Home Pool Tech talk

[Huntn]

Sound the sinister music- Black Algae…

Our pool this morning…​

A couple of small dark spots appeared in the bottom of the pool about 8 months ago. They would not scrub off with the brushes we use to remove the normal green algae with relative ease. I asked our pool company what was it and got the answer at the beginning of this post. Note, that image is not really my pool, but it could be if you or I were laissez faire about it.

Now these spots are small like 1/16”, some cases barely noticeable other than as a black dot. On the more developed spots it does look like a very small plant. The plan has been to remove them with a metal brush, a couple of swipes remove it, and then rub the sport with the edge of a chlorine tablet, the kind I use in my chlorinated. You can have them the water and they don’t dissolve on you. They take a long time to break down.

So that’s what I do, this morning I removed about 20 of these dots, then scraped them with the chlorine tablet. The reason you need to use the chlorine, is they can put a little root into the pool plaster, so the chlorine kills the root, hopefully. We’ve got it under control, but I can see how this might turn off some people from pool ownership.

If it got bad enough there is an expensive chemical that can be poured into th pool that is supposed to be effective, and the last resort is drain the pool and let the algae die due to air exposure. But then you are talking about a huge water bill to refill it.

Black Algae: What Causes Black Algae In Pool And How To Get Rid Of It – YardMonkPro

yardmonkpro.com

 

[Alli]

Would it make more sense at this stage to replace the liner?

 

[Huntn]

Would it make more sense at this stage to replace the liner?

Did you miss the comment about that image not being our pool (I was kidding using that pic) or am I just a poor communicator?
Not our pool, the amount of black algae we have is minuscule, not a serious issue (because we are staying on top of it), and I don't have a liner, it’s a cement pond.

 

[AG_PhamD]

As someone who grew up with a backyard in ground pool, I will never own a house with a pool. Way too much work.

Plus as someone who swims laps, backyard pools are usually useless for this. Unless you happen to have a 25 yard pool or an “endless pool” (water jet you swim against- I’m not particularly fond of these).

 

[Alli]

As someone who grew up with a backyard in ground pool, I will never own a house with a pool. Way too much work.

Plus as someone who swims laps, backyard pools are usually useless for this. Unless you happen to have a 25 yard pool or an “endless pool” (water jet you swim against- I’m not particularly fond of these).

What work? The nice young man comes every Thursday and cleans it and adjusts the chemicals.

I’d love an infinity pool, but that wouldn’t be any fun for anyone else. Fortunately, it is a 25 yard pool, although I only use 20 yards of it. We leave the rope in and I don’t swim in the shallow end.

 

[Huntn]

As someone who grew up with a backyard in ground pool, I will never own a house with a pool. Way too much work.

Plus as someone who swims laps, backyard pools are usually useless for this. Unless you happen to have a 25 yard pool or an “endless pool” (water jet you swim against- I’m not particularly fond of these).

We only have a pool because my wife always wanted one. I’d say it is not worth the expense.

 

[AG_PhamD]

What work? The nice young man comes every Thursday and cleans it and adjusts the chemicals.

I’d love an infinity pool, but that wouldn’t be any fun for anyone else. Fortunately, it is a 25 yard pool, although I only use 20 yards of it. We leave the rope in and I don’t swim in the shallow end.

Must be nice . If you don’t have leaves not nearly as bad. Every summer I tell myself I should get my dad an automatic pool cleaner for Hanukkah/my dads birthday. And like clockwork every year by that time I completely forget. They’re pretty expensive but not as bad as they used to be. Despite their cost it seems well worth it rather than having to spend an hour vacuuming the pool every week.

My problem with the endless pools is that I’m a lap swimmer. I don’t like the fact you can’t keep track of your distance… there’s ways to estimate it but I prefer to know in the moment. It’s also annoying to have to adjust the speed (or some will have a program that cycles through differ by speeds. It’s not entirely conducive to how a lap pool competitor would ideally want to practice. And you always feel like you have a tremendous amount of drag. There are apparently different technologies of current generator and very different price points, so maybe some are better than others. They can also be quite expensive, especially when you consider how small they usually are. To spend up to $50k on a giant bathtub seems a little ridiculous.

I imagine for those accustomed to open water water swimming they wouldn’t have the same complaints.

Personally, I’d rather just drive 10 minutes, have a 25+ yard pool, not have to worry about maintenance, etc.

Pools are always fun though when you’re a little kid though.

 

[Huntn]

Must be nice . If you don’t have leaves not nearly as bad. Every summer I tell myself I should get my dad an automatic pool cleaner for Hanukkah/my dads birthday. And like clockwork every year by that time I completely forget. They’re pretty expensive but not as bad as they used to be. Despite their cost it seems well worth it rather than having to spend an hour vacuuming the pool every week.

My problem with the endless pools is that I’m a lap swimmer. I don’t like the fact you can’t keep track of your distance… there’s ways to estimate it but I prefer to know in the moment. It’s also annoying to have to adjust the speed (or some will have a program that cycles through differ by speeds. It’s not entirely conducive to how a lap pool competitor would ideally want to practice. And you always feel like you have a tremendous amount of drag. There are apparently different technologies of current generator and very different price points, so maybe some are better than others. They can also be quite expensive, especially when you consider how small they usually are. To spend up to $50k on a giant bathtub seems a little ridiculous.

I imagine for those accustomed to open water water swimming they wouldn’t have the same complaints.

Personally, I’d rather just drive 10 minutes, have a 25+ yard pool, not have to worry about maintenance, etc.

Pools are always fun though when you’re a little kid though.

Our pool is small only 35’ long so no lap swimming for me, there. I don’t know how the pool vacuum works, I assume there is a pump that might be adapted for use with a Kreepy Krauly.

This helps make the pool not a maintenance misery.​

 

[Alli]

Must be nice . If you don’t have leaves not nearly as bad.

We have no trees in our yard. The neighbors on either side have great big trees right up against the fence, and the neighbor at the back corner has pine trees. Our pool is constantly filled with acorns, pine needles, and leaves. Fortunately, since we moved in my husband has discovered that he really enjoys skimming the pool 2-3 times a day. He doesn’t swim like I do, but finds that connection to the water relaxing.

Our neighbors to the left did tell us that we could feel free to chop off the trees on their side of the fence. LOL!

 

[AG_PhamD]

We have no trees in our yard. The neighbors on either side have great big trees right up against the fence, and the neighbor at the back corner has pine trees. Our pool is constantly filled with acorns, pine needles, and leaves. Fortunately, since we moved in my husband has discovered that he really enjoys skimming the pool 2-3 times a day. He doesn’t swim like I do, but finds that connection to the water relaxing.

Our neighbors to the left did tell us that we could feel free to chop off the trees on their side of the fence. LOL!

My parents don’t have any trees immediately near their pool but their yard is surrounded by a forest so leaves definitely find there way in. The closest trees are probably 50ft away.

There’s also the problem that when the lawn gets mowed clippings and dust find their way in.

I suspect if they installed a solar cover it would spare them a decent amount of cleaning. Not to mention water loss from evaporation… which also means less management of water chemistry.

Their neighbors have had a gorgeous pool with one of those recessed, power retractable pool covers. This seems like the way to go.

Sadly, ~15 years ago these neighbors were having a party. Everyone went inside to eat and their daughter (3 years old?) somehow wandered into the pool area, fell in, no one immediately noticed and she drowned. It didn’t help that when the EMT’s arrived they didn’t appropriate pediatric equipment- IIRC a breathing tube. A very tragic situation for everyone involved.

They tried to sell the house but couldn’t because of the history. Eventually they filled in the pool and were able to sell.