We got algae!

As we prepared to head out to the Hawksbill Cabin last weekend, we were more than a little apprehensive about what we might find. During the previous two weeks since we had been out, there had been tons of rain, and even an F1 tornado nearby in Stanley – during a storm that also brought golf ball sized hail to the town. So we thought there was a chance that we might find a downed tree or trees, along with other potential forms of damage.

Also, I’d worked a couple of weekends straight on getting the pool cleaned and opened after Daris and the Uncle D’s team took care of preliminaries. That pool sparkled as we left for home, so I was hoping that there wouldn’t be a lot of work to be done to get it ready for the three-day weekend we had planned last weekend, not to mention the upcoming weekend of the Fourth of July.

There was nothing of note as far as property damage goes; the Hawksbill Cabin is nestled into a hollow and the strong winds miss us. However, all the rain had raised the water level in the pool, and whenever that happens, I know to look for issues with how the filters and pumps are working. First photo above is a look at the thermal cover as I saw it when I took my first inspection walk around the pool – the green streaks are algae that accumulated in the standing water on top of it.

I also noticed this lovely bright green color over on the stairs, figuring that the extent of the algae was where the sun hit it – until I took the thermal cover off and found that pretty much the entire pool was algae-fied. Into town I went to consult with Uncle D.

Before we get up on our collective soapboxes about sustainability and green living, I should preemptively say that having a pool in the first place means you are practicing better life through chemicals. We didn’t build this and almost didn’t buy the place because it had a pool; once we did, we figure that having the pool fixed was the best way to protect the investment on the house, as opposed to filling it in or letting it atrophy into worse condition.

There is a full history of this decision-making process available by clicking the “Uncle D” label over in the list at the bottom right of the blog.

At Uncle D’s I announced that I had algae and was looking for help. We chose an algaecide, and Daris walked me through how to get the filters to boost the chlorine to a higher level (which I did, for starters). He told me that with all the rain, there aren’t many pools that don’t have algae this summer, and the problem here was that we were away a couple of weeks and it got ahead of us. Just give him word and they will come out and attend to things – through a phone call, or “shoot me a Facebook” – (Uncle D’s page is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luray-VA/Uncle-Ds-Pools-Spas-LLC/82303143717?ref=ts).

So with the chemicals all getting to work, I also set the machines loose on the algae, with Dude going at it and using my new cheapo pole mounted mini vac; plus manual scrubbing from the long brush. I worked over Friday and Saturday a couple of hours at a time, and by Sunday, the pool was sparkling. Mary and I made plans for an afternoon swim, after I ran some errands in town.

After my errands, we put on our suits and went down into the pool. As soon as we both were in – it started to rain. Oh well, it was refreshing, in any case!