A few years back, when I was less attentive to pool chemistry, I got one of those bubble-type floating covers in the hope that it would minimize evaporation (it gets really hot here). Three days after placing it in the pool, I discovered the worst algae bloom of all time. I immediately removed it, dealt with the algae, and stored the cover. I'm still not clear about the relation between the cover and the bloom, if any, although it seemed like more than coincidence. I'm thinking about trying the cover again this summer. Any thoughts on how to avoid a similar occurrence?
Pool Covers and Algae
- Thread starter ubiq
- Start date
cfherrman
TFP Guide
Oly
Gold Supporter
Your first words, "A few years back, when I was less attentive to pool chemistry..." answers your question and is the root cause of pool algae problems.
It is impossible to properly manage what cannot be measured. Algae cannot flourish when proper FC levels are maintained.
The fact that your algae bloom happened soon after you started using the cover is only a coincidence and unrelated.
Your understanding of the FC/CYA ratio is key to keeping algae under control.
It is impossible to properly manage what cannot be measured. Algae cannot flourish when proper FC levels are maintained.
The fact that your algae bloom happened soon after you started using the cover is only a coincidence and unrelated.
Your understanding of the FC/CYA ratio is key to keeping algae under control.
It's likely that the cover warmed the water, and warmer water means an environment more conducive to algae growth.
So while the cover itself didn't suddenly cause algae, the warmer water it created likely was the tipping point for under chlorinated water that was just at the edge of a full-blown algae breakout.
Oly
Gold Supporter
If the FC was in the zone before installing the cover, the warmer water would not have caused an algae bloom. If the FC was too low then there was an unseen algae population getting established. I agree the expansive and obvious bloom would have happened sooner and faster in warmer water but it was already in process and would have happened eventually.