I have an Intex pool holding 3700 gallons. All the green algae collects on the bottom in clumps when I treat it. Then, I cannot get it up without it spreading into the water again. The pool came with one of those hose attachment vacs. What can I do to finally get all the junk off the bottom? I have tried everything, shocking it, etc., including letting the filter run continuously.
By Suze-e from Lake City, FL
I had the same problem. Get one of those pool vacuums that attaches to your garden hose. The bag that comes with it has too loose a weave to catch the small particles so you'll need to make one yourself out of different material. I cut up a filter cartridge to make my own bag and discovered it was very similar to interfacing fabric (used when sewing collars, etc.) and ended up using that instead. Making the bag is easy, use the one that came with it as your example. I actually made mine much bigger and it seemed to work better. When vacuuming, don't have the hose on full pressure and go very slowly. It's the only thing that got my Intex clean (it went from gross to gorgeous). Couldn't have survived without it. Good luck. (06/23/2009)
By brenz64
I found a great solution for my algae clean up problem. It's simple and easy to have an above ground pool clean and clear in hours. I had an algae bloom while I was away for a weekend and my guard was down. I came home and the pool looked terrible. I shocked, used an algaecide, and vacuumed.
The trouble was that the sand filter would not pull the fine particles and it was just going back into the water to cloud it up and settle again. I vacuumed for two days and back washed, but it still came through the filter and back into the pool. This is what I did and then kicked myself for not thinking of it before.
First make sure your chlorine is at the proper levels as well as the PH. If you have had an algae problem and have shocked the pool an also been using an algaecide, but can't seem to get rid of the fine particles that settle to the bottom, this will work for you. If you have followed directions the algae should be dead. This is assuming that you have a vacuum hose that attaches to your skimmer or filter system for cleaning the bottom of your pool. If you do this works great.
Go to Lowes, Home Depot, or any place where you can pick up a cheap spa filter. The one I have is eight inches long and about 4 inches wide with a threaded bottom and closed or sealed top. It's designed to screw into a spa filter housing. It has a regular corrugated paper filter around it.
I then vacuumed the pool again and scrubbed the bottom as best I could since I could hardly see it as the water clouded. Then for good measure I added to the pool a clarifier, in my case I use 1 ounce for 6,000 gallons. My pool is 5,600 gallons.
After I was done stirring it up and getting it lose from the bottom I took the spa filter and attached it to my vacuum hose (pump off at that point) with some electrical tape to hold it in place. I intend on making a better fitting later, but I was desperate to give it a try and the tape was just to hold it in place.
Then I sunk the filter to the bottom and tried to get it in the center as best I could. Then turned on the pump as if I was going to vacuum and let the filter do it's job. I also pointed my return to the side and slightly downward to allow the water to circulate around the pool in a circle. With the filter in the middle it acts like a center drain and helps draw everything towards it. After the first few minutes the filter was green.
After one hour it was dark green and the pool was noticeably cleaner. I then shut off the pump and carefully lifted the filter to the surface and while still submerged used a bucket to slip the filter in and pull it out of the pool so as not to lose anything I had collected. After hosing it clean I did it again for two hours. By then the pool had become clear and looked great. I also used my brush while it was gathering to keep the bottom clear of the settling particles and brushed toward the filter every once in a while.
Finally I left the filter on over night for good measure and in the morning removed it. My pool was spotless. I'm getting in now. So a cheap filter on the end of a vacuum hose did the trick in just a few hours. I hope this helps. (07/15/2009)
By Glenn
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