Do I have Algae in my Swimming Pool?

How can I tell its Algae? If it is, what can I do to get rid of the Algae? How can I make
sure I never get algae again?  Getting algae is something you can avoid with a good regular weekly pool maintenance schedule.

You can get algae from a few ways. Two of the most common are poor water balance and low levels of sanitizer. It is important to check your Chlorine or Bromine levels frequently and especially as the pool season progresses and your pool water gets warmer.

Algae in pool water

So if you think you may have algae you will need to get rid of it quickly so you and your family can get back to enjoying your backyard staycation.  The first thing you should do is bring a water sample into R&R Pools to have one of our girls test your water. It helps us to see what’s going on with your pool.  Also, take a picture of your pool so we can see what it looks like. That helps us determine the type of treatment we are going to make. We also will ask sometimes if you can tell us how it feels when you rub your fingers slowly across the algae area.  After your water sample is completed, if your pool water is out of balance, we will recommend that this be done first.  Then we are going to shock the pool heavily with some BioGuard Power Chlor or BioGuard Burnout. Our specialists will determine the dosage amount for you.  After shocking the pool you should brush the walls and bottom to ensure that the algae is lifted off. One hour after adding the shock we are going to recommend using our BioGuard Erase killing algaecide. This will take at least 24-48 hrs before you notice any change. Your pool will start to turn from green to a milky white blue color. That is a good thing. If you do not see any changes then it is best to contact us to further investigate your algae issue to see if it is from a chlorine demand problem.

Dead algae in pool water

Once you see the milky white blue color, our water care specialist will recommend using a clarifier to help remove all of the dead algae. Such as, BioGuard Clarifying Tabs. At last you can swim in clear sparkling blue water. We strongly recommend that you clean your filter with BioGuard Filter Brite after any type of algae treatment.

When you get algae, it can be very time consuming and can get very expensive the worse it gets, not to mention the down time of not being able to swim. To help prevent this from occurring make sure you always have your water tested at your dealer May thru to September, keep a strong chlorine read. Next time you are in R&R Pools, ask one of our specialist about our Green Free Guarantee.

Stayed tuned for our blogs on the different types of algae and how to treat them.