Floating VERY small leaves, tiny sticks, plant fuzz, etc.

[SwimmingInWisconsin]

I am not sure whether this post belongs in The Deep End or somewhere else, but here is my question.

Our pool (Wisconsin) was opened on May 27, 2022 and everything is doing well except for the tiny floating particles on the water's surface. The skimmer is working fine and the water is balanced. We use our skimmer nets by hand to get the floating stuff out but the particles are somewhat small and we never seem to be able to get anywhere near to getting all of the particles out.

We have had this issue in past years and I seem to recall we used Floc to get the particles to drop and then we vacuumed them out on "waste."

Our pool water is clear with NO cloudiness, greenness, etc. so I thought I would ask here: Is Floc what I should use or do you have some other suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I am not sure whether this post belongs in The Deep End or somewhere else, but here is my question.

Our pool (Wisconsin) was opened on May 27, 2022 and everything is doing well except for the tiny floating particles on the water's surface. The skimmer is working fine and the water is balanced. We use our skimmer nets by hand to get the floating stuff out but the particles are somewhat small and we never seem to be able to get anywhere near to getting all of the particles out.

We have had this issue in past years and I seem to recall we used Floc to get the particles to drop and then we vacuumed them out on "waste."

Our pool water is clear with NO cloudiness, greenness, etc. so I thought I would ask here: Is Floc what I should use or do you have some other suggestions?

Thank you!

If floc has worked for you in the past then there’s no reason it won’t work again. Just remember that floc chemcials require a very specific chemical balance (usually in the instructions) and you should NEVER vacuum floc through your filter as it will gum up the filter media. You always vacuum the settled floc out of your pool to waste using the slowest vacuuming speed possible to avoid disturbing the floc and breaking it up. I’m assuming you’ve done this all before so you know the drill.

Do you know the source of these fine particulates? Are they coming form nearby landscaping, trees, etc? Does the skimmer actually capture any of it?

A picture would be helpful.

 

[Katodude]

Solar pool skimmer.

 

[SwimmingInWisconsin]

If floc has worked for you in the past then there’s no reason it won’t work again. Just remember that floc chemcials require a very specific chemical balance (usually in the instructions) and you should NEVER vacuum floc through your filter as it will gum up the filter media. You always vacuum the settled floc out of your pool to waste using the slowest vacuuming speed possible to avoid disturbing the floc and breaking it up. I’m assuming you’ve done this all before so you know the drill.

Do you know the source of these fine particulates? Are they coming form nearby landscaping, trees, etc? Does the skimmer actually capture any of it?

A picture would be helpful.

I added a picture. Let me know if you need to see more pics.

 

[SwimmingInWisconsin]

Solar pool skimmer.

What type do you use? A quick Internet searched showed several, priced from $50-$500.

 

[Katodude]

Here is my not completed review of the two most popular ones.

Battle of the Solar Skimmers: Ariel vs Betta 2 Bake off!!!

So as my Betta makes its way across the country, I have promised to do a side to side comparison. Step 1 is how much stuff does each one pick up. So I cleaned out the Ariel and put it into the pool this morning with a clean basket. I will leave it in for 5 days (until Tuesday morning) and then...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[SwimmingInWisconsin]

If floc has worked for you in the past then there’s no reason it won’t work again. Just remember that floc chemcials require a very specific chemical balance (usually in the instructions) and you should NEVER vacuum floc through your filter as it will gum up the filter media. You always vacuum the settled floc out of your pool to waste using the slowest vacuuming speed possible to avoid disturbing the floc and breaking it up. I’m assuming you’ve done this all before so you know the drill.

Do you know the source of these fine particulates? Are they coming form nearby landscaping, trees, etc? Does the skimmer actually capture any of it?

A picture would be helpful.

The particles seem to be from the environment. The wind blows in tiny stuff such as parts of blossoms, cottony things, tiny leaves, sticks, etc. Sometimes small bugs get blown in. The skimmer captures some of the items, but not all gets sucked into the skimmer. I added a picture to my post. Thanks for your reply.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Floc is not the answer for that. It may work occasionally but it's really the wrong approach. Sorry to say, but that's the job of the skimmer. If your skimmer isn't catching that stuff (and my skimmer is poorly positioned and fails to catch floating stuff too), then you just have to get out there with a pool and leaf rake and clean the pool manually. You can certainly pay for one of the robotic cleaners if it's in your budget, b ut constantly floc'ing a pool to remove surface debris is only going to get costly and eventually screw something up. You never want to filter floc out or else it can gum up your filter media and leave a nightmare at the equipment pad. Likewise, most pool flocs are aluminum sulfate and leave sulfate behind in the pool water which can be very bad for steel hardware (corrosion), SWG cell plate coatings and plaster damage.