Do I Really Need To Use Algaecide In My Swimming Pool?

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Algaecides and algaestats treat and prevent algae growth in pools and spas and are important tools to keep in your pool care arsenal. While the chlorine you use for regular pool maintenance and water sanitization does have bactericidal and algaecidal properties, the addition of pool algaecide will enhance and prolong the effectiveness of the chlorine and can act as a valuable backup to the anti-algae effects of regular chlorination. If algae are present in your pool despite your regular pool care routine, which can be indicated by brown, green, blue-green, black or yellow areas on the walls of the pool or an algae bloom in the water, then algaecides are definitely in order. The most common forms of algae are extremely resistant to treatment with chlorine; therefore, algaecides will be necessary to rectify the situation and return your pool to the clean, clear, refreshing haven as intended.

Because wind and rain is constantly introducing algae spores into your pool water, prevention is the key component to managing algae concerns before they become a problem. Inadequate pool water circulation and pool care treatment is another contributory cause to pool algae development. Algaecides and algaestats are a good idea if the conditions where you live favor algae growth, such as areas that routinely experience high temperatures, large amounts of direct sunlight or heavy rain. Once algae is visible in your pool, the algae colony is already well established, which can quickly cause your pool to become dangerously slippery and can begin to increase the pH level significantly. Incorporating an algaecide or an algaestat into your pool care will help to avoid algae occurance.

What is the difference between pool algaecides and algaestats? Algaecides are used to kill algae; whereas, algaestats are a proactive treatment that is used to prevent the growth of algae. In many cases, the difference between algaecides and algaestats is simply the dosage strength of the chemical formula used for treatment. For example, algaestats are recommended to be used once per week to inhibit algae growth will likely be similar to the chemical formula of an algaecide that is a concentrated strength to kill existing algae.

How do I know which algaecide to use? The algaecide that will work best for your situation depends on your pool type and the type of algae that has appeared. For example, most algaecides are effective against green algae, but black algae may require an algaecide specifically formulated to treat this resistant type. Below are brief descriptions of the four primary types of algaecides commonly used to treat swimming pool algae. There are also strong algaecides blended with water clarifiers to help your filtration system remove dead algae from the water. Your pool care professional can assist you further in selecting the proper algaecide for your pool.

What the differences are between:

Copper algaecides kill algae through suffocation and metabolism disruption and are an effective treatment option for most types of algae. Polyquats are very effective treating both green and mustard forms of algae. They do not have the residual and foaming effects as do quaternary ammonia algaecides; however, if not used at proper levels, copper-based algaecides can cause staining on some concrete pools. Most copper algaecides include a chelating agent to prevent this. Copper algaecide is a good choice for use in vinyl liner pools. You should not use a copper algaecide with a biguanide based sanitizing system such as Baquacil® or SoftSwim®.

Algaecide Quaternary ammonia algaecides, also called Quats, are the most cost-effective product to use as both an algaecide and an algaestat. Effective in both capacities, quats work best against green algae and kill algae growth through cellular membrane disruption. While quats do not case staining, foaming can occur, especially when not used properly. If you have experienced any metal staining in the past, you should use a quat or polyquat algaecide to treat your swimming pool.

Polyquat Algaecides are a highly effective treatment option for all types of algae and do not have the staining issues of copper algaecides or the foaming issues of quats. Polyquats are stronger algaecide formulas that kill algae through cellular membrane disruption, similar to quats, but are composed of longer molecular structures. This type of algaecide is safe for use in any pool yet tends to be more expensive and more effective than other options. If your pool has become infested with algae, chlorine is still your first line of defense combating algae. Algaecide should be used after the chlorine has returned into the normal range.

Black algaecide is specially formulated to destroy black algae (dark blue-green algae), which can be very resistant to chlorine and other algaecides and algaestats. These algaecides are generally a proprietary blend of a copper-based algaecide and a quaternary ammonia algaecide and are highly effective in both preventing and destroying black algae. They work through a combination of cellular membrane disruption, metabolism disruption and suffocation. Black algae develops in layers and attaches itself within tiny crevices of plaster and concrete pools. Once established, black algae are tough to get rid of because chlorine alone has little effect, and on only the surface layer of the algae. Using a stiff brush, you must first break through the algae surface layers for any algaecide or chlorine treatments to be effective and then you need to maintain higher chlorine reading (3.0) and lower the pH to 7.2 for a period after treatment to destroy this form of algae.

As you can see, each formula of pool algaecide has a specific purpose and treats certain types of algae. Always buy a concentrated algaecide to treat or prevent the algae your pool. Do not buy gallons or half gallons of cheap algaecides typically available at mass merchants. Most of these products are very weak quaternary ammonia formulas that produce foam and are not a good value.



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