How to keep fine seeds out of pool

[gregoryagu]

Each spring (like now), nearby trees drop tiny seeds into my pool which results in black stains in the pool which must be scrubbed off (it's an epoxy painted pool, and it stains the paint for some days until it wears off).

I already have a bird cage around the pool which keeps most leaves out of the pool, but these seeds goes right through.

I also already trimmed the trees so they are not directly over the pool.

But the pool still ends up with hundreds or thousands of these seeds, and the process goes on for about two weeks. During this time, the pool is dotted with the black stains these seeds leave on the pool.

I am considering a pool cover during this time, but am unsure of which to buy: Solar cover, or pool cover that you weight down around the edges.

The solar cover seems more convenient as you don't have to bother with the weights, but it seems like some seeds may slip through around the edges.

I have not used either before, and am wondering if anyone has any experience with this and can suggest one way or the other. I wouldn't use it any other time, only in the spring to deal with this problem.

 

[kimkats]

My gut says the weighed one that comes all the way up and on the deck so there is no chance of any of the seeds getting in. Next will be the hardest part! KEEPING them out when you pull off the cover!

Let me ask you this...............what kind of vacuum do you have? How often do you use it? My thoughts are if you can some how vacuum up the seeds almost as soon as they get in the pool you should be good.

Do these seeds float at all or do they sink right to the bottom of the pool as soon as they land?

I have a couple of ideas but need the answers to the above questions to dial in my ideas.

Kim

 

[gregoryagu]

Hi Kim,

I have the usual pool vacuum. Keeping them vacuumed would be futile - they seem to both float on the top (I scoop those out daily with a net) and sink directly to the bottom. There are thousands of them and new blow in with every breeze and it goes on for two weeks. They are like color bombs - each seed puts out quite a bit of ink it ends up with a spot the size of a dime so it looks pretty bad for a while but they do go away after a few days so no permanent damage.

Yes it would be tricky to roll up the cover after it is over to keep them out, but I think I can manage that. Or maybe put the bubble side up and put some water on it so that when they hit the cover, the ink explodes and fizzles out.

 

[wireform]

THIS may be a good option for the floating stuff and a robotic pool cleaner for the pool floor and walls. You say you have the bird cage over the pool maybe a good back pack leaf blower to rid the top of cage before the get in.

 

[carnivalday]

I had a storm blow thru a few days ago, and with the live oaks shedding and the holly trees blooming, I had all sorts of crud in my pool....even with a cage. Bunch of stuff on the bottom and even more floating. I ran my robot a couple of times a day, and made sure the skimmer was working great (had to change the sock twice a day for a few days) but just doing that got things crystal clear; ran all my numbers this morning and they are perfect. I think that would be easier than wrangling with a pool cover, when you'd probably still get some stuff in the pool.

 

[kimkats]

Does your vacuum run off the pump or is it a plugged in robot vacuum? Or is it a manual vacuum that you have to push around?