Tips for All Stages of Home Remodeling and Renovating

With temperatures rising and the sun shining all summer long, your entire family will start clamoring for a swim whether the pool is ready for it or not. If you notice a sudden flush of colored floating particles after filling your pool for the first time this season, you are likely facing an algae problem. Identify the type of algae you have by the color and shape of the particles to find the right treatment and prevent damage to the pool.

Considering Color

Scope out the water and check the color of the particles you are seeing. Common pool algae colors include

• Green, the most common color that spreads as a slime and floats through the water in small globs
• Black, a stubborn and damaging plant that sends roots down into the pool walls and creates a pitted surface, aging your pool very quickly
• Yellow, also appearing brown like dirt and spreading quickly

Are you looking at pink stains spreading around the filters and floor tiles? Unlike other types of algae, the pink blooms are actually bacterial colonies. They need the same general treatment as green slime.

Checking Growth Location

Where the algae is growing also helps you determine which specific water plant has landed in your pool. Green algae can float on the surface, cling to practically any wet part of the pool, and grow in big sheets or round spots. Black algae makes pencil eraser sized nubs on the walls and resists all efforts to remove it. Yellow or brown algae grows on surfaces in clumps, but usually only in the shady areas.

Treating the Problem

All three major types of pool algae need the same basic type of treatment, but with different steps and techniques to kill the more stubborn varieties. Try tactics like

• Shocking the pool once or twice to kill off large amounts of green algae and vacuuming the debris, then maintaining healthy pH and chlorine levels to prevent it from growing back
• Using multiple rounds of algaecides in pools with clinging black algae, interspersed with sessions of hard scrubbing with a brush matched to your pool's sides
• Adding extra chlorine to shock the pool and brushing every few days to loosen and kill off yellow and brown algae

While algae won't hurt anyone swimming in the pool, it does make the water slippery and cloudy. Black algae in particular can ruin your pool pretty quickly without proper treatment and maintenance. Prevent expensive pool repairs by keeping an eye on algae development. For more tips, contact a company like KrisCo Aquatech Pools & Spas.