Aachoo! It’s that time of year again (well, probably not yet, but spring is right around the corner if you’re optimistic!) when pollen is falling from the trees. Not only is it making your eyes itch and causing you to sneeze, but it’s falling into your swimming pool. Why is there pollen in the pool is a question the pool contractors from Best Pro Pool Service in Atwater, California get asked quite reguarly.
Pollen, when it’s falling from plants and trees gets everywhere — on your clothing, your shoes, tracked into the house and on the surface of your swimming pool. If you don’t use a cover and if you don’t skim the surface of the pool regularly you will see a thin layer of this sneeze-inducing pest floating in the water.
It can also clog up the filter and skimmer basket if you don’t skim regularly. If you use a swimming pool cover, you will want to clean it off before you remove it so pollen doesn’t fall from the cover into the pool.
Why is there pollen in the pool?
One thing you need to do, though is to determine whether it’s pollen floating on the surface of the water or if it’s algae. If it’s algae spores (and they can be carried in on the wind and with the pollen) you will need to quickly address it before it blooms in the water.
A quick test for algae versus pollen is that algae will stick to the sides and bottom of the pool and won’t be moved into the filter. Pollen floats and will be sucked into the filter.
Here are ways to address pollen in the pool
Run the filter. Even if you usually run the filter at night, you may want to run it more frequently to remove the pollen.
Skim it before it has a chance to fall to the bottom of the pool. Vacuum the pool to remove any fallen pollen.
If your pool is plagued by pollen, shock it to help kill off and remove pollen.
Pollen is the price we pay when we welcome spring, but it’s a small price to pay!