We try to find new things to talk about as the seasons change in Austin, TX, however, once we hit summer, that’s all there is for five months. Summer in Texas is brutal and it stays for a long time.
With hotter temperatures and more use of the pool the obvious things things you should be concerned with are making sure you keep a high chlorine residual and keep enough water in the pool. We are losing about one-quarter inch of water per day now that the temperatures are well above the 90’s. It’s critical to remember to add water on a weekly basis during the maintenance of the pool to avoid problems with your equipment.
It’s almost that simple. Do it not and you’ll find out why there are so many pool companies in town. We are betting you will not take the time to do one or the other, sometimes neither. If you don’t do these simple tasks then you will at some point be calling one of us out to assist.
Do be proactive and avoid the problems altogether. Pool’s in summer don’t get a lot of debris in them, so what we’re having to deal with almost exclusively is the appearance of algae. Algae comes in a variety of colors, black, green, and yellow. If you don’t keep enough chlorine in the pool you will inevitably end up with one or the other or all. Some types of algae are harder to eradicate than others. Being able to determine which you have will help you deal with it in a way that is cost effective.
Green algae will literally turn your water green. Not only does it grow along the walls and floor it also floats in the water, which will turn the whole pool into a green mess. You can rid yourself of this type of algae with a strong brushing of the entire pool and a very heavy handed amount of regular pool shock.
Yellow algae usually forms on the shady side of the pool and is yellow. Once established it will go everywhere. This type of algae requires a particular type of algaecide specifically for yellow algae. Follow the instructions carefully and you will be successful in removing this type of algae. If you determine you have yellow algae, regular pool shock will not work against it as it is chlorine resistant. Go with the algaecide and save yourself the headaches and failure, believe me, I’ve tried it.
If you find black tar looking spots in your pool, then your likely looking at black algae. If you have black algae in your pool then get ready to do battle with the most stubborn and most difficult to eradicate algae you will deal with in your pool. The easiest way to remove black algae if you got it pretty bad is to drain the pool, power wash the spots and then chlorine wash the walls. Refill and start over. If it’s not bad and you only have a few spots then what you’ll have to do is get a tablet holder to put on the end of your pole. Using a wire brush, you’ll want to brush the spots until you get the top layer off. Once you get the top layer off, you’ll want to attach a tablet to your new tablet holder and then vigorously rub the tablet on the same spots until you can see the tablet leave a layer of white over the spot. Black algae is very difficult to remove because it digs into the plaster and then forms a waxy layer to protect itself against the chlorine in the pool. Tablets are made of triclor. Triclor is 99% pure nasty. Triclor wins every time if you prep the area correctly by removing the outer layer. Do this until the spots are completely gone. Don’t stop until they are completely gone or they will come back.
The moral of the story is simple keep your chlorine level high and your water level at no less than half tile and you won’t need to worry about equipment problems or any of the types of algaes I talked about above.
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