Other uses for DE?

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AprilNC

AprilNC

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Jul 1, 2013
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So, I'm thinking about adding some DE to my sand filter ... I am guessing that it will be the best way for dealing with the yellow pine pollen that I can't do anything about other than skimmer socks

So ... since I don't know of anyone to share some DE with ... are there any other uses for DE besides pool filters? I am rather unfamiliar with this stuff and I've read that it is only sold in very large amounts!
 
That's a problem too! ... and I have realized that we made a fatal flaw setting up the pool ... where the skimmer is on the opposite side as the wind blows stuff ... but, I'm not taking it down and moving it now!

Soooooo ... how do you get it out? It does seem to stick to the side of the pool and I have been scrubbing, but in 30 minutes there is a ring around the pool again.

It is getting on my nerves!
 
Pool DE is different from gardening DE, and has no obvious uses other than filtering. Gardening DE has quite a few things you can do with it, for example it kills insects. Unfortunately, while they both come from the same place, they are not interchangeable.
 
After reading a bit more about DE ... I guess I will use a bit more patience with the pollen ... POP is hard to come by some times ... especially when the water is too cold to swim!
 
As Jason noted... Pool DE is much different than Food Grade DE which can be used to kill bugs, deworm pets and can be ingested by humans. Pool Grade DE is used just for pools. You have to be very careful using both products!

Get to brushing those walls. :mrgreen:
 
One thing to add about using skimmer socks. Check them often on high pollen days as they will catch a lot of junk and can restrict flow when they are full.
I use them all the time. I just use a nylon knee high. They are a lot cheaper than the actual skimmer sock.
 
pwrstrk said:
One thing to add about using skimmer socks. Check them often on high pollen days as they will catch a lot of junk and can restrict flow when they are full.
Click to expand...
+1 to that! This exact situation has happened to me years ago and I initially thought something was wrong with the pump or that I had developed a suction-side leak. Was much relieved when I determined it was the skimmer sock being plugged up. I would have several spares on hand that you could change out quickly if they get plugged up with pollen/debris. You can wash the dirty ones and recycle them for future use.
 
Other uses for DE, you ask?

Eat it for a late-night snack...as a topping for ice cream... mixed with sour cream and jalapenos for a zesty dip...


Just kidding. :mrgreen:

The stuff keeps essentially forever, as long as the bag doesn't rot away. Seal it up in a plastic sack. Or ask the neighbors who have a DE filter if they'll sell you a coffee can full.
 

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EEK! Bees! Besides dealing with all the garbage the Bradford Pear tree behind my fence keeps throwing in my pool, (Thank GOD for my leaf net!) I am now dealing with swarming termites! What the heck? Stupid things too. Flying up and into the pool. I get to skim them out of the pool now. These are the things we do when the pool is sparkling and it's too cold to swim.

I believe it's sparklypoolitis...

(thankfully I have a termite service and the termites are not near the house...)
 
I most certainly have sparklypoolitis ... I suppose I should figure out how to use the pool vacuum ... I guess I shouldn't tell anyone that I have never had to use the pool vacuum and I didn't even cover the pool for the winter ... yall might not like me if I told ya that ... I do see lines of pollen settling in the wrinkles ... I guess it is one benefit of not having any big trees around the house and essentially living in the middle of a field!

BTW ... the bee keeper came and took the majority of the bees ... now there are only about 100 bees in the tree versus a basketball sized swarm of bees.
 
Scary stuff! I would love to have no trees. I have already hacked as much as I can reach out of the tree behind my fence. Whatever comes over to my side gets chopped but it's just too tall. Entertaining the idea of going to back neighbors house and asking if they mind if we cut it down.

As to vacuums, I love vacuuming my pool! I bought a pool blaster max this year and I'm having even more fun vacuuming now that I don't have to drag out the hose.
I'm supposed to be fixing my leak this weekend...I'm going to go play with my leaf net instead. It's much less stressful!
 
I've managed to get about 90% of the pollen out ... from a combination of wiping it off the walls, putting panty hose over the net (must say this is a much better use for panty hose than actually wearing them!), and filter filter filter ... But I had to take more desperate actions as a friend told me to flock the pool! YIKES ... no flocking! ... They don't quite understand that my water is like the holy grail and I will protect it with all means necessary! ... Their pool is currently swamp like and they are still going to the pool store ... of course they have been doing this for much longer than I have and feel that I am just walking on the wild side.

definitely sparklypoolitis ... water is holding steady at 64* ... need solar cover!
 
Woohooo!

I can't really do anything about pollen because I have been keeping my leaf net on the pool and I can't really skim with it on. But evil tree will punish me if I try to leave the net off for any length of time. Too cold to swim anyway so I'll just have fun vacuuming instead.
 
** makes note to never plant a bradford pear tree ** Landscaping/planning is next on my list ... We lost about 20 leyland cyprus trees in an ice storm a couple months ago ... and since I've decided that we will never ever ever plant another leyland I need to decide what to start planting in the gaps. Right now it is a tie between nelly stevens hollies and cherry laurel ... I need to get some drainage pipe for the gutter that empties behind the pool too and re-route the drainage ... it's always something
 
I want to dig up and chop down everything within 10 miles. LOL

No, actually the pin oak tree in the other neighbors yard behind me isn't nearly as bad. No flowers. It's throwing those little fuzzy caterpillar looking things everywhere now but they are nowhere near as bad as the Bradford Pear. Even the crepe myrtle in my next door neighbor's yard doesn't make as much of a mess in the summer with it's flowers. They just float on the surface and get skimmed. The pear tree is all parts of flowers falling apart and leaving all those little poppy seed looking things everywhere. The skimmer would get them but not with the net and I need the net for the rest of the flower parts. What a pain!

I want to do something around the base of the pool. I'm trying to figure out something that is simple because when we sell our house someday (hopefully not too distant future) we will most likely take the pool out and I don't want a bunch of edging or rocks and stuff to have to move. I want it to look nice though so I'm trying to come up with a solution. Thinking about wrapping edging around the legs of the pool to protect the vinyl and I might either put some mulch in or maybe just let the grass grow since I can edge if there is something to protect the pool from the weed eater...
 
I'm going to put some landscape fabric down and cover with mulch ... as soon as I spray round up ... around the pool at least ... When we take this one down we are going to start digging for the next one ... I'm never moving again - they will have to wheel me out of this joint!
 
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