small algae blooms

[Watermom]

To address another of your questions ---- a pool kit that is one year old and has been kept in the house should be just fine. I have several kits older than that and I am still using them. The first thing that will usually go bad is the FAS-DPD powder but it will be obvious when it does.

[392papa]

Thanks for your advice everyone!!!

[392papa]

Not really a question ,,,just an observation for discussion if anyone is interested:

I got home today , the pool is clear,,no blooms. Threw the auto robot in to mix things up and tested the chlorine(added last night per pool docs advice..thank you). FC-11.5 CC- 0. everything is cool.


Saw the neighbor(engineer smart guy-handyman does it all) out and asked him how his pool was doing,,,,great he said. I just load the tri-clor feeder every week and throw a lil PH up in it every now and then no prob......Mind if I check you water with my new test kit? I ask him. His results were,,,,FC-2.5 CC-0 PH < 7(unreadable) TA? ( turned red with just the R007+008) CYA wayyyyyyyy over 100 couldnt see the dot and the water level was only about 1/2 way to 100.

We both have the same city water for fill.....the only difference is he has one of those cleaners that works off a separate pump and the tail swishes things around(polaris?) makes me wonder if the real secret to keeping pool water clean isn't just keeping the walls clean and things mixed up. I did walk around his pool and saw 1 small algae bloom(<10"sq). I did get an electric polaris robot last year and i use it at least once a week. Seems OK though it was expensive.

Would love to anyones view that would like to make a comment.

Thanks again....PAPA

[PoolDoc]

We both have the same city water for fill.....the only difference is he has one of those cleaners that works off a separate pump and the tail swishes things around(polaris?) makes me wonder if the real secret to keeping pool water clean isn't just keeping the walls clean and things mixed up.

You're probably describing a Polaris pool cleaner. And yes, those are very effective in controlling mustard algae -- and probably, most other types of algae.

The reason is simple.

Almost all algae begins, not as free floating particles, but as a biofilm. Biofilms are nature's way for bacteria, fungi and algae to get a foot hold, where none exists. They are enormously complex -- the top of lots of new PhD theses -- but are fairly simple in basic construction.

They consist of a slime layer, that allows food and needed gases in, and keeps bad chemicals (chlorine) and predators out, covering a community of various bacteria, fungi and algae living symbiotically . . . and even talking to each other (really! biofilm signaling is a very hot topic currently in microbiological research!).

Sweeping, brushing, wiping break the slime layer and expose the organisms. When you brush your teeth, you are using detergent enhanced brushing to remove a biofilm that accumulates on your teeth. The bacteria that cause cavities can't function well, without a biofilm's protection. Likewise, the community that makes up mustard algae can't function well, unless it's under a biofilm.

BUT . . . the biofilm associate with mustard algae is far, far more fragile than the biofilm associated with, say, black algae.

Thus, a cleaner like a Polaris, which operates daily, prevents mustard algae from ever getting a good start. The "1 small algae bloom" you saw in your neighbor's pool is probably a spot his Polaris usually misses.

SO . . . a pool with a Polaris can control algae with significantly lower levels of chlorine, than a pool without a cleaner.

Daily brushing will accomplish the same thing, but few people brush daily, or even, weekly.

[392papa]

Lesson learned , I will be getting the brush out more often....Thanks Ben!!