Algae colony hiding in plastic stairs. How to kill?

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
kristymcj
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My Pool: 12000 gallon oval above-ground pool with sand filtration.
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Algae colony hiding in plastic stairs. How to kill?

Postby kristymcj » Tue 04 May, 2010 10:25

When we removed our above-ground pool stairs green and (almost) black algae poured out of the little holes in the legs. We're relieved to know why we've been batteling algae for so long - sneaky colony!
Do you think pouring bleach in the holes of the plastic stairs will kill the algae enough? What about just letting them dry out? Will that do it? Any suggestions? :wave:


chem geek
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Algae colony hiding in plastic stairs. How to kill?

Postby chem geek » Tue 04 May, 2010 16:06

Bleach will certainly kill the algae that is already there, but you probably didn't have a sufficiently high Free Chlorine (FC) level relative to your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level which therefore allowed algae to grow in the first place. It's harder to prevent algae growth in places with poor circulation, but maintaining a proper FC/CYA ratio prevents algae in the pool generally and that prevents it from migrating to niches. If you're ever lax and do get algae in the pool generally, then it can remain in those niches unless you super-shock the pool or explicitly get into those niches.

For more info, you can read the Pool School to learn more about the chlorine / CYA relationship.

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