Not ready to open the pool yet...

[PoolGai]

Hey All-

I have a quick question. I don't plan on opening my pool for another 6-8 weeks; however, the temps are getting up there (I'm in MD @ 70-80F this past week) and I'm noticing a little bit of green algae forming a ring close to the surface. My equipment is winterized and my cover is on.

Is it ok to add Clorox to a diluted 5 gallon bucket and circulate it around the surface through my mesh cover (I fully plan on hosing it down as well to prevent whitening the navy blue color). And, how much should I add? Is this effective in keeping the algae at bay or should I consider opening earlier than normal. I'm not a big fan of the pollen and helicopter seeds, which is why I wait until mid to late May.

Thanks again.

 

[zea3]

You should open by the thermometer not the calendar. If your water temps are getting in the 60-70 degree range you are going to start seeing algae blooms. The amount of bleach you would need to add to a 5 gallon bucket to treat a 30k gallon pool is going to be way too strong to pour through the mesh cover without damaging it. Assuming a CYA of 40ppm, you would need 6.5 jugs (96 ounce size) to bring the FC from 0 to 3. That is 4 gallons, 3 quarts of 6% bleach. You would have to mix a whole lot of 5 gallon buckets to dilute it enough to not harm your cover.

Before you decide to add bleach, test the water first. My numbers are based on an average BBB manually chlorinated pool, and I see you have an SWG. The recommendations from the pool calculator may be similar, but check first.

If you can run the pump with the cover on and the pool set to recirculate, you could add bleach through the skimmer. Run the pump for about an hour to mix it all in. If you do not have a recirculate option and your pool is debris free, you should remove the cartridge before adding the bleach.

 

[PoolGai]

So your recommendation is to test my water, then open my pool and shock it as I normally would? I suppose I could do all of that and keep the cover on, but I didn't necessarily want to open it this early and run my equipment yet. I'm not sure what the water temperature is, I was referring to the air temps...but I can check that as well.