Worms/Larvae/Parasites?

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AmyV

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Jun 11, 2015
2
Las Cruces, NM
I had my above ground pool open for 10 days with no chemicals. Frankly, my family was in it so much that I just forgot since the water was clear and clean. It was not used for about 4 days and boom!! I had a greenish pool and thousands of tiny (about 2 cm long) little blackish worms swimming all through the pool. I fished out a few of the worms and in the air, they died and turned bright red. I bought chemicals to shock and balance the water (and it seems to be killing the creatures) but now my family is freaked out and doesn't want to go back in. I have video and pictures, but I'm not sure how to post those. Any idea what they could be? Thanks!
 
So first off, I think it goes without saying that allowing people to swim in water that is not properly sanitized is just a really bad idea as anyone swimming in that could have easily transmitted diseases back and forth.

Clear water IS NOT a sign of sanitary water.

If you want my guess as to what was in your water - they were probably mosquito larvae. Mosquito larvae can live in all sorts of water both fresh and salt. A single female mosquitos can lay 100-200 eggs at a time and the larvae can look like little worms. Then they turn into pupae and finally into adults. Finally the adult Mosquitos fly around, sting people and transmit all sorts of diseases. A pool can easily develop thousands of larvae which feed on bacteria and algae in the water.

Next time, properly chlorinate your water BEFORE you let people swim in it and don't allow it to become a breeding ground for dangerous disease vectors like Mosquitos.


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Joyful Noise, Thanks for your input. The pool is 36" deep, and I have teenagers. Nobody was actually "swimming" they were mostly splashing each other and floating on floaties. When I was a kid, we filled up plastic trash cans and used horse troughs for pools. Nobody died from it! I don't think allowing my kids to splash around in "plain ole hose water" was irresponsible, as nobody was drinking it. I should have treated it. I already know that--thanks for the lecture.
Secondly, obviously--if I found this website I am familiar with the internet so I looked up mosquito, fly, dragonfly and beetle larvae to see if that was what I was dealing with and none of those things seemed to match what I was looking at. Mosquito larvae is yellow or clear. These worms are black and then turn red when out of the water.
I am looking for help, not a lecture for what I did wrong. I already know I should have treated the water. I screwed up. I'm a moron. I don't deserve to have a pool. If you have advice that can help me fix it, I'd appreciate it.


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Well, you are correct, no one has died from hose water and I have certainly let my kids at young ages play in little 3-ft diameter kiddie pools that were filled with untreated hose water. However, that water was dumped at the end of the day and the kiddie pool was always rinsed out with a mild bleach and detergent solution to destroy any pathogens. With that said, a stagnant pool of water left for 10 days without proper sanitation is no longer hose-water anymore.

As well, I believe you when you say that you are internet savvy enough to find this site. In that case, you can then read all of the links in PoolSchool and you'll quickly learn the TFPC method of pool care for cleaning up your pool water or, if you chose to dump it and start over again, for properly starting and balancing your pool water. All of the information in PoolSchool is broken down into very informative and fairly short posts that can get you started.

The most critical item to pool care is testing your own pool water - Test Kits Compared

This link teaches about the various methods of chlorination - How To Chlorinate Your Pool

This link teaches how to defeat algae - Defeating Algae

And this link gives an overview of water chemistry - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

At this point, it really doesn't matter what was in your water as you apparently took care of the problem and killed it all. As soon as you clean up your pool water and follow a regular schedule of pool water maintenance, then no one should worry about what those "creatures" were because they will not come back in a properly sanitized swimming pool.

You have my apology for a harsh reply to your initial post. Obviously you were concerned enough about your families health and safety to reach out and look for information. For that you should be commended and you are most certainly NOT a "moron" and you deserve a clean and healthy swimming pool as much as the next person. I hope the information on this site can help you as much as it has helped me over the years keep my pools clean, clear, safe and fun.
 
I think what you are seeing is Mosquito Larvae...I had a bucket that had rainwater in it sitting out behind my garage...and when I went to dump it...I saw the same thing...little 1/2 to 3/4 little buggy wormlike thingies. I poured in a 1/4 cup of bleach and walked away...came back 5 minutes later...and bam...they were all dead or dying...Dumped the water out knowing this bucket of Mosquitos would never come to maturity. I think that is something to learn for your pool. Shock that bad boy now...keep it up to shock level...and then make sure all the crawlies are dead and filtered out...Let it come back down to normal...and start over. I don't think anyone will get sick from them...but you are keeping the mosquito population down for two weeks from now if you shock now. Killem all!!!!


Amy, How many gallons is your pool. What are you using to sanitize. What is your CYA level. Let us know those things and we can help you better. But I would definitely chlorinate up to at least 12 PPM...If you don't have a test kit...You can't know for sure. But if you have that info.. we can help. You came to the right place.
 
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