Swimming Pool Water Algae – 3 Simple Steps to Get Your Water Sparkling Again

Swimming pool water algae is a very common problem among pool owners. Learning how to deal with it effectively, and quickly, not only restores the sparkling blue colour, it also prevents swimmers from becoming sick from the different bacteria and diseases that can carry it. Additionally, algae is where pool bugs like to lay their eggs, so dealing with this problem really eliminates a lot of additional problems that you may be facing.

Here are some simple steps you can take to get rid of swimming pool water algae quickly in a chlorine environment:

1). Brush and Vacuum
Before adding any chemicals you’ll want to brush and vacuum as much algae by hand as possible. This will make the chemicals work far better since you’ll have less algae to deal with.

2). Shock The Pool
Chlorine based shock is designed to quickly increase the amount of chlorine in a pool in a small amount of time. You can purchase it at any pool store and is a common procedure used by pool owners.

Not all companies suggest the same amount of shock to use during a treatment so be sure to follow the label exactly, so as to not under-shock or over-shock your pool. The typical amount, however, is one bag per 10,000 gallons of water. If you’re unsure how much water is in your swimming pool you can get a rough estimate by using this formula:

Average Width x Average Length x Average Depth x 7.5

It’s best to do this at night when there aren’t so many bugs and insects that can disturb the shocking process. As well, be sure that your pool filter is on, and clean it out every 2 hours or so. As algae is killed by the shocking process the filter will grab a lot of it, so you want to make sure you’re not clogging up the filter.

If after 24 hours the problem doesn’t seem to be affected, retry the process above.

3). Vacuum And Skim
Once the shocking process is over with (24 hours), vacuum and skim the remaining algae that the filter didn’t catch.

Be sure to test the chlorine levels before going back in your pool to make sure it’s safe to swim in again.