Keep Your Sanitizer Levels Up
For most folks, this means your chlorine needs to be kept at optimal levels, all day, every day. This is also why we’re such big advocates of salt chlorine generators at River Pools, as they manage to keep a consistent level of chlorine in the pool at all times, preventing the growth of algae in the first place. And for those of you not using salt, make sure to shock your pool at least weekly during this time of year.
Pool Algae Control & Prevention
Pool algae occurs for many reasons. Low or inconsistent chlorine levels, faulty pool filtration and poor water circulation may be to blame. Preventing pool algae from flourishing helps to keep your pool operational so you can enjoy it all season long.
- The key to an algae-free pool is regular maintenance. Here are some tips to help you prevent algae from flourishing again.
- Test and balance your pool water weekly. The ideal pH range for swimming pools is 7.2 – 7.6.
- Check your filtration system weekly to ensure its working to properly circulate the water.
- Brush the pool surfaces weekly to remove algae that may be building up.
- Shock your pool water weekly to remove contaminants and clear up cloudy water.
- Add a preventative dose of an algaecide to your pool every week after shocking. Algaecides not only kill algaethey can prevent its growth as well.
- Clean all toys and swimwear that have been in natural bodies of water before allowing them into the pool to prevent the transfer of algae.
Now that you know how to get rid of algae in the pool, you’ll be able to help prevent it with easeand treat it when necessary. The sooner you tackle the algae problem, the easier it is to get rid of green algae, black algae and mustard algae. The Home Depot delivers online orders when and where you need them. Shop pool chemicals, accessories and algaecides, and have them delivered as soon as the same day.
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How To Treat Mustard Algae
Mustard algae is yellow in color, and its rarer than green algae. Its also more difficult to remove. Mustard algae typically looks like yellowish-brown or dirt-colored spots on the floor and walls of your pool, often in shadier spots. Although mustard algae is fairly easy to brush away from the pool surface, it can quickly return.
One of the main reasons why mustard algae is so difficult to remove is that it can adhere to anything that enters the pool. Once you remove the algae, thoroughly clean everything that has been in touch with the water, including toys and swimsuits. To remove mustard algae from your pool, follow these steps:
- Test and balance your pool chemical levels using a test kit.
- Boost any residual chlorine by adding a quality pool shock product according to label directions.
- Use a pool brush to vigorously scrub the surfaces where the algae has grown.
- Use a vacuum or backwash the pool to remove the dead algae.
- Apply a mustard algaecide following the label directions.
- Allow the water to circulate for 24 hours.
- Use a pool vacuum or backwash the pool again to remove the remaining dead algae. In persistent cases, brush the pool and apply algaecide once more after two to four days.
After treating, test and balance your pool chemicals and levels again. The ideal ranges are:
- Free chlorine
- pH
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Eliminate Algae Of All Types
The goal is to never have algae. Test your water regularly, keep your filter clean and in good working order, and be sure to treat your water after big pool parties. Using a floating pool skimmer and chemical dispenser like the Solar-Breeze NX2 or newest Ariel by Solar-Breeze will remove debris from the surface of your pool before it has a chance to sink, decay, and turn into food for algae. With careful pool maintenance, algae can be one thing you do not have to worry about.
Keep The Pool Cover Clean
For one thing, if you keep the cover clean during the time the pool is either closed or simply not in use, it make opening it up again next season a lot less bother. More importantly, though, if you allow your pool cover whatever type youre using to build up leaves and debris, its all too easy for the build-up to disintegrate, turn into sludge and mush, and either slide or be washed by rain water into the pool as a semi-liquid lunch for algae.
Even if youre using a winter pool cover, allowing leaves and dirt to build up on the cover surface and mix with rain water to become a bacterial soup risks, when you try and take the cover off, having the whole lot slide into your otherwise clean pool.
So, throughout the winter, clean the leaves and debris off your cover. Also, if water starts building up on your cover, use a cover pump and maybe also a scoop net to drain the cover surface.
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Keep A Watchful Eye On Your Pool All Year Long
The two most important steps in owning an algae-free pool is to maintain a cleaning schedule and to watch for any signs of algae growth. Keeping your maintenance schedule will keep nearly all of the algae spores from developing into blooms, but you should always be watching your pool for any algae that may be growing in hard-to-see areas such as pool steps or ladders. This also means frequent check-ups of your pool, even while it is closed for winter. Clean and check your pool regularly and you should have an algae-free pool and happy swimmers!
DIY TIP: Always use caution when cleaning and adding chemicals to your pool. Never mix chemicals before adding them to your pool, and always read directions and follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer to ensure the highest level of safety.
For more on algae prevention, contact or visit your local Leslie’s store.
Use A Vacuum To Remove Dirt And Debris
Along with brushing and scrubbing, vacuuming your pool is a great way to help prevent algae growth. Brushing the pool walls will dislodge most algae spores that are clinging to the surface, but these spores often simply settle at the bottom of the pool. Using a vacuum, or one of many automatic pool cleaners, you can eliminate most of the dirt, debris, and contaminants that find their way into your pool.
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How Does Algae Form In A Pool
The main cause of algae growth is through algae spores. These are usually blown in with the wind. They can also travel through swimsuits or swimming gear.
Maybe you wore your swimsuit and swam inside another pool recently. Your clothing might catch on these algae spores.
If you didnt wash your swimsuit after returning from another pool, then the spores can very easily travel to your pool once you take a dip in it.
Other than this, pool cleaning equipment can also cause the transfer of these algae spores.
Algae need a certain environment to grow rapidly, and this includes:
- Excessive sunlight
- Presence of certain compounds inside the water
Apart from these, lack of filtration and sanitation in your pool can also make it a breeding ground for algae.
If your pool is used by numerous people, then the algae has a higher chance of growth. It feeds off the bacteria and contaminants that travel with the peoples bodies.
Whats worse is that algae are present at nearly every swimming pool. Since theyre really small at the beginning, this makes them hard to detect.
All algae needs are the right conditions to grow.
Too Late To Prevent Ithow Do I Kill Algae
First off, balance your water, paying particular attention to pH, as your chlorine is much more active in the low end of the range, 7.1-7.3. Secondly, check that your filter and pump are operating properly. Shut off the pool heater if you have one, to lower the water temperature. Adjust valves for optimum circulation and allow it the pump to run 24 hours a day until the pool clears. Turn on pool cleaners to help stir things up. Backwash as necessary, but only when pressure rises by at least 5 psi, or the flow rate is noticeably diminished.
Brush the walls and floors towards the main drain on a daily basis, and vacuum as needed. Using a flocculent may be a good choice after shocking, if the pool is extremely “swampy”. If you cannot see the bottom of the pool, and it is filled with leaves and debris, it may be wise to drain the pool, acid wash and refill it . It is nearly impossible to restore clear water to a pool that is very dirty with debris. Another option is to drain half the water, and refill with fresh water, while removing as much debris as possible.
Test the water the following day for pH and chlorine. If the chlorine level is still very high, thatâs good â if it has dropped to zero within 24 hours, you may have missed the mark, and will need to shock the pool again, using slightly more this time.
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How To Prevent Algae In Pools
How do you control or prevent algae? Pool algae also requires that your circulation, water balance, sanitation and filtration are all in full operation. If one of these is underperforming or inconsistent, it makes a good environment for algae to bloom.
The best way to prevent algae in pools is with consistent chlorine levels of 2-4 ppm, with long, effective daily filter runs, good water balance, and weekly use of a good pool algaecide. In short, you can control and prevent algae in pools if you create a harsh environment for algae:
- Good water balance pH 7.2, Alk 100 ppm, Cal 200 ppm, Cya 30-50
- Good water filtration two turnovers per day, 16-18 hours total run time
- Good water circulation brushing, eyeball fittings, pool cleaners can help
- Good water sanitation keep consistent daily chlorine levels of 2-4 ppm
- Supplemental Sanitizers can help Minerals, Ozone or UV treatment
- Good quality pool algaecide weekly maintenance doses
Which Method Is Best
We would choose Method #1: Getting Rid Of Pool Algae By Shocking every day of the week. By using this method, you’re keeping it simple by focusing on chlorine and acid, while using your filtration system to bring it back to life. It tends to be a bit of a work-in-progress and can take 1, 2 or even 3 weeks, depending on the state of your pool, but it’s definitely the easiest. But if you don’t like the process of measuring out and mixing and matching, you can always go for the Water TechniX Green Pool Bundle that has our specially formulated Tri-Shock. The Tri-Shock has cyanuric acid built-in to it that extends the protection given by the chlorine ensures that your pool stays clean and crystal clear! Not only that, it also comes with a clarifying cube that you can pop into your skimmer basket to catch those tiny dead algae particles that cloud up your pool!
It never hurts to be prepared, Because of the heavy rain on the east coast of Australia, we’ve created this Water TechniX Ultimate Green Pool Bundle as a go-to solution to turn that green pool blue! Packed with some of the most potent chemicals required to shock the pool and see results within hours, not weeks!
Do you have any questions about this topic or the featured products? No worries, we’re here to help! Head over to our Contact Us page and drop our friendly team of pool pro’s a line.
Happy swimming 🙂
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Test Your Pool Water Again
Make sure your water chemistry is balanced and your chlorine level is back to normal before anyone gets back into the water. Adjust your alkalinity, pH, and chlorine levels as needed. You may also want to test your cyanuric acid and calcium hardness levels since youve removed water from your pool and replaced it with fresh water.
Algae: What Swimming Pool Owners Need To Know
Category : Maintenance
There is nothing quite like looking out over the sparkling blue water in your swimming pool. But every now and then, you see something in your pool that shouldnt be there: algae.
When you see algae in your swimming pool, its the first indicator that something has gone wrong. Luckily, its easy to identify and control algae outbreaks in your pool.
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How Do I Get Rid Of Algae In My Pool Naturally
Grab a brush and some baking soda. Bicarbonate, the active ingredient in baking soda, is an effective spot treatment to help kill the algae and loosen it from the wall. Make sure you really get every last particle free black algae has particularly long and stubborn roots which makes it a persistent strand.
Clean Your Filterwith More Than A Hose
The water that goes through your filter comes back out into your pool, remember? So now imagine that your filter has microscopic deposits of algae from when you shocked your pool and turned on your pump. Yeah, lets make sure that algae isnt coming back in. Youll need to clean your filter, meaning a chemical rinse if you have a cartridge filter and a backwash if you have a sand or D.E. filter. But my recommendation? Just replace the filter media entirely. Its not risking a return of the plant youve already worked so hard to get out of there.
Always looking to cut operating costsespecially if you get even better perfomance as a result? Try the 1.5 HP Variable Speed Blue Torrent Thunder In-Ground Swimming Pool Pumpit pays itself off in under a year, is eligible for rebates, and also comes with a lifetime warranty. As customer Eric D says, Day one, I fired this pump up and it ran clean and fast.
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Category Four Yellow Algae
Mustard algae likes to stick to your pool walls in shaded areas. Its difficult to get rid of once it takes hold, and it forms in sheets. You could spend weeks trying to get rid of it because its so easy to re-contaminate your pool. Small pockets can cling to pool toys, cleaning equipment, or inside the pool filter, and it is resistant to chlorine.
Keeping Algae Out Of The Pool By Other Means
Algae can enter your pool in other ways as well. So how do you keep algae out of your pool? Ideally, its best to rinse everything off before it enters the pool.
Algae can enter the pool on swimmers, swimsuits, toys, and pool equipment. Algae is a microscopic plant that can transfer from clothing or equipment that can spread by feeding on bacteria. So wash off before getting into the pool to prevent pool algae and large quantities of bacteria from entering the water.
The same goes for your pool equipment and toys. Algae can easily attach to any surface of everyday items that enter the water, creating an ideal environment to colonize and spread. Rinsing off your equipment and toys before entering the pool will keep algae out of your pool.
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How To Prevent And Treat Mustard Algae In Your Pool
Louie Warco
While mustard can be the perfect condiment for your hot dog, sandwich or hamburger, you never want to see mustard algae, also known as yellow algae, in your pool or spa.
If left untreated mustard algae can wreak havoc on your pool surfaces, equipment and water quality, but luckily it is treatable and preventable. With simple steps, you can enjoy crystal clear, healthy water without mustard algae or the threat of it forming again.
To identify, treat and prevent mustard algae in your pool or spa water, follow our steps below.
But Why Did I Get Algae In The First Place
This is a tough one, because again: it could just have been a microscopic piece of algae on a swimsuit or pool toy that gets your pool growing. But good sanitizer levels, proper circulation, precise chemical balance, and consistently removed debris? These are sure to do a little damage against algae. Theres also more you can do, like some specific routine maintenance measures and a tiny bit of algaecide.
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Run The Filter Regularly
If theres one thing that algae love almost as much as an under-chlorinated pool, its stagnant water. So, unless youve actually closed your pool, make sure to run your filter for 2 separate cycles of 1- hours each per day.As a money saving tip, set your timer to run at night so that you can take advantage of off-peak electricity rates.
How To Get Rid Of Algae In Your Pool In 13 Steps
Sometimes despite our best efforts to prevent them, those sneaky little spores find a way in and start to grow.
Maybe you just didnt have time to maintain your swimming pool the way you meant to or maybe your filter got clogged without you noticing.
Either way, you have a problem and now you just need to know how to fix it.
Removing algae may not be rocket science, but it does require a bit of biology.
It will certainly take some time and a little hard work, but with the proper steps and equipment, youll be an algae-killing expert in no time.
If you follow these steps to the letter, you’ll most likely be able to remove all the algae growth from your pool, but if you find some lurking behind, repeat the steps until its clean.
Are you ready to get to work? Great! Lets get started.
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