Heavy Rain in Victoria affecting swimming pools

Large amounts of dust and dirt can be brought in with the rain when the winds come from the north. This dirt causes a few issues for pools ranging from dirty water, chemical imbalances & high phosphate levels that can encourage algae growth, along with the additional water going into the pool and potential overflowing issues.

• Green Pool Treatment

• Brown Pool Treatment

Raindrops form by water vapour attaching to microscopic dust, dirt, pollen and algae spores present in the air, the combine together until they’re big enough to fall as rain. It’s these spores and other material in the raindrops that get carried into the pool.

Additionally, when rainwater comes off your landscape or deck, you also have an added source of water and debris to deal with which can change your chemical levels, as well as bring more contaminants such as dirt and debris into the pool.

Heavy rains don't dilute the chemicals in your pool as an inch of rainwater added to a typical 50,000 litre pool only increases the amount of water by only about 1.5%, meaning dilution is not usually an issue. It's more about what comes into the pool with the rain.

So, what to do?

Poolside Beaconsfield owner Grant had his pool affected by the dirty rain

The first thing to do is to work out how bad the water is... If you only have a light dusting of dirt on the bottom of the pool, our suggestion is to switch the filtration system to manual and run for 24 hours with your cleaner attached, If you have a robotic cleaner this will help even further by providing additional filtration and keeping your skimmer baskets free for maximum water flow through your filter. Then have your water balanced and backwash/clean the filter as required. If this doesn’t clear the pool or it’s very brown and you can't see the bottom, you'll most likely need to do a full 'floccing' treatment (read the brown pool tips below).

The extra debris added to the pool with rainfall can affect the pool water chemistry. For this reason, it is important that you test your water after it rains and re-balance where necessary. Bring in a water sample for us to check your phosphate levels as it is important to keep these low, otherwise you run the risk of an algae problem occurring.

HOW TO LOWER POOL LEVEL

After the rain has subsided, you may need to drain the excess water from the pool, to allow for proper skimming of the pool surface. If your filter has a multiport valve, follow these steps:

1. Turn off the pump,

2. Change the valve handle from filter onto WASTE (not backwash!),

3. Open any valves on the waste line,

4. Disconnect any suction cleaners & vacuum plates,

5. Then turn the pump back on to lower the water level,

6. Once the water level is halfway up the skimmer box,

7. Turn the pump off,

8. Return the multiport valve to FILTER,

9. Reconnect the cleaner and

10. Turn the pump back on (or set the timer to auto).

*do not do this if your pool requires floccing, you'll need all the water in the pool when vacuuming to waste.

Green Pool Treatment Guide

The solution is to make sure that the rate at which the algae in your pool are being killed is faster than the rate at which they are reproducing.

This means raising the sanitiser (chlorine) level up much higher than the ideal range, balancing the pH and adding an appropriate algaecide, clarifier and/or oxidiser. By adding these chemicals and running the filtration system for a minimum of 24 hours, this should return the pool to crystal clear again.

If you require help with any of these techniques please come into the store and speak with one of our experienced team or book your service online below.

BROWN POOL TREATMENT GUIDE

With very heavy rains, airborne dust, runoff from surrounding areas of the pool can add large amounts of dirt, soil and even mud into a pool. This will turn the pool into a messy brown soup with the inability to filter out.

This is where a floccing agent is used to bind the suspended particles together and drop them to the floor of the pool to make it easier to remove by vacuuming directly to waste. This requires a lot of water so keeping your pool water level as high as possible is important.

Turn your pump and filter off & remove any cleaners from the pool. If you have any chlorine on hand, add 5 x your normal dose around the pool. You can contact us to clean up your pool for you, alternatively you can come instore with a water sample and pick up the required chemicals and instructions.

How to fix green pool water

How to fix a green pool? This is the number one complaint/question from pool owners which can be an easy fix if you get onto it quickly.

To treat your pool, you will need to use both an algaecide; a product specially designed to treat the algae present in your pool (plus prevent future growth), as well as a shock dose of a sanitiser such as chlorine.

Follow our advice below or contact us to work out which treatment & products are best suited for your pool.

Firstly, skim and vacuum your pool to remove as much debris as possible. Leaves and other debris break down into organic waste, which the algae then feeds on. The more organic waste you can remove now, the less ‘work’ the chlorine has to do, and the less chlorine you will have to add later.

Watch the green pool clean up video below

Once you’ve done that, you can test and then treat your pool water. We recommend bringing in a sample to us before adding any chemicals.

*TIP: Don’t add any chemicals before you take your water sample, this will give us a baseline reading to adjust from. It takes any guesswork out of the equations and ensures you don’t waste any chemicals.

The next step is to treat your pool. The most effective way to rid your pool of algae is to do a shock treatment and add algaecide.

As a guide, we recommend using BioGuard Burn Out Extreme as the shock treatment, in conjunction with BioGuard MSA Extreme as the algaecide.

Assess your pool

Assess the amount of shock treatment and algaecide required based on your pool’s colour using the guide below.

Light green:

If you can easily see the bottom of the pool though just notice a slight ‘green tinge’ to the pool water. This indicates the beginning stages of an algae outbreak. You will need to add one bag of BioGuard Burn Out Extreme to every 50,000L of pool water + the required dose of the recommended algaecide.

Green or dark green:

The bottom of the pool is hard to see, though you can still see the steps. This typically indicates a heavy level of algae in the water and will require double the shock treatment. To do this, you will need two treatments of BioGuard Burn Out Extreme to every 50,000L of pool water + the required dose of the recommended algaecide.

Black-green water:

You cant see the steps. This signifies an extreme level of algae in the water, and at this stage, you will need professional help.

IMPORTANT TIPS

You will need to run your pool filter and pump continually during the treatment. The longer you are able to run your pump and filter the sooner your pool will return to its sparkling best.

Regular brushing during treatment is critical for every algae problem, as it greatly improves chemical efficiency in killing algae spores.

Is your water going cloudy after treatment?

Don’t worry, this is totally normal! The goal of the shock treatment is to kill algae (which turns it grey/white) which then makes your water look cloudy. The cloudiness will filter out, however, we suggest adding a clarifier to help speed up the process.

Simply add a BioGuard Super Clear Clarifying Tab™ to clear away cloudiness and get your pool sparkling again!

We believe that prevention is better than cure. To prevent algae growth in the first place, we recommend adding a BioGuard Algaecide to your pool water once a week.

Green pool water and Phosphates

Green water or algae on the walls is generally a sign of low chlorine, however, it is usually accompanied by a high level of phosphate in the water as well… So what is phosphate and how do you get rid of it?

Phosphates can be a problem all year round and slowly build up over time, however, we typically see a spike in the levels of phosphates in pools when wind and storms bring in microscopic dust particles from the farming & rural areas.

What Are Phosphates?

Phosphates are essentially food for algae and other aquatic organisms which they depend on it to grow.

The association between algae and phosphate is recognised as a major factor in the presence of algae in swimming pools despite the use of chlorine and other sanitisers.

The biggest issues for swimming pool owners from increased phosphate levels are excessive or stubborn algae blooms and rapid chlorine consumption.

How Do Phosphates Get in the Pool?

Phosphates can enter your pool a few different ways: leaves, twigs, dirt, dust and bugs blown in from the wind or washed into the pool from heavy rain along with grass clippings, fertilisers and pesticides used around the pool. They also come from swimmers’ body wastes and adding water to the pool from water tanks. All of these can increase the levels of phosphate in the pool water which will give algae plenty of food to grow.

Removing Phosphates

BioGuard Phos Kill will remove phosphates from pool water, preventing algae growth by removing the food source. This also makes pool sanitation more efficient against algae and can reduce chlorine consumption.

Once the phosphates have been removed, it's important to maintain a low phosphate level. This will ensure clean water, better chlorine performance and no algae. All living things, including algae in swimming pools, need phosphate to survive and grow. Maintaining a low phosphate level and increasing the chlorine concentration will result in fewer algae problems in your pool.

Preventing Phosphates in the future

As additional insurance against recurring algae, BioGuard Pool Complete is an easy weekly maintenance routine that keeps water amazingly clear, prevents waterline build and removes phosphates as they enter the water.

Ideally, you will also:

• Restrict runoff from lawns, landscaping or washing decks entering the pool

• Remove leaves and other debris from the pool regularly

• Use a long-life algaecide such as MSA Extreme or AlgiGuard all year round in conjunction with their phosphate removal treatment

• Get us to regularly test your pool water for phosphates and treat when necessary

We have special test kits to check the level of phosphate in your water, so, should the result of the test exceed the recommended level then we have BioGuard Phos Kill to remove the excess phosphate is now readily available in store.

Bring a water sample to us today and we can check your Phosphate levels along with all your other pool chemical balances for FREE! Alternatively, you can use the button below to book one of our highly trained pool technicians to come to you.