Algae Archives - Trouble Free Pool

Defeating pool algae Before it Starts

Fighting off pool algae can often be difficult once it starts to develop in your pool. One of the best ways to manage the overall health of your pool is by working to prevent algae from forming in the first place. Simply maintain sufficient chlorine levels (or FC) in your pool at all times to make sure that algae will not form. Chemicals like algaecides or pool shock can grow expensive over time and are unnecessary. Once your pool starts to form a green film inside of it, clearing a green pool can be time …

Should you swim in a green pool and other sanitation related questions?

You’ve been planning all month long to host your daughters birthday party, and it’s all centered around that pool in the back yard. The weather is perfect and the grill is ready to go, but on the day you wake up to a mess of a pool. You now have a decision to make, take a risk and let the kids dive into the cloudy pool water or tell them no. Before making any decisions let’s take a minute and look if you really can swim in a green pool. Can you swim in a …

SLAM – Shock Level and Maintain

SLAMing your pool is the best way to eliminate algae, sanitize your pool and get your water crystal clear. If you have algae, or the CC level is above 0.5, or the free chlorine (FC) level is zero, you should SLAM the pool. You cannot do this overnight…it often takes several days to see it completed…no shortcuts. If you are maintaining proper FC levels there is no need to SLAM (or shock) weekly, or on any other regular schedule.

Algae

Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

The purpose of the overnight FC test (OCLT) is to determine if you have living algae, or other organic contaminates, in your water. If you do, you need to SLAM, or continue SLAMing, the pool. This test is most useful to confirm that the SLAMing process is complete, and can also be useful if you are unsure if there is a problem or not.

Algae

Mustard Algae

Mustard algae is a particularly persistent kind of algae, that appears to go away when you SLAM the pool normally, only to reappear as soon as you come back down to normal chlorine levels. It tends to grow in clumps on surfaces at normal chlorine levels, and varies from a true “mustard” yellow to green with hints of yellow. It can also grow free floating in the water if the chlorine level is low enough.

Algae

Black Algae

Black algae can be the bane of pool ownership. The spores enter swimming pools through the air and can take root in the plaster of an inadequately chlorinated pool. These roots, along with the waxy protective barrier it forms around itself, make it particularly difficult to remove. When it comes to black algae, an ounce of prevention is worth two tons of cure. Anyone who has ever dealt with a black algae infestation can attest to this. It is far better to avoid black algae by focusing your efforts on maintaining the proper chlorine (FC) …