swimming pool liner discolouration
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drearyogre
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:38 pm
- Location: N Lot et Garonne/S Dordogne border
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swimming pool liner discolouration
Our pool is going dark round the edges and bottom. Chlorine and pH normal. Water clear. Will not clean with usual cleaners, or come off with hoover. Tenants saying some have sore throats. Have not visited doctor. Has anyone any experience, thoughts, advice?
Drearyogre
I do sympathise, according to our pool man this is a very common problem in this area. Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, is it a dark brownish stain that starts in one place and then rapidly spreads, mainly on the bottom and lower down on the sides?
We had this very badly last year, as did our neighbour. I asked everywhere but no-one seemed to have a solution. Our neighbour last year managed to get rid of his before it had really taken hold by shocking the pool with chlore choc. I tried this but I think I left it too late and I couldn't shift it.
The staining disappears completely over the winter and seems to develop most quickly when it is very hot. This year I kept the chlorine level really high and used the strongest anti-alque I could find which was recommended by our pool shop. It is Bayrol Desalgine. I gave it a really strong initial dose of this and then kept the treatment going as recommended on the container (200ml each week I think). This kept the stain at bay really well. When it does start to appear, we up the chlorine a bit and add a bit more anti-algue. We've also found that brushing vigorously helps.
It has come back a little bit over the last couple of weeks as we have had people in for 3 weeks so haven't been able to have the chlorine too high, it has also been very hot. We have found that a chlorine tablet suspended in an old stocking over the patches of stain as soon as it appears gets rid of it completely, but I would stress that strong concentrations of chlorine can damage your liner (ours is due replacement next spring so we are little more gung ho about it), so I perhaps would think twice about doing this with a new liner.
Good luck with it.
Sarah
I do sympathise, according to our pool man this is a very common problem in this area. Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, is it a dark brownish stain that starts in one place and then rapidly spreads, mainly on the bottom and lower down on the sides?
We had this very badly last year, as did our neighbour. I asked everywhere but no-one seemed to have a solution. Our neighbour last year managed to get rid of his before it had really taken hold by shocking the pool with chlore choc. I tried this but I think I left it too late and I couldn't shift it.
The staining disappears completely over the winter and seems to develop most quickly when it is very hot. This year I kept the chlorine level really high and used the strongest anti-alque I could find which was recommended by our pool shop. It is Bayrol Desalgine. I gave it a really strong initial dose of this and then kept the treatment going as recommended on the container (200ml each week I think). This kept the stain at bay really well. When it does start to appear, we up the chlorine a bit and add a bit more anti-algue. We've also found that brushing vigorously helps.
It has come back a little bit over the last couple of weeks as we have had people in for 3 weeks so haven't been able to have the chlorine too high, it has also been very hot. We have found that a chlorine tablet suspended in an old stocking over the patches of stain as soon as it appears gets rid of it completely, but I would stress that strong concentrations of chlorine can damage your liner (ours is due replacement next spring so we are little more gung ho about it), so I perhaps would think twice about doing this with a new liner.
Good luck with it.
Sarah
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drearyogre
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:38 pm
- Location: N Lot et Garonne/S Dordogne border
- Contact:
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
Drearyogre,
It sounds very much like black algae to me. Black algae grows in colonies and must be frequently brushed off during treatment. The reason for the brushing is that the dead outer layers protect the inner layers from the chlorine or algaecide. Do not attempt to economise on your use of algaecide; if the instructions call for 3 litres then use at least 3 litres, never less. Also, you must clean all brushes thoroughly with bleach to kill off any algae cells clinging to the fibres.
Alan
It sounds very much like black algae to me. Black algae grows in colonies and must be frequently brushed off during treatment. The reason for the brushing is that the dead outer layers protect the inner layers from the chlorine or algaecide. Do not attempt to economise on your use of algaecide; if the instructions call for 3 litres then use at least 3 litres, never less. Also, you must clean all brushes thoroughly with bleach to kill off any algae cells clinging to the fibres.
Alan
Drearyogre
I'm not aware of any sore throats. I remember as a child having a sore throat after going swimming, I think it was because of the chlorine - it's difficult to stop children swallowing the water and the chlorine can give you a sore throat just as it gives some people sore eyes.
Alan,
I wondered about black algae, after a comment of yours in a previous thread. I have a huge pool book by a man called Terry Taminen who labels himself 'pool man to the stars'
. Anyway, Terry mentions algae growing through the liner from the outside and being impossible to shift and from his description, I had assumed it was this. He says that the only way to deal with it is to remove your liner, line the hole with polythene sheeting and then put the liner back. The black algae he describes is a lot blacker and quicker to grow than ours seems to be, but then he's in California where perhaps the black algae is blacker.
Anyway, I followed your suggestion in a previous thread of brushing it hard and this in combination with lots of algicide and chlorine actually shifted it, so I now think you are right, it probably is black algae.
Sarah
I'm not aware of any sore throats. I remember as a child having a sore throat after going swimming, I think it was because of the chlorine - it's difficult to stop children swallowing the water and the chlorine can give you a sore throat just as it gives some people sore eyes.
Alan,
I wondered about black algae, after a comment of yours in a previous thread. I have a huge pool book by a man called Terry Taminen who labels himself 'pool man to the stars'
. Anyway, Terry mentions algae growing through the liner from the outside and being impossible to shift and from his description, I had assumed it was this. He says that the only way to deal with it is to remove your liner, line the hole with polythene sheeting and then put the liner back. The black algae he describes is a lot blacker and quicker to grow than ours seems to be, but then he's in California where perhaps the black algae is blacker. Anyway, I followed your suggestion in a previous thread of brushing it hard and this in combination with lots of algicide and chlorine actually shifted it, so I now think you are right, it probably is black algae.
Sarah
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drearyogre
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:38 pm
- Location: N Lot et Garonne/S Dordogne border
- Contact:
swiming pool liner discolourisation
Dear Sarah, and Alan
Thank you for helpul info - local knowledgable person says similar to Terry Taminen's book - coming from under pool. Ugh! 4 more weeks of lets. Hammering it with commercial cleaner, anti algae and chlor choc today with firm brushing and bleaching brushes, hoping will improve, allay if not remove.
Any thoughts on using summer cover, on overnight, or off? Will one or other worsen situation do you think?
Oh to not have to let!
Best wishes
DrearyOgre
Thank you for helpul info - local knowledgable person says similar to Terry Taminen's book - coming from under pool. Ugh! 4 more weeks of lets. Hammering it with commercial cleaner, anti algae and chlor choc today with firm brushing and bleaching brushes, hoping will improve, allay if not remove.
Any thoughts on using summer cover, on overnight, or off? Will one or other worsen situation do you think?
Oh to not have to let!
Best wishes
DrearyOgre
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
This may seem like another daft observation, no way are we experts. Could it be whats behind the liner that is causing the problem?
Our pool is aluminium sheet construction with a metal ring along the bottom outside edge then a concrete bottom and in 4 years we have not had what looks like algae anywhere on the liner. We do get 'suncream' sludge but this is easily removed by brushing prior to hoovering. One of our friends has a concrete pool with liner and has similar problems with algae on the bottom , they have lined the water line with a row of tiles which makes cleaning the sludge line much easier for them.
So if we have a concrete bottom and aluminium sides, why do we not have algae on the bottom? Could it be some sort of water running down the outside of the structure then gathering underneath the bottom? like a kind of dampness coming from below. Like I say no expert, just a very wild thought.
Our pool is aluminium sheet construction with a metal ring along the bottom outside edge then a concrete bottom and in 4 years we have not had what looks like algae anywhere on the liner. We do get 'suncream' sludge but this is easily removed by brushing prior to hoovering. One of our friends has a concrete pool with liner and has similar problems with algae on the bottom , they have lined the water line with a row of tiles which makes cleaning the sludge line much easier for them.
So if we have a concrete bottom and aluminium sides, why do we not have algae on the bottom? Could it be some sort of water running down the outside of the structure then gathering underneath the bottom? like a kind of dampness coming from below. Like I say no expert, just a very wild thought.
johnel
I did wonder if it is perhaps the 'moquette', the anti-algue soaked carpet which is laid underneath the liner to protect it which is the problem. Both Drearyogre and I have older liners so perhaps the anti-algue powers of the 'moquette' decrease with age. Our liner is 13 years old and the staining has got worse each year. I don't know anyone with a newer liner that has this problem.
Sarah.
I did wonder if it is perhaps the 'moquette', the anti-algue soaked carpet which is laid underneath the liner to protect it which is the problem. Both Drearyogre and I have older liners so perhaps the anti-algue powers of the 'moquette' decrease with age. Our liner is 13 years old and the staining has got worse each year. I don't know anyone with a newer liner that has this problem.
Sarah.
My liner is 6 years old and no probs.It is a concrete pool with some layer of something soft, then the liner. No problems so far ( I'm touching my head like mad now!!). The other pool is only 18 months old, built with polystyrene lego bricks, liner on top, fine so far, touch the same wood !! 
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