Prevent Algae From Returning
All the algae should be dead and sitting at the bottom of your pool at this point. The dead algae is likely too fine to be vacuumed through your sand filter, therefore owners of sand filters must vacuum on the waste setting. Cartridge filter owners can vacuum up the dead algae but need to clean the filters thoroughly after doing so.
In the evening, chlorinate your pool with HTH Extra followed by adding a Phosphate Eliminating product to your skimmer to prevent algae from returning.
How To Stop Your Pool From Going Green By Keeping It Clean
Another simple step in how to keep your pool from turning green is blocking algae spores from entering and growing in the first place. A common way that algae are introduced into pool water is when the wind blows organic material such as leaves, pollen, and dirt, and they land in the pool. If these are allowed to remain in the water and break down, the leftover debris creates a breeding ground in which algae can bloom.
Two methods for how to prevent pool algae from growing are:
1. Keep your pool covered when it isnt in use, especially when its going to be windy.2. Consistently vacuum your pool, and skim it manually as needed.
How To Shock Your Swimming Pool
Shocking your pool water is an essential step in keeping it clean. Also referred to as super-chlorinating, shocking is when you add three to five times your normal amount of chlorine or other pool cleaning chemical for a short period of time.
This helps pool owners to remove kill bacteria, organic substances and ineffective chlorine amounts. We recommend that you shock your pool weekly to prevent algae from infecting your pool.
Tips For Shocking Your Swimming Pool
Heres some tips and tricks that we found about how to make shocking swimming pool that little bit easier:
- Do it after dark: This will prevent the suns rays from affecting the chemicals that you are using to clean your pool water
- Prepare your chemical solution in a bucket next to the filter you are going to pour it into so that you dont have to wobble around with a big bucket of chemicals
- Do readings after applying your chemicals and before reentering the pool to ensure that you have added enough cleaning solution
- ALWAYS wear gloves when handling hazardous chemicals
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How To Kill And Prevent Pool Algae
Not all pool algae is created equal. Identifying your type of pool algae is the first step to curing your algae woes for good.
Not all pool algae is created equal. There are three main types of algae that are found in swimming pools: green, mustard and black. Green pool algae is the most common type and the easiest to treat and prevent. Green algae usually floats freely and may result in green-looking pool water.
Mustard pool algae clings to your pool surfaces and may resemble yellow or brown dust or slime. This tough to treat algae can reoccur and is resistant to chlorine. Black pool algae are the most stubborn. Black algae attach firmly to pool surfaces and form a protective crust.
Identifying your type of pool algae is the first step to curing your algae woes for good. Follow these steps to treat and prevent all types of pool algae.
Test and Balance Water
Always begin by testing your pool water. Your test results will tell you if your water parameters are unbalanced. Pay special attention to your Free Chlorine level. Low Free Chlorine can cause algae to grow in your pool water. Always maintain Free Chlorine between 1 -4 ppm. If needed, apply the appropriate chlorine and sanitizers to restore adequate sanitizer levels.
Clean Pool Water and Surfaces
Apply a Shock Treatment
Crystal clear water starts by applying a pool shock. Shocking your pool water helps to remove contaminants that may cause algae to grow and helps to improve water filtration.
Apply an Algaecide
Always Keep Sanitizer Within The Desired Range
Algae spores are constantly finding their way into your pool, but they usually are killed by the chlorine or other sanitizers before they ever grow into blooms. However, when the sanitizer levels get too low, these spores can quickly grow and begin to cling onto pool surfaces.
If you use chlorine to keep your pool sanitized, the level should stay between 2.0 and 4.0 parts per million . To help maintain a safe and effective level of chlorine in your pool, Leslies recommends using either an automatic or a floating chlorinator . Both automatic and floating chlorinators feed a constant amount of chlorine into your pool, and prevent the chlorine level from dropping below the effective range.
If you are using another type of sanitizer, make sure it is also within the desired range.
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Brush Your Pool Walls And Floor
Scrubbing the algae off your pool walls lets your sanitizer get deeper into the remaining algae. It also stirs up the sediment youve brushed off so it can be killed and filtered out.
Using a stiff pool brush on a pole, brush the walls and floor of your pool. Pay special attention to corners and shady areas where algae is usually worst. As you go, your water will become cloudy, obstructing your view, so get those tough spots first.
What Problems Can Algae Cause
The first noticeable problem is that no one seems to want to go swimming. The second problem is that it requires effort and money to rid the water completely of algae. Third, once you experience a large algae bloom, it becomes easier for future algae blooms to occur. It is therefore best to use preventative pool algae chemicals and techniques to constantly control algae and prevent a bloom from occurring.
Algae can cloud and color the water, making rescue attempts difficult and reducing depth perception of a diver. Algae is not harmful to swimmers per se, but pools with algae may also be a safe harbor for pathogens like E-coli bacteria.
In addition to clogging up sanitation pathways in the water, algae also clogs up the pores in a pool filter, decreasing filter effectiveness and requiring more backwashing or filter media replacement.
It can hide deep in the crevices of a filter or in rough spots on pool plaster and tile, or behind the pool light and under the ladder treads. Some strains of pool algae will send roots into the plaster, and slowly degrade and stain pool surfaces. Algae can even grow under vinyl pool liners, on the walls or floor beneath the liner.
Algae create a chlorine demand in the water for itself, consuming chlorine that should be working on other contaminants. As it expels carbon dioxide, the pH level of pool water can rise.
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Check You Pool On A Regular Basis
Its all too easy to ignore the pool in winter, but if you want to make sure that uninvited algae doesnt start taking up residence then being vigilant can save a lot of time and money later.
So, when youre cleaning your pool cover, checking the chemical balance, or generally casting an eye over the pool to make sure that everything is in order, take a squint inside the pool to detect any early signs of possible algae growth. As weve already said, algae grows more slowly in winter, so its easier to spot the warning signs early on and take the necessary measures.
If you spot algae beginning to form, apply a shock treatment early on, and follow up a day or two later with an algaecide.
Quick Note: there are 2 different types of algaecides some are preventatives, some are treatments. If you see algae forming in your pool, make sure you use an algaecide treatment.
How To Kill Algae In Pools
How do you Kill Algae? Pool algae treatments require that your circulation, water balance, sanitation and filtration all be working at their best, or with most potency. A clean pool is also important, vacuum and skim the pool to remove large debris before treating for algae.
Small, isolated blooms can be treated locally with granular chlorine or a good quality pool algaecide, followed by a stiff brushing. Algae growing over larger sections of the pool, or suspended in the water will require a strong dose of chlorine pool shock, or granular chlorine, to kill the algae.
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How To Identify Treat And Prevent Pool Algae
Algae is a unique plant form thats comprised of a single cell. It uses the process of to create its own food, which means that it can continue to grow and develop solely by having access to sunlight. Because of how tiny these plants can be, you wont notice them in your pool until several million have accumulated. The growth of algae is particularly rapid during the hot summer months of July and August.
The most effective way to get rid of algae growth is by preventing algae in the first place. If you ever notice algae in your pool, you should treat it before you and any other members of your home swim in it. To begin, once youve scrubbed the pool and have turned on the water filter, you will need to wait at least 24 hours for the water to be properly filtered. It is also possible that you will need to treat the pool several times before all of the algae is eliminated. This means that it could take upwards of a week to eliminate the algae in your pool depending on how extensive the issue is. The following article will provide you with an in-depth guide on how to effectively identify, treat, and prevent pool algae.
Take Care Of Your Pump
Algae likes to grow in stagnant water, so you need to make sure your swimming pools water is always circulating.
Clogged or under-performing pumps will create an optimum environment for algae to get comfortable.
At least twice a week, you should check and clean your skimmers and pump strainers.
> > Read: How to troubleshoot your pool pump
Its a good idea to give them a good rinse-off outside the pool to wash away any spores that are too small to see.
Sand or D.E. filters need to be backwashed regularly, and there are some cleaning solutions made just for this purpose for a little extra cleaning power.
Always run your pump around 10 hours a day during heavy swim season to keep the water moving.
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How To Treat Algae In Pool
After diagnosing your pools condition, figuring out what type of algae is growing, and planning your new regime, there are a dozen ways to get rid of the infestation. The best time to start trying to rid your water of algae is at the brightest, hottest time of the day. At this time, algae grow at its most rapid rate, meaning the treatments will be most effective then.
How To Recognize Black Algae
To keep you and your family safe, youre going to need to be able to identify black algae as soon as it rears its ugly head. Then, youll need to take decisive action to get rid of it.
Cyanobacteria looks like a bunch of tiny black dots or huge mold clumps with raised heads that adhere to surfaces . It may appear more blue-green than black. Youll often find black algae in areas such as along a wall, in the deep end, in a corner, or around steps or ladders. These are usually areas of your pool where the circulation is poor. This means little or no freshwater, algaecide, or sanitizer gets there.
You wont find it as much in pools with vinyl or fiberglass liners. Instead, it prefers rough surfaces such as concrete, gunite, or plaster pools because they have porous surfaces the organism can stick to. The bacteria even shoots its roots down into cracks, making it even harder to eradicate.
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How To Keep Your Pool Maintained And Algae Free In Winter
How To Prevent & Destroy Algae In Your Swimming Pool
- |November 27, 2018
If youre reading this, youre no doubt aware that removing and/or preventing the spread of pool algae can be easier said than done.
Its not all bad news, though.
The more informed you are about the problem, the better your chance of removing pool algae from your life for good.
Thats why, today, Im gonna you the skinny on not only how to remove algae from your swimming pool, but also how to prevent it from ever coming back.
Skip to:
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Fix A Green Pool In 5 Easy Steps
Maybe you lifted up your winter cover to open your pool and were surprised by bright green water. Or maybe the algae crept up on you one faithful day during swim season.
Dont worry. It happens to the best of pool owners. And luckily, theres plenty you can do to win the battle against algae and reclaim your pool.
In this post, show you how to fix a green pool in just 5 steps. If you follow these steps, you can get rid of your pool algae problem in just a few days or less.
Heres a quick summary of how to fix a green pool:
Thats the whole process right there, but you probably have a few questions now, like:
How much do I lower my pools pH?
How much shock do I need to kill pool algae?
How can I remove pool algae faster?
We answer all those questions and more in the next few paragraphs, so keep reading and lets fix your green pool once and for all.
Vacuum Your Pool Regularly
Picking up the algae by vacuuming it leaves it in the water for only a short time and keeps it from re-appearing. So, vacuuming must be done regularly to keep your pool clean.
There are several reasons why vacuuming is a good way to keep your pool clean. One of the most obvious is that it removes dirt and leaves from the pool. It also prevents insects and parasites from breeding by removing their habitats, such as branches, leaves, and other vegetation.
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Test And Balance The Water
Make sure the chemical balance of your pool water is at its optimal level. This way, youll know precisely how much pool shock to use. Use either a liquid test kit or test strips. Dont worry about calcium hardnessfocus on pH, alkalinity, and sanitizer.
Heres where the levels should be:
- alkalinity: 100 ppm to 150 ppm
- pH: 7.4 to 7.6
- chlorine: 1 ppm to 3 ppm
How to Raise pH in Pool
If you find out the pH level of your pool is low, there are a couple of things you can do to raise it:
- Add Soda ASH: Soda ash or sodium bicarbonate have lots of alkalinity, easily dissolve in water, and dont leave much of a trace. Adding either of them will decrease acidity and raise pH levels of your pool water.
- Aerate The Water: This can be done by pointing water jets towards the pool surface, by turning on water features, or adding aeration pipes. However, doing this is a lengthy process, and can take days.
How To Treat Mustard Algae
If your pool has mustard or yellow algae, youll know it by its color. Because this type of algae is deficient in chlorophyll , it is easy to spot. You can also tell this type of algae because of how easy it is to brush away from pool walls and floors. And although yellow or mustard algae grows slower than green algae, its not easy to destroy.
Heres the thing: by the time you spot this type of algae growing in your pool, its probably already been there for up to several weeks. And because these algae live in dark places of your pool like the filters and plumbing fixtures, it can be hard to seeand control.
If you need to treat yellow or mustard algae, its important to use an algaecide that is specifically formulated to treat this typea copper-based algaecide is recommended. But because this type of algae is so difficult to control, you may have to treat it more than once to finally rid your pool of it.
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How To Get Rid Of Algae In Pool Naturally Using Uv Light Treatment
Ultra-Violet light has long been used as an effective way to kill algae in garden and Koi ponds. Now, these systems are being made to work in swimming pools too. All this takes is making the size of the UV bulbs a little bigger so they can sanitize the increased volume of water in a swimming pool. They are an algae killing system that is proving to be very effective at controlling algae growth in backyard pools.
How do UV light systems help keep algae from growing in a swimming pool? They actually mutate the DNA of the algae when it passes over the light in the sanitization chamber of the device. When this happens, it prevents and inhibits the growth of the algae particles.
