Pollen In The Pool | How To Remove It The Easy Way

This independent website is funded by its readers. It can earn a commission on any purchases made through product links, at no extra cost to the buyer.  Learn more >

Pollen in the pool is a good news and bad news. It means winter’s over, we’re into spring and summer’s coming. And  removing pollen from the pool needn’t be too difficult either.

Unless you’ve just arrived from another planet !!  Or have recently moved to a new area you’ll pretty well know when pollen is going to hit,  so you can prepare a week or two in advance.

Allergy issues apart, pollen in the pool water will upset the pool chemistry,  as well as clogging up sand and cartridge filtration systems. It can also attract bacteria too, and that’s definitely what we want to avoid.

So a bit of proactive maintenance can save you a lot of unnecessary effort and money too.

We’re going to show you how….

First Step To Clear Pollen From Your Pool

Make sure it’s pollen ! Chances are it is, but there are other things that masquerade as pollen. If the pool water line has a yellow scum along it,  or the pool corners have a floating thick build up of wind blown yellow gunk then you can be pretty well be sure it’s pollen.

An often cited imposter is Yellow Algae which attaches itself to the pool sides and bottom and prefers the shady parts of the pool. Not a too common problem though, but it does exist, and needs a much more radical treatment than getting rid of simple wind blown pollen. We don’t need to worry about it too much.

Removing Pool Pollen : Early Stage

The trick here is to prepare in advance before the pollen descends on the pool. Covering the pool is obvious. But when it’s open  we want to do is trap the pollen in the skimmer before it has a change to enter into the surface plumbing and filtration system.

That’s easy enough to do with a Pool Skimmer Sock, like most good ideas they’re cheap, simple, easy to install and will save you a bunch of time and money.

They just need removing and rinsing out daily during the pollen season. They stop pollen entering the cartridge or sand filter so less backwashing, and they effectively remove the hassle of removing and cleaning the cartridge filter so often.

If you’re more of a hands on person or don’t want to run the skimmer just for pollen extraction then make sure you invest in a fine mesh skim net. The leaf catcher most pool shacks have are ineffective for pollen allowing it to simply percolate through and back into the water.

This net will catch and hold pollen from either the surface or bottom of the pool. The pool vacuum will still need to be used if the pollen has sunk to the bottom, but pump run time will be reduced a little.

Removing Pool Pollen : Late Stage

If the pollen has had time to settle on the pool and migrate to the bottom and infiltrate the surface equipment then a different approach is needed. We’ve got floating pollen, suspended pollen, pollen accumulated on the bottom and pollen in the pool filters.

Sound like a pollen invasion

It’s simple enough to deal with though but does require throwing some money at it, and needs time and patience to achieve the best results. We need to add extra chemicals and of course run the pump on overtime. Keep the skimmer sock in place throughout the whole process.

Carefully hand skim and vacuum as much as you can from the pool surface sides and bottom.  Then add some chemical to assist removal of the rest. This is not an instant miracle cure but it will start the clean up process. We recommend this product, it’s non-toxic, non-irritating and biodegradable.

No products found.

If the pool is already in use plan on running the pool skimmers overnight when the water is still. Next morning repeat the process of hand skimming and vacuuming. The pool corners are often dead areas for the skimmer so trap pollen which needs fishing out.

In a couple of days things should start clearing up, if not repeat one more time.

If the water is still cloudy then add some flocculant to clump the pollen dust that will allow the pump filter to trap it more effectively.

This product will also speed the pollens journey to the bottom then you can vacuum it out easier.

During this whole process remember to clean the cartridge and backwash your sand filter daily.

Prevent Pool Pollen With A Cover

Pulling a pool cover on and off is a bit of a hassle.  But given the pollen season is generally pretty short it’s less hassle than dealing with a full on pollen invasion. If you don’t already have a cover we’ve written a full article on the seasons best here >>

Maybe you’re not up for investing in a cover this year so a cheaper alternative is a solar blanket. This will lay on the pool surface and is a lightweight alternative to stopping pollen entering the pool than a cover.

Keeping the best pool you can this season needn’t be too difficult.

Related Articles

Images from Amazon Product Advertising