This time of the year affects pool owners with allergies. Getting rid of pollen in the pool is easy and won’t take that long to do. Here are some tips to help you rid your pool of pollen so you can enjoy swimming in water that is clear and blue, instead of dusty and yellowy.
Before you begin your cleaning process, make sure that what you are dealing with is pollen. There are some algae that look very similar to pollen. For example, yellow mustard algae has a light yellowish/green look just like pollen. The difference is where it collects. Pollen will float on the top of the pool. Algae, on the other hand, will often stick to the sides and even the bottom of the pool. If it is floating at the top of the pool, and you notice that some is picked up by your pool’s filtration system, then chances are you have a pollen problem.
- Run the filtration system
if you have a pollen problem, then your pool’s filtration system is your best defense against pollen accumulating at the top of your pool. This is an important first step that you should take to combat your pollen problems. Doing this will reduce the amount of manual labor you have to perform to get rid of pollen in your pool every day. Although you might see an increase in your energy bill, ultimately, having a clean pool with less pollen that you have to get rid of yourself makes it well worth it.
- Skim the water regularly
Every morning take a skimmer with a very fine mesh head attached to it and run it through the water to pick up any pollen that has collected overnight. You may have to repeat this process more than once a day during the heavy pollen times in your area. A regular skimmer net won’t do the trick. So you will need a special attachment with very fine mesh in order to trap the pollen.
- Add aluminum sulfate
Incredibly small pieces of pollen may be impossible to pick up by hand and can easily pass through your filtration system. To get rid of this pollen, add aluminum sulfate to your pool water. This will bind with the pollen causing it to clump together making it easier for either your pool’s filtration system to remove it. At the same time it will make it easier for you to remove it with your skimmer as well, keeping it out of the filter completely.
- Shock the pool
Give the pool a shock before you go to bed. This will kill any organisms that was attracted to your pool because of the pollen that is floating around in the water. The next morning, filter the water using your pool’s filtration system and give it another good skim to get rid of anything left over in the water.
- Vacuum the pool
There will be times that skimming won’t do the job. If the pollen is especially heavy in your area, you may have to actually vacuum that pollen out of the pool. If possible, treat this as a last resort, as it will cause your electric and water bills to go up as you use more electricity to vacuum and remove more water during that process that will have to be replaced.
