How to get rid of Pollen

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Dizzy2908

Member
Jun 15, 2019
6
Southwest Florida
Every spring my neighbor's tree produces enormous amounts of pollen that ends up in my pool (through my lanai screen). It turns my pool green cloudiness and green dust settles on the bottom. It is NOT algae. All my chemicals are holding well, including the chlorine. The problem I have is that it is either so fine that the filter has no effect on it or it just comes in so much quicker than the water can circulate. I have a cartridge filter so a floc isn't an option. Any advice on how to get rid of this? It takes months for it to completely filter out and I am constantly brushing the pool floor trying to get it to the drains.
 
I don't think there is a magic bullet for pollen, if you find one please let me know. We're dealing with the same issue up here in Georgia right now. I run my pump longer and put hair nets in my skimmer. Keep in mind that they may need to be cleaned out daily or sometimes even twice a day. Also keep an eye on your filter pressure. Pollen can clog a filter quickly. I backwashed last night and it was a NASTY yellow/green. Just requires a little more attention this time of year. Good luck!
 
I feel your pain... The Houston yellow/green snow season is well underway.

I combat it with skimmer socks. Lots and lots and lots of skimmer socks and running the pump at higher speeds with the drain valve closed to get as much into the skimmer as I can before it sinks.
 
Welcome to TFP :)

You live in the land of the smallest filter will do... I have a 320 sgft filter on a little bigger pool with 4 filters inside it... A 320 would work great for your size pool..

As for the pollen you can use skimmer socks to trap it but your filter should be trapping pollen easy... how well are your skimmers working?

Your other option is to get a robot like the S200 with the fine filter and make easy work of it.. :)
 
cowboycasey said:
Welcome to TFP :)

You live in the land of the smallest filter will do... I have a 320 sgft filter on a little bigger pool with 4 filters inside it... A 320 would work great for your size pool..

As for the pollen you can use skimmer socks to trap it but your filter should be trapping pollen easy... how well are your skimmers working?

Your other option is to get a robot like the S200 with the fine filter and make easy work of it.. :)
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I just updated my signature. I have a bit of a bigger filter now. Not near where you are, but still bigger. At any rate, the psi has only increased by 1-2 in between cleanings. I will try the skimmer socks, but the majority seems to sink to the floor before it hits the skimmer. I guess it's just going to have to be a lot of vac and clean the filter. Thanks for the reply!
 
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How long do your run your pump? Is your pump a variable speed? If so, I would run it 24/7 to keep things moving into the skimmers before it can sink to the bottom.
 
In case you didn't notice the references to skimmer nets, that can make a big difference. I've found that when there is a lot of fine stuff like the seasonal oak and pine pollen we have here in SE Texas, that actual skimmer socks work better than hair nets in that job. They also last longer, but of course they cost a lot more. At times like now, I have to clean the two skimmer socks at least once a day, and sometimes twice if it's really windy. Lots of other small debris in the air since the Texas Freeze, but skimmer socks can reduce the load on your main filter. Also as someone mentioned, if you have a robot cleaner with an available pleated fine filter, that can do a good job on the bottom. I normally run that robot once a week, but right now it's every three days or so with the fine filters.
 

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BowserB said:
In case you didn't notice the references to skimmer nets, that can make a big difference. I've found that when there is a lot of fine stuff like the seasonal oak and pine pollen we have here in SE Texas, that actual skimmer socks work better than hair nets in that job. They also last longer, but of course they cost a lot more. At times like now, I have to clean the two skimmer socks at least once a day, and sometimes twice if it's really windy. Lots of other small debris in the air since the Texas Freeze, but skimmer socks can reduce the load on your main filter. Also as someone mentioned, if you have a robot cleaner with an available pleated fine filter, that can do a good job on the bottom. I normally run that robot once a week, but right now it's every three days or so with the fine filters.
Click to expand...
I'm northeast of you, near Spring and I don't ever mess with the hairnets exactly because of this- I don't find they catch the yellow pine tree pollen at all. I have about 15-20 of the socks and I rinse them when I remove them from the skimmer and toss them in a basket. Once a week, I'll throw the dirty ones in with a load of rags. Even with a hot wash with bleach, they last a good season or two. As for the cleaner, the sand/silt bag for the Polaris cleaners might catch it, but I try to get that stuff before it sinks!

And yes- since that freeze, I'm seeing all kinds of unusual leaves, seeds, debris! o_O
 
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