The earthworms really liked our pool over the winter

[sccm_sysadmin]

Even with a cover on it, I had an explosion of earthworms in my pool. Gross.

I uncovered our pool a few days ago and it was a bit cloudy with some dark crud on the bottom. I scooped it out, expecting dirt or whatever, but no....dead earthworms. Dead earthworms all over the bottom of the pool. Nasty. I guess they crawled in through the holes in the skimmer covers and then drowned?

It's all good though, because they've been vacuumed out and the pool has been SLAM'd and now it's crystal clear and good to go (aside from the water being 55F).


Scooped from the deep end:

Yeah, all those things are dead earthworms (plus a small bit of algae on the top step...I'm assuming due to the water there only being maybe 1-inch deep, meaning it's probably warmer than the rest of the pool, leading to algae growth?).

Yep, earthworms:

SLAM complete (forgive me for the small bit of crud I still need to vacuum out).

 

[bmoreswim]

YUCK! We normally have worms in our pool in the spring. This winter we did not. The winter was drier than normal. I opened a few weeks ago to zero worm. With the 2" of rain Sunday night, there was an excessive amount of worms on the decking and sidewalks. A fair number managed to go swimming.

The worms easily go in under the safety cover - no need for them to specifically go through the skimmer.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

YUCK! We normally have worms in our pool in the spring. This winter we did not. The winter was drier than normal. I opened a few weeks ago to zero worm. With the 2" of rain Sunday night, there was an excessive amount of worms on the decking and sidewalks. A fair number managed to go swimming.

The worms easily go in under the safety cover - no need for them to specifically go through the skimmer.

Makes sense.

 

[Oly]

I'm not happy seeing dead worms at the bottom after a rain event. I need them working in the garden.

 

[jimim]

i had a ton in my pool over the winter. monday we got 2 inches of rain and came home to at least 30 I had to scoop out. That did it for me. I dealt with them all last year. i'm picking up my robot tomorrow. it's on worm duty anymore! lol

 

[bmoreswim]

i had a ton in my pool over the winter. monday we got 2 inches of rain and came home to at least 30 I had to scoop out. That did it for me. I dealt with them all last year. i'm picking up my robot tomorrow. it's on worm duty anymore! lol

Yes, Earl has an unending appetite for worms.

 

[BMK]

Even with an autocover, I'd open in the spring to Wormapolooza in the deep end. As long as my wife and kids didn't see them in there, it wasn't a big deal. I'd just scoop them out, fling them back into the yard and the birds did the rest. Funny, I'd never have an issue with worms for the rest of the season after that, even after substantial rains. Frogs, chipmunks and occasional mice....different story.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

Yes, Earl has an unending appetite for worms.

Ok, you got an actual "LOL" out of me for that one.

We recently purchased a robotic vacuum for our house, that we've named "Dobby". He loves eating dirt. He's really good at it. So good at it that I'm considering a pool version so I won't have to keep manually vacuuming.

 

[bmoreswim]

So good at it that I'm considering a pool version so I won't have to keep manually vacuuming.

Robotic cleaners are fantastic. I'll never be without one.

 

[Bill-G]

Regarding worm problems. Had a major worm problem every rainstorm, 100's maybe 1000's committing suicide. Got crushed limestone (lime) from homedepot and spread it around the outside of the pool deck and not a one in the last 6 months. I'm sure I will need to reapply but they do not like what it does to the PH.

 

[jimim]

Yes, Earl has an unending appetite for worms.

Nice! I just got mine today. Picked it up this morning but it's snowing here so he is in the box still!

I'll empty the basket of all theorems I collect and they go right in the frig for fishing during the weeks.

- - - Updated - - -

Even with an autocover, I'd open in the spring to Wormapolooza in the deep end. As long as my wife and kids didn't see them in there, it wasn't a big deal. I'd just scoop them out, fling them back into the yard and the birds did the rest. Funny, I'd never have an issue with worms for the rest of the season after that, even after substantial rains. Frogs, chipmunks and occasional mice....different story.

my neighbor opened to at least 9 field mice the one spring cause we both had a major problem with them burrowing in our grass so i put poison all over the place to kill them. they love going for water afterwards. our grass thanked us but my neighbor had his work cut out for him when he opened. lol he was cool about it cause at least the grass recovered nicely.

 

[tdp]

Regarding worm problems. Had a major worm problem every rainstorm, 100's maybe 1000's committing suicide. Got crushed limestone (lime) from homedepot and spread it around the outside of the pool deck and not a one in the last 6 months. I'm sure I will need to reapply but they do not like what it does to the PH.

I tried the lime thing and it didn't work. I just opened for 2021 and there were tons of worms, but chemistry is OK. One spring when I opened, it was also full of worms, and all my CYA was gone and the chlorine was 0. Turns out the bacteria in the worms' guts had eaten all the stabilizer and turned it into ammonia. Took 18 gals. of concentrated chlorine liquid to be able to sustain a chlorine level. Thankfully, even though there were tons this year, I still had CYA and chlorine levels on opening-PHEW.

 

[Frez]

I opened our pool today. So many earthworms. Our winter cover is the type with small holes so the water can drain into the pool. I thought that could be why we get earthworms in the pool.What is the best way to remove them. I don’t to over work my pool pump & aquabot.

 

[_Eric_]

@Frez I'd vacuum them out via the skimmer with a hair net lining the skimmer basket. Should make quick work of removing them and no chance of them getting sucked through the holes in the skimmer basket. These should work fine for the hair net:

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