The Importance of Brushing?

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H

HofstraJet

0
May 31, 2011
96
Coral Springs, FL (near Ft. Lauderdale)
I was out of town and came home to a slightly green-tinged pool. Easy enough to fix with SLAM, but I noticed a brownish line of algae running all around the pool right at the corner where the walls and floor meet. Brushing it does cause the line to lessen (and likely disappear if I keep brushing).

Do I need to brush this algae or will it be killed during SLAM and be a non-issue? I always see everyone talk about brushing, but I never do and as long as I maintain my chlorine levels, I have never seen an issue. Am I missing something?

Thanks!
 
HofstraJet said:
What does the brushing do that the high FC level won't? I guess that's what I'm missing. Whenever I have an algae issue, once I SLAM, the pool is clear and looks great. What does the brushing add? Speed things up? Something else?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Brushing helps to break everything loose so it can be filtered out or vacuumed out. It is important to brush a few times a week under normal conditions. During a SLAM you should brush a couple times a day.
 
Algae builds a biofilm over itself and builds in layers. Brushing breaks down the layers and exposes more algae to more chlorine faster. After the SLAM I think it is just for maintenance to keep dust and dirt stirred up, knock anything loose that might be sticking, prevent buildup if you have calcium issues knock any little bits of algae off that might be growing, etc.
 
The velocity of water at the surface of the pool is zero. Water circulation in a pool is not the same everywhere in a pool and in particular there is very little circulation in corners unless a return happens to be pointed directly towards one close by. Plaster pool surfaces in particular are not perfectly smooth and have nooks and crannies where algae can grow because locally the FC level drops due to the lack of water circulation. This is particularly true in areas where any sun hits the pool because sunlight depletes chlorine so even if an area started out with chlorine, sunlight will break it down and without circulation new chlorine will not quickly take its place.

So brushing first and foremost mixes the water to expose the plaster surface to the proper FC/CYA level that can kill algae. Second, it physically removes any algae or bacteria that have started to grow, including that which forms biofilms.
 
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