How to Treat Your Water for Algae

1. Brush your walls and floor daily. Algae grows in layers. By brushing your walls and floor daily, you are preventing the build up of algae in your pool. It also stirs up the sediment you've brushed off so it can be filtered out of the water.

2. Backwash and rinse every other day. Some pool owners think it is best to backwash and rinse their filter every day when they have algae. When you do this, you are not allowing the chemicals you've added to circulate long enough to do their job. You will end up backwashing them out of your pool and you could still be stuck with green or cloudy water.

3. Turn your chlorinator on high until your water is clear. Typically, we don't recommend leaving your chlorinator on high but in the case of algae or cloudy water, we do.When there is a higher concentration of chlorine in your water, it will help kill the algae and get your water clearer faster.

4. Add Algimycin 1000 with chlorine. This chemical kills algae and will help remove the green coloring from your pool. It is most effective when added with chlorine. The dosage for the Algimycin 1000 is 1/2 quart if your pool is 15,000 gallons or less. If your pool is over 15,000 gallons, the dosage is 1 full quart.

5. You will most likely have to add stabilizer. A major drop in your stabilizer is a huge indicator of algae. Algae consumes stabilizer and therefore makes it extremely difficult to hold chlorine in your pool water. You never want to add too much stabilizer to your water, so we recommend bringing us a water sample in order for us to give you the correct amount to add.

6. Prevention the growth of algae in your water. Another chemical called Algimycin 2000 can be added to your water weekly to prevent algae growth. Also, make sure that if you or any swimmers have been to a lake recently, that you are washing your swimsuits or pool toys before getting in.