If you follow good water care practices, your pool should stay algae-free; but, you know, “this ointment should clear up that rash” and “it should stay sunny all afternoon,” so don’t put too much blind faith in “should”. Algae loves all kinds of water conditions and will seize any opportunity to bloom. Keeping algae out of your pool is like playing Whack-A-Mole; you can’t look away for even a second if you want to win.

Depending on the severity, if you do end up getting algae, we may be able to give you step-by-step instructions for clearing it. There are a few important things to keep in mind when treating algae. The first of which is this: chlorine kills algae. No ifs, ands, or buts. Trying to kill algae without chlorine is like trying to kill Godzilla with a BB gun. Don’t even try it.

Another crucial step in algae treatment is brushing. You gotta brush! Even if you don’t scrub super hard, the movement it creates in your pool will send algae out towards chlorine and will pull chlorine in towards the algae.

Another important piece of knowledge: algae grows, exponentially. Think of algae as bunnies. You start with two, then those two turn into four, then suddenly you have eight, and so on.

This is how algae grows; just less fluffy and more green! Therefore, you need to use lots of chlorine all at once. If you use even a tiny bit too little, the algae won’t die, that also goes for using a tiny bit too little over and over again. If you don’t kill it all in one go, it will replenish between treatments. Back to the Godzilla metaphor, you can’t just fire dinky little missiles at him and expect them to do anything more than annoy him. You have to get him with a ridiculously large nuke right from the start to do any damage.

A standard shock dose of chlorine is around 150g per 10,000L. Algae requires at least a double dose. If the algae is so bad you can’t see the bottom of the shallow end, you need a triple dose. Sometimes really resilient algae will be treated with 500g per 10,000L. Before adding chlorine, you’ll want to lower your pH below 7.2 to increase the chlorine’s efficiency. Algaecides play a supporting role in this whole process to make sure the algae is gone for good.

If you’re diligent and thorough in your attempt to eradicate algae, you can win! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.