest next check, and states when to stop. It does not diagnose with certainty or calculate a chemical dose.
What this solver can—and cannot—do
Version one covers common water appearance, circulation, filter, and robotic-cleaner symptoms already supported by Hydropolis research. Your answers are evaluated by a local, versioned rule set. No AI service receives them, and the public result does not become a chemical prescription.
| The solver uses | The solver refuses to infer |
|---|---|
| Visible symptom and recent event | A named contaminant from color or texture alone |
| Flow and pressure relative to your own baseline | A universal PSI, runtime, or equipment setting |
| Deepest-point visibility and test confidence | That clear-looking water is automatically safe |
| Exact manuals, labels, and primary guidance | A chemical amount, product mixture, or universal wait time |
| Published stop conditions | That owner service is safe inside a pressure vessel, motor, battery, or sealed electrical unit |
How to get a more useful result
- Choose the closest primary symptom, even when several things look wrong.
- Compare flow and filter pressure only at the same pump speed, valve positions, and accessory state used for the clean-system baseline.
- Choose “unknown” when you have not checked something. The ranking treats missing evidence as missing evidence.
- For water symptoms, verify the test method is in date and operating inside its stated range.
- Start with the top safe separating test. Re-run the solver if that observation changes the facts.
Close the pool or stop the equipment first when…
- The deepest point is not clearly visible.
- A pump has no confirmed flow or will not hold prime.
- A filter vessel leaks, bulges, will not vent, or shows abnormal high pressure.
- Electrical equipment, a charger, battery, cable, or connector is wet, damaged, hot, swollen, or giving off an odor.
- Storm water may have reached electrical equipment or introduced contaminated runoff.
Continue with the exact diagnostic
Use the result as a route into a full guide. Water branches connect to the Pool Problems hub, including green water with a high chlorine reading and cloudiness after shock. Equipment branches connect to checks such as low filter pressure, sand returning through the system, and a robotic cleaner that will not climb walls.
When the branch depends on cleaner capability rather than a fault, compare the accepted evidence in the Robotic Pool Cleaner Finder and Equipment Library. A finder can return no result; a missing exact-model relationship is not permission to substitute a similar-looking cleaner or part.
Method and evidence boundary
The published method is pool-problem-solver-v1, reviewed July 29, 2026. Rules are source-controlled, deterministic, bounded to three plausible branches, and tested with fixed fixtures. Ranking weights only explicit observations; they are not probabilities, laboratory measurements, product ratings, or evidence that Hydropolis physically tested a pool or product.
Primary safety and water-testing context comes from the CDC’s home pool water treatment and testing guidance and healthy swimming prevention guidance. Product-label boundaries use the EPA’s pool “shock” labeling guidance. Equipment branches use exact manufacturer manuals and support material cited in the linked Hydropolis guide. An exact product label, manual, jurisdiction, or qualified professional overrides a general triage route.