Cleaning leaves from pool

[ciaka]

Just wondering, how urgent is it to remove leaves out of a pool, when they do fall into it?
Is it imperative to remove them asap, or the next day? What is the rule here?
The ice storm in our area has caused all leaves to die on many trees.
Later on, there has been some windy days, and many of the dead leaves, are making their way into the pool now.
I know it is good to have them removed so they dont start breaking down in the water, but trying to get some real advice here.
Thanks.

 

[HermanTX]

I do not see a cleaner listed in your signature details. My cleaner runs twice a day (1 hr each) and does a good job.. However, yesterday, like you explain, there was a high influx of debris in my pool, so I turned on my cleaner for additional 2 hrs and it picked up all the big stuff. Between your cleaner and the 2 skimmers, you should be getting 90% or more of debris.

 

[ciaka]

So by your comments, should I assume that bio debris like leaves, bugs, etc, must be removed asap, all the time, or will it make not much difference if it stays in there for a day or two at most (that is assuming not all leaves are removed between cleanings).
I do have a cleaner, with a fine mesh basket installed. It runs about twice a week depending on amount of debris, which usually is none, so it just gets the dust out, plus I brush walls by hand too later, about once a week.
The cleaner I have is the VRX iq+ by Polaris.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Ciaka !! At my last house we were heavily wooded with oaks. Besides the pollen season being out of control, any given windy day would overload both skimmers in a matter of an hour. There were too many times to count that leaves/debris spent a day or 4 in the pool and I never once saw any chemistry affects. My SWG helped of course, but it only did it’s normal thing and that was still plenty to get by. If the stuff that gets in there is fresh, you have a decent amount of time before it starts to decay and cause problems. (Probably weeks). Once it’s decaying, the FC will go to work and it will eat through chlorine quickly.

So when you open, anything in there needs to come out ASAP. During the season just get it out the first time you’re free and even if you are away on a long weekend it won’t matter.

 

[Newdude]

*shameless plug to operate in the high range of the FC/CYA Levels, or even better, slightly above it. If some already decaying matter finds it’s way in the pool and you drop 3 FC, you’ll still have plenty for the normal operation of the process. The added/wasted FC is a small price to pay for the perennial safety net to buffer any environmental impacts / bather loads that occur.

 

[Casey]

I wouldn't let them sit for more than a week or more. They'll start to stain your pool finish (even liners) n chew up your FC.

 

[BowserB]

I HATE the sight of leaves in the pool. With two Wax Myrtles on the west side of the pool, I have little skinny leaves from these evergreen tree/shrubs all the time. After the freeze, the leaves were all brown and really started dropping (Dropping is a good sign...if the dead leaves stay in place, there's a pretty good chance the plant--or at least that branch--is dead.) I use skimmer socks, since some of those wax myrtle leaves are small enough to go through the skimmer baskets. For a few days, I was having to empty the skimmers more than once a day. At that I still used a net a couple times a day to skim leaves off the surface and off the bottom. My Dolphin M500 with three brushes does a great job of cleaning the bottom and sides of the pool, but the control panel on the power supply warned of a full container after an hour on the windier days, and I'd clean it out and in another hour it was full again--and that is after I've even used a net to get a lot of leaves off the bottom manually. It's been a mess, and as i said, I HATE leaves in the pool. I'm not a chemist, but decaying leaves have got to be bad for water quality and good for algae.

 

[Newdude]

@BowserB you bring up a great point that the species probably matters a lot. Take a rose for example, the petals are already decaying before they drop so the process is already started and the FC would go to work right away. Any flower or delicate foliage with similar characteristics would be the same. But most leaves and pollen can go much longer than the 2 days that @ciaka needs at times.

 

[Matt F 1]

Daily I was told, The decaying leaves will really screw up the chemical balance.

While we were waiting for the cover the neighbors trees would fill the skimmer overnight. So I would clean it twice every day and then net the other ones in the pool.

 

[ciaka]

Really appreciate the input. I by all means, plan to remove them as soon as I can, was just wondering what rist I take by leaving them extra day.
We have had some really weird weather here in central TX. The ice storm ended up killing most leaves on trees, which never happens. Our trees are mostly green throughout the winter months.
After the ice storm, we have had some really windy weather, which of course, started to push leaves into my pool (until last week, I never had more than maybe a dozen leaves in the pool, in a week). With the wind, I found myself inundated with those f%@kers. They seem to have a mind of their own, skillfully evading my net that tries to catch them.
Anyway, I have them all out now, again. But I am sure the next wind will give me another present of more leaves. Well, I wanted a pool, so I gotta pay the price, right?