Best Cleaner Option for Infinity Trough

[janeann11]

We have a 20'x38', 4'>8' pebble infinity pool with a 4'x45', 3'-ish trough. There is a Polaris 360 on the pool and no cleaner on the trough.

We live on a very windy, dusty, dirty hill and the trough is always filthy. Also, it doesn't seem there is enough circulation in the through to get the crud to move toward the drains. Another lovely issue in the shallow trough is algae. Especially in the ends where circulation is non-existent. We've been working on killing it. Luckily there is no algae in the pool.

We have an Cover Pool automatic cover on the pool so it stays pretty clean, although there is a bit of silt. It's hard to tell with the pebble.

I hate vacuuming the house, I don't want to vacuum the trough too! I'm hoping there is a solution, possibly a robot? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Much!
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Chlorine is currently a bit high - trying to kill algae ::: pH 7.5 - aerating right now ::: TA 150-160 - down from 280 (Thanks TFP)

 

[Butterfly]

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Hi, Jane! Welcome to TFP!

It sounds to me that you need to vac and/or brush the trough more often, daily even, since the organic material bowing in is causing algae. And once you have algae, normal levels of chlorine are just not enough.

The bad news is that if you have algae in the trough, you have algae in the pool! Vac the crud out and get your FC up to shock levels for your CYA until it holds overnight. That should also kill the algae in the trough.

I suspect someone else may come along with a different answer!

 

[JasonLion]

How often do you run the infinite edge? It needs to run at least a little every day. If it doesn't you will get algae.

There is no simple answer for the dirt and debris accumulating there. You might be able to get the slope of the bottom adjusted to help move debris towards the drain, but other than that there is little you can do.

 

[PoolOwnerNumber9]

This is a fairly common problem with infinity edge pools. They are really great to look at, but they can be tricky to maintain at optimal cleanliness. You could put a separate pump and filter on just the trough and treat it like it was an attached hot tub or just a separate small pool. Of course a skimmer would not work due to the large fluctuation in water level between fountain-on and fountain-off mode. Only bottom drains can be used. If this is not done at construction it is difficult to retrofit.

Sometimes the pool builder will include an extra main drain that the primary circulator pump can pull from. This can be run periodically as needed, or even continuously. It would pull from the trough and the water would go through the filter and then into the pool. The pool would then overflow back into the trough. The line would need a check valve in case the circulator pump turned off so that the water would not back up from the higher pool into the lower trough. The line would also need a good screen before the check-valve to prevent any debris getting into the line that could interfere with the check-valve. Did the Pool Builder include anything like that? Is it too late for them to add something like that?

You could use a chlorine floater or two in the trough and periodically use a shallow net to scoop debris out of the trough. You could change the infinity pump to a two speed pump and add a filter. Then you could run the low speed continuously, or on a timer, and turn it to high as needed.

Is there any type of filter on the infinity pump, or does it just pump from the trough back into the pool with no filtration?
What is the horsepower of the infinity pump?
How many main drains are there in the trough and what are their dimensions?

 

[janeann11]

The infinity trough runs every day. The pool filter runs from 10:00am-2:00pm, Spa 2:00pm-2:30 and spillway from 2:30pm-5:00pm. During spillway the water from the trough is run through the filter to the pool and then spills over the infinity edge to the trough.

There is a separate pump on each the pool, infinity waterfall and spa jets. There is only one main filter. There are four 2" trough bottom drains.

I'm interested in the floater idea but am concerned how it will affect my systemwide chlorine level.


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FC 2, CC 0, pH 7.0, TA 110 (Down from 280, Thanks TFP), CH 400, CYA 25 (I've added chlorine and borax)

 

[PoolOwnerNumber9]

"I'm interested in the floater idea but am concerned how it will affect my systemwide chlorine level."

If the chlorine level in the trough is kept at the same level as the pool, then that is the ideal level. Add the floater, test the trough water periodically and adjust the chlorine level to match the pool.

PS: It sounds like you have a great pool. I love the Infinity edge pools.