Pine Pollen in the North East

[robbym70]

Due to weather conditions earlier this year we are having a banner year for pine pollen this spring. Bad news for pool owners I'm finding out.

I've been using skimmer socks and running my filter pretty much 24/7 for the past three weeks and while my water is crystal clear the pollen collects on the surface and looks nasty. My approach thus far has been to ensure adequate sanitation with chlorine (> 3-5 ppm, < 30 cya), occasionally splash and mix the surface water around to mix the pollen that has collected on the surface with the water itself and also using those skimmer socks on a semi regular basis.

Am I missing something...It feels like shoveling poop against the tide because it doesn't seem to be getting much different or better. If anyone else here in New England has a different tactic that is working please share it. Or...do I just have to live with it the way it is until it goes away?

[waste]

How is your return pointed?

Aim your return away from the skimmer and adjust it so that you see the surface motion ~ 10' out. This should set up a circular flow that will ~ maximize your skimmer action.

Make sure the weir is in the skimmer and moves freely and that the water level is no more than 3/4 of the way up the skimmer mouth.

Next weeks rain should abate the problem for a little while.

[robbym70]

Thanks for the reply. The return flow is away from the skimmer and there is a nice circular flow going around the pool.

There is no weir in the skimmer...just an open rectangle...and the water level is a tick under half way up.

We had a day of soaking rain here so I hope that will help with the pine pollen...still...it seems to be collecting on the surface...even after all the rain we had the last couple of days.

Still...the stuff collects on the surface like a film. Has abated somewhat with the rain but not as much as I'd like to see.

Will update this post in a few days.

thanks

[AnnaK]

You might want to give some thought to a PoolSkim (see my signature line for details). It does an excellent job catching most of the pollen during the six hours I run the pump at night. Where I live everything is yellow right now :(

[waste]

Hi AnnaK, how are you and Pa. this season?

The Pool Skim is a very nice tool for a situation like this! (it has it's drawbacks, like sticking into the pool and doesn't work well with pools that don't have a circular flow)

Robbym70, before trying the Pool Skim, I would get a weir in the skimmer and see if that abates the problem. ;)

[AnnaK]

Hi Ted, we're trying not to drown in all this rain!

You're right about the PoolSkim sticking out into the pool. Mine takes up about 5" on one of the oval's curves. Robby did say his pool has a nice circular flow going so the device might do the trick in his pool. I agree though, first order of business would be to get a weir and try that.