Battling algae in your pool? Effective Solutions to Clear It Out

In this blog, we address the common problem of algae in swimming pools and share the most effective methods and products for removing it. We discuss various types of algae and their specific challenges and provide step-by-step guidance on treatments such as chemical balancing, shocking, and brushing. Additionally, we review the best pool cleaning products, including robotic pool cleaners, algaecides, and manual tools, highlighting their effectiveness in different scenarios. We also offer tips for preventing future algae growth, ensuring you maintain a clean and healthy pool environment. Our recommendations and advice are based on extensive real-world testing and expertise in pool maintenance, providing you with practical and reliable solutions for algae removal.

With over 20 years of experience in pool care and maintenance, we’ve helped numerous pool owners successfully tackle algae issues. Our insights into algae removal are rooted in a deep understanding of pool chemistry and cleaning technologies, ensuring you can efficiently restore the clarity and health of your pool.

How To Get Algae Off Bottom Of Pool

Getting Algae out of Pool Bottoms: Best Ways

You must perform routine maintenance on your in-ground or above-ground pool to keep the water clean and beautiful.

Maintaining the pH, calcium hardness, and chlorine levels of your water is easier with water test kits. The PPM measurements for each chemical should be adjusted as necessary.

For the pool to be cleaned and algae sloughed off, different solutions must be used. In order to prevent algae growth in your pool, you must clean your filtration system regularly and replace your filter as needed. In pools, cartridge and sand filters are the most common kinds of filters.

Sand filters are good investments because they require little maintenance and last for a long time. A process called backwashing is used to clean sand filters.

If the filter sand becomes clogged with dust, it becomes difficult to return clean water to the pool.

The drain valve is usually labeled “Waste” and should be flushed when the pressure gauge in the filter passes a certain threshold.

Cartridge filters are more effective at removing algae from swimming pools, but they need to be cleaned frequently. Cartridges typically last one to three years.

To clear the pool filter of debris, remove it from the pool when the filter’s pressure gauge increases beyond the manufacturer’s recommended level.

Cleaning pool bottom with a brush to remove algae

In order to remove any kind of pool algae, the first step is to loosen its bond to the walls or floors and then scrub vigorously. While cleaning a pool’s bottom, remove dirt.

Be sure to use a brush that won’t damage the surface of the pool when attempting to remove pink algae or other types. Pools made of plaster or gunite can only be cleaned with wire brushes. Nylon pool brushes work well on concrete, fiberglass, tile, and vinyl pools.

Some types of algae are harder to remove from your swimming pool than others, such as black algae. An outer layer that’s resistant to chlorine forms.

Make sure you scrub your pool surfaces thoroughly when removing black algae. As a result, chemical treatment is ineffective.

How to shock your pool’s water

A shock treatment involves adding chlorine or other chemicals to your pool water to increase the amount of free chlorine.

  • It is advisable to shock your pool once or twice a week during peak swimming season, depending on how often your pool is used. The best pH level for chlorine is between 7.2 and 7.8. Acidic water (below 7.0) is harmful to both swimmers and pools.
  • The potency of chlorine rapidly diminishes above pH 8.0. In order to kill algae, eliminate contaminants, and clear a cloudy pool, you need to shock your pool.
  • Clarifiers and flocculants are different from the chemicals used to kill brown algae in pools. The pool filter is better able to catch small particles in the pool water when the particles are consolidated into small clumps by the water clarifier.
  • By coagulating debris into large clumps, flocculant products make swimming pool maintenance easier.
  • In place of expensive pool shock chemicals, chlorine bleach can be used as a DIY substitute. SOD and chlorine bleach contain sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient.

In pool shock, about twice as much bleach is present as in household bleach. For a thousand gallons of water, use a half-cup of bleach, according to Clorox. Bleach treatment should be applied at night because sunlight quickly diminishes its potency.

Algaecide for Pools – DIY

The pool water should be treated with an algaecide after the initial shocking and brushing. This will kill any remaining algae cells. Cupro-based algaecides work by disrupting algae’s cellular processes.

Make your own algaecide by following these easy steps instead of using an expensive brand name treatment.

Using Baking Soda Pool Algicide

  • Baking soda, 1/2 cups.
  • Borax, 1/2 cups.
  • Bleach, 1 tablespoon.

Add enough bleach to make a paste from the baking soda and Borax. If your pool brush doesn’t remove algae as well as you would like, apply the paste. Borax and baking soda remove stains from pool walls and bottoms, as well as loosen algae roots.

Algae in the water are killed by chlorine bleach. You should also test your pool’s pH after applying baking soda, as it raises the pH.

How to vacuum algae out of a swimming pool

Skimmers are excellent tools for removing floating and suspended debris from pools. The bottom or sides of the pool need to be vacuumed in order to remove contaminants.

  • When your pool is treated with a flocculant, particles within the water clump together and are vacuumed into large clumps, so algae can be removed more easily.
  • A pool vacuum is usually set to run normally along with a pool filter. This option is appropriate if you are cleaning lightly or moderately.

If your pool has a large algae bloom, however, your vacuum machine may have to be set to “waste” or “drain”. Using the external drain, the contaminated water is bypassed.

How To Remove Dead Algae from Pool Bottom

Having a pool vacuum can be useful, but not necessary. Having a vacuum at the pool bottom makes removing algae a little easier, but it takes a little extra effort.

  1. Despite the presence of algae, a pool with a filter will be able to deal with it by filtering the water after cleaning the walls and the bottom.
  2. You can agitate the water with your hands or a garden hose to lift the algae on the bottom of the pool and send it to the filter after you scrub the bottom with the pool brush.
  3. It may be necessary to flush your pool filter partway through cleaning up your algae bloom if large clumps of algae clog your filter.
  4. The sediment and dead algae on the bottom of the pool can be collected with a pool brush or regular broom if the pool lacks a filtration system.
  5. Moving slowly will help you avoid allowing debris to spread too far into the water. Use a net or dustpan to collect algae and sediment after you’ve piled them up and gently remove them from the pool.
  6. You can lose the clarity of your pool even if it was once crystal clear. Algae blooms can usually be removed once they have begun, in addition to prevention.

Conclusion

The usual pool cleaning products, as well as either a vacuum or skimmer, as well as pool shock and flocculant, are necessary for pool cleaning. It won’t take long for your pool to look new if you’re willing to put some effort into it.