I have read many, if not all, of the past posts regarding raccoon feces in pool water and what to do. It is so dramatic, since one solution is to empty all of the pool water. The CDC website states chlorine will not kill the parasite in the feces. That is," IF" it is present. So, I am thinking...., many of our rivers and streams have these animals' feces in it. People go in rivers and streams and lakes that have all kinds of organisms and parasites. How many Raccoons actually carry this parasite, Baylisascaris? What are the chances that 25,000 gallons of pool water could have enough of this parasite to harm us? In my case, some of the feces particles went through the mesh pool cover into the pool water. The wildlife exterminator professional I hired said this raccoon is using my yard to just pass through. I also have an animal repellent motion activated water springer over the pool. Nine days have passed and no more feces on mesh pool cover or in an area near the pool. I called the State Game Warden's Office and left a message for the state Vet to call me about testing the feces for the Baylisascaris (of course, no return call). Also called the CDC and they sent me a weblink that never included anything about what is on their website about Baylisascaris , and called the state health dept. who also was no help. In summary, calling all these folks was a waste of time. We the taxpayers are paying these government officials to advise us, and you get nowhere. I also called two local Veterinarians and they told me the government would have to test the feces of a raccoon for Baylisascaris. So, the CDC puts this scary information on their website about what to do if you have raccoon feces in your pool. The only person that made sense was the wildlife professional from a local exterminating service. Just sanitize your water with chlorine and run the filter nonstop for 24 hours or more. Backwash the filter or open the filter tank and individually clean the grids with a garden hose. I do plan to drop 1/3 the water out of my pool and refill., that is something I usually do when opening the pool every year. Does this sound like a more reasonable solution? I know there are folks out there that have encountered this problem, you are the people I like to hear your thoughts on how they handed this problem of properly sanitizing their pool water. Thanks for listening! This is first time in 26 years that I have ever encountered such a disturbing problem with owning a pool. I hope others never encounter this problem!
Raccoon Feces on Mesh pool cover and sanitizing.
- Thread starter Swimcam
- Start date
- Jun 24, 2021
- 9,076
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
Sorry this happened.
Per: Raccoons and Pools | Healthy Swimming | Healthy Water | CDC.
SeaKlear has a two-part clarifier system (SeaKlear Trap E-Coli and Cryptosporidium) and is designed to help trap particulates down to the 0.5 micron level. It’s capable of reducing the incidence of contracting cryptosporidium and Giardia which have infectious agents that both are smaller than the roundworm eggs you’re looking at. After using this product as-directed, you could then clean and recharge the DE. If you did the cycle of SeaKlear and deep cleaning the filter a few times in a row, the chances of disease transmission should go down. This is not easy work though as you will definitely be putting in a lot of elbow grease to treat the water and then clean out the filter so you have to weigh that against your level of concern.
Chances are, if your finding raccoon scat now, raccoons and other creatures have almost certainly used your pool as their personal toilet bowls before.
Per: Raccoons and Pools | Healthy Swimming | Healthy Water | CDC.
- Filter the pool for a minimum of 24 hours and then backwash the pool filter.
- Put on disposable gloves to replace the material doing the filtering (if possible). Double bag the discarded material in plastic garbage bags. Remove gloves and place them in the garbage bags. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water afterwards.
SeaKlear has a two-part clarifier system (SeaKlear Trap E-Coli and Cryptosporidium) and is designed to help trap particulates down to the 0.5 micron level. It’s capable of reducing the incidence of contracting cryptosporidium and Giardia which have infectious agents that both are smaller than the roundworm eggs you’re looking at. After using this product as-directed, you could then clean and recharge the DE. If you did the cycle of SeaKlear and deep cleaning the filter a few times in a row, the chances of disease transmission should go down. This is not easy work though as you will definitely be putting in a lot of elbow grease to treat the water and then clean out the filter so you have to weigh that against your level of concern.
Chances are, if your finding raccoon scat now, raccoons and other creatures have almost certainly used your pool as their personal toilet bowls before.
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Thanks for the information. I tried to find out more details about how you use the SeaKlear PRS 2 stage products and found only pricing . I did go onto to SeaKlear.com and they have very technical information but again not the steps on using it. They actually show it as a discontinued item even though the link to the Doheny.com is still selling it. I like to understand more about a product before I purchase it. I will keep searching the internet for more information.
At this point, I am going to vacuum and then drain to waste 1/3 of the water out of the pool. I don’t want the water to pass through to the filter since I have not opened the pool for the season.
Should I ask the following question in another section of the forum?
I have never tried the following and wondered if the filter tank needs to have water in it even though I just want to use the waste cycle setting?
I have not turned equipment on for the season yet. Currently my pool water is below the skimmers . I am wondering if this will work…. Leaving the winterization plugs in the pool returns and one of the two skimmers and place a vacuum hose in the one open skimmer to vacuum the pool floor using the waste cycle . Run a garden hose into that skimmer to keep it filled with water while vacuuming the pool floor to waste cycle. This would be to remove winter season muck off the bottom. Once done with vacuuming, use the main drain to empty more water out of the pool. Every year I usually get all the equipment open and primmed and DE in filter. Until I refill pool and have the water up to the skimmers I cannot place the DE on the filter grid. Do you think the waste cycle will work in my current situation?
At this point, I am going to vacuum and then drain to waste 1/3 of the water out of the pool. I don’t want the water to pass through to the filter since I have not opened the pool for the season.
Should I ask the following question in another section of the forum?
I have never tried the following and wondered if the filter tank needs to have water in it even though I just want to use the waste cycle setting?
I have not turned equipment on for the season yet. Currently my pool water is below the skimmers . I am wondering if this will work…. Leaving the winterization plugs in the pool returns and one of the two skimmers and place a vacuum hose in the one open skimmer to vacuum the pool floor using the waste cycle . Run a garden hose into that skimmer to keep it filled with water while vacuuming the pool floor to waste cycle. This would be to remove winter season muck off the bottom. Once done with vacuuming, use the main drain to empty more water out of the pool. Every year I usually get all the equipment open and primmed and DE in filter. Until I refill pool and have the water up to the skimmers I cannot place the DE on the filter grid. Do you think the waste cycle will work in my current situation?
Personally if it were me, and I decide to dump it. I would by a submersible pump from menards or somewhere and use that. Easier to disinfect letting pump sit in boiling water using a 5 gal bucket when you are done with it. Possible nasties won't be traveling in your pool plumbing either. Boiling water is what I read to dump on their feces to kill their nasties. Those lovely critters cost me a new liner once with their claws trying to scoop water out of my pool to drink.
I’m in the same situation and wondering what the OP did?
We had something poop right in the middle of my mesh cover over the winter. I cleaned it up before googling “what animals will poop on pool covers?”
I’ve read the cdc guidelines and was planning on running the filter for a few days once opened and then backwashing. I’ve also read everything I could find online. From what I’ve read the majority of diagnosed cases involved children eating something with Baylisascariasis eggs on it like contaminated wood chips or dirt.
My rational brain is telling me that the likelihood that someone using our pool would ingest a significant amount of eggs is minimal and all I can reasonably do is filter and backwash.
We had something poop right in the middle of my mesh cover over the winter. I cleaned it up before googling “what animals will poop on pool covers?”
I’ve read the cdc guidelines and was planning on running the filter for a few days once opened and then backwashing. I’ve also read everything I could find online. From what I’ve read the majority of diagnosed cases involved children eating something with Baylisascariasis eggs on it like contaminated wood chips or dirt.
My rational brain is telling me that the likelihood that someone using our pool would ingest a significant amount of eggs is minimal and all I can reasonably do is filter and backwash.
I am answering MNJ posting ,and updating on how I finally handled the raccoon feces on my mesh pool cover. First of all I researched on the web and talked to CDC and Health agencies, wildlife professionals , pool service techs, and vets. I even hired a company to put down animal repellent granular round the pool and in the pool pump equipment area since the raccoon also setup a latrine there. The CDC Website tells you to get the feces tested. No one and I mean no one ,will test it. Even the Pa game warden veterinarian told me they would not do it and I would need to contact some other company like IDEXXN Requesting a Fecal Floatation to look for raccoon Bayliscacaris, if they may even do it?
I finally decided this was all ridiculous and needed to use common sense . I decided to empty half my pool water since the CYA was very high when I closed the pool in the fall. I usually drop water out of the pool every year before the season. I used my pool pump and bypassed the filter using the waste cycle. I used my Pool vacuum that is hooked to my pump to remove winter debris off the bottom. Once the water was below the skimmers, I plugged the two skimmers and used the main drain to continue removing water. I placed no DE in the filter since the water was below the skimmers when I started to remove the water.
I refilled the pool. Charged the filter with DE. I use a chlorinator and loaded it with Chlorine pucks, shocked with Calcium Hypochlorite , ran the pump filter continuously for 4 days. I shut off the chlorinator on day 5 since the chlorine reading was extremely high. Continued filtering. It took almost two weeks for the chlorine to come below the normal range and that is when I again used the waste cycle to bypass the filter and backwash the DE. Recharged the filter with new DE. I decided that was the best way to handle this situation. So now the filter is on a normal schedule of running and unlike others on the forum I use a chlorinator . Also it is too cold to go swimming here and the filter has been on for a month now.
I also invested in an Animal Repellant water Sprinker from Hoont The Cobra-Jet found on Amazon. It seems to work because I also have seasonal ducks that like my pool. It has stopped them from visiting this year. Unfortunately, the raccoon did leave another deposit around the pool equipment area, right next to the animal repellant granules 2 weeks ago. Now we hired a wildlife removal service. And that seems to be going nowhere. It is a wait and see game. I just hope it does not go in the pool.
I finally decided this was all ridiculous and needed to use common sense . I decided to empty half my pool water since the CYA was very high when I closed the pool in the fall. I usually drop water out of the pool every year before the season. I used my pool pump and bypassed the filter using the waste cycle. I used my Pool vacuum that is hooked to my pump to remove winter debris off the bottom. Once the water was below the skimmers, I plugged the two skimmers and used the main drain to continue removing water. I placed no DE in the filter since the water was below the skimmers when I started to remove the water.
I refilled the pool. Charged the filter with DE. I use a chlorinator and loaded it with Chlorine pucks, shocked with Calcium Hypochlorite , ran the pump filter continuously for 4 days. I shut off the chlorinator on day 5 since the chlorine reading was extremely high. Continued filtering. It took almost two weeks for the chlorine to come below the normal range and that is when I again used the waste cycle to bypass the filter and backwash the DE. Recharged the filter with new DE. I decided that was the best way to handle this situation. So now the filter is on a normal schedule of running and unlike others on the forum I use a chlorinator . Also it is too cold to go swimming here and the filter has been on for a month now.
I also invested in an Animal Repellant water Sprinker from Hoont The Cobra-Jet found on Amazon. It seems to work because I also have seasonal ducks that like my pool. It has stopped them from visiting this year. Unfortunately, the raccoon did leave another deposit around the pool equipment area, right next to the animal repellant granules 2 weeks ago. Now we hired a wildlife removal service. And that seems to be going nowhere. It is a wait and see game. I just hope it does not go in the pool.
Thanks! It’s seems like you did all you reasonably can. As my family has pointed out, we’d have to never leave the house to 100% avoid raccoons.