Will algae grow in static pool water inside solar heater?

[temelie]

Last week-end I made a DYI solar heater from 5/8 black irrigation tube. Th system is a separate circuit from the pool pump. Its pump is submersible and I am planning on turning on and circulate Friday thru Sunday before we expect to use the pool.

The pump is manual and likely not rated to sit in salt water continuously. (Superior Pump 91014 Thermoplastic Oil-free Utility Pump).

The question is: Will the algae grow inside the black tube sitting in the sun without circulation over the 4 days when the circuit is not on?

Thank you.

 

[mas985]

Algae requires light to grow so while it might survive in the panels for a few days after coming from the pool, it is unlikely to grow at all in the panels. But if you have chlorine in the water, then the algae should not start growing anyway. Also, if there is water in the panels and no flow rate, the panels will heat up to a very high temperature and would probably kill anything in the water anyway. It could potentially soften the tubing as well which is why panels should be self draining.

 

[temelie]

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Strategist]

You might want to give something like this a shot. I had a similar concern as yours. In my case, I made solar heaters that are floatable (and all plastic) because my property is so wooded that there isn't a lot of direct sunlight for long periods in the area surrounding my pool, other than in the front yard which would be an aesthetic issue. In addition to the stagnant water concern, the weight of the water in the tubing makes removing the heaters from the pool more difficult. So, I devised a way to blow the water out of the lines. I'm feeding the heater through a garden hose with quick-connect fittings combined with an adaptor for the poly tubing. To blow out the lines I made an adaptor with a quick-connect on one end and a hose fitting on the other to marry up to a shop-vac hose connected to the vacuum exhuast. It looks more complicated than it needed to be, but I had to work with what I could find at big box store. Does a great job of emptying the lines.