Even if your water is sparkling clean and well maintained, having dirt at the bottom of your pool can make your guests think twice before jumping in. You’ll need to add cleaning the bottom of your pool to your weekly pool maintenance list to make sure you don’t get caught with a dirty pool. Dirt can collect at the bottom of your pool for a variety of reasons including blowing winds, a problem with your filter, and more. We’ll teach you how to keep your pool sparkling clean!
Table of Contents
How to clean the bottom of the pool with a vacuum
The fastest way to clean the bottom of a pool is with a vacuum. For detailed step-by-step instructions, read our blog on how to vacuum a pool! For a manual vacuum that connects to a hose, start by cleaning all the sides and the bottom of your pool with a brush to loosen up all the debris. Once that is complete, use a pool net to pick up all the large pieces of dirt that the vacuum can’t get to. Now you’re ready, simply connect your vacuum to your hose and slowly start vacuuming!
To make sure you only have to vacuum once, start slowly so you don’t kick up dirt into the water. When dirt is kicked up, it floats in the water until after you’re done vacuuming and then re-settles at the bottom, meaning you’ll have to vacuum twice to get it all. Slow and steady is a better method for a quicker clean-up.
Are you wondering when you’ll have time to vacuum the bottom of your pool? Keep your cleaning to a minimum with pool cleaners! Consider robotic pool cleaners or pool bottom cleaners for a cost-effective and worry-free way to clean your pool. A pool cleaner will brush, and clean every inch of your pool so you won’t have to worry about kicking up dirt or finding time to brush your pool.
How to clean the bottom of a pool without a vacuum
When you don’t have a vacuum to clean your pool, you need to get creative with your pool equipment. There are different types of dirt at the bottom of the pool and once you recognize each of them, you can start to find ways to clean them efficiently.
To pick up large pieces of debris, use a plastic leaf rake. The plastic prevents scratches on the pool’s liner and bottom but allows you to easily pick up large pieces.
For algae and debris, use a thick brush to dig in and drag the algae and debris in one direction. For a concrete pool, use a metal or stainless steel brush to clean your floors and for vinyl floors, use a nylon-bristle brush.
Here’s a secret we bet you didn’t know. Do you have stains and debris on your floor? Throw a tennis ball into your pool and it will absorb the oil. Once the ball is dirty, replace it with another one.
Lastly, the most common tip, use shock treatment to remove dirt and algae from your pool. This is something we also suggest to vacuum owners as well, but it’s extra important if you’re cleaning your pool with more manual methods. You can learn more about this in our blog posts on how to clean a pool and test your chlorine level. You will also want to invest in pool sanitizers to aid in the manual methods you’ll use to remove dirt from your pool.
How to get algae off the bottom of a pool
Once algae starts to grow, you need to take care of it immediately. See our full blog post on how to get rid of algae in pool. There are three types of algae: green, yellow, and black.
Green algae are the most common type of algae. The first of it appears when your pool becomes slimy and usually starts in areas where circulating doesn’t occur.
Yellow algae are usually brownish or muddy yellow in color and while it doesn’t spread as quickly as green algae, it is harder to destroy. It often looks like dirt or sand at the bottom of the pool and occurs when the pool water is stagnant.
Black algae are the hardest to remove but the least common. It stays on plaster pools or around rough concrete areas. If left untreated, it can cause structural harm to your pool.
To remove algae, start by recycling your water through the filter, removing all debris, brushing the pool surfaces, and vacuuming all visible algae. Then, clean the filters of dead algae, test the chlorine water, shock the pool if necessary, and re-brush your pool to remove leftover debris.
To keep algae from returning, brush and shock your pool weekly, clean all your toys if they’ve been in natural bodies of water, and invest in a robotic pool cleaner.
How to clean dirt and sand from the bottom of a pool
An uncovered pool can be a magnet for leaves, twigs, bugs, and dirt! That’s why we recommend regular pool maintenance and skimming your pool once a day to remove surface-level debris/dirt. If you don’t skim it for a couple of days, that dirt can fall to the bottom of the pool and pile up in patches. This can be really harmful because it is hurting your sanitizer, whether that be chlorine or any other sanitizer for your pool. You’ll need more sanitizer, and more labor time to balance your pool, and it’s costly.
If you have a covered pool, you may have dirt and sand from a pool filter entering your pool. This happens when you have a sand filter that is somehow coming back through your pool’s return lines. You’ll want to remove dirt and sand from a pool filter to prevent this from happening again and maintain a regular cleaning schedule.
Regardless of how the dirt and sand ended up in your pool, you must remove it. Start by brushing your pool. If you have dirt at the bottom of your pool, chances are you have it on the sides as well. Next, get out the pool vacuum and start and slowly start removing the dirt. Lastly, run your pump to take care of the dirt that settled again on your floor so that it can circulate out of the pool. If you’re lucky and have a robotic pool cleaner, now is the time to put it to work to help with this labor-intensive process!
Balancing Your Water and chlorine levels
As mentioned earlier, dirt and sand can affect your pH levels and your pool chemistry. This is because dirt and debris can throw off your pH and when you balance with sanitization, it will neutralize the dirt. As more dirt is added to your pool, the more you’ll need to balance and add chemicals. To balance your water, start by testing it to see what your pH is and what water treatment you require. You will likely need to shock your pool to remove bacteria and add algaecide and stabilizer to the water to prevent the dirt from causing any issues to your water. The amount of chemicals you add depends on the result of your water test.
Here are some metrics you’ll want to follow when balancing your pool:
- Total alkalinity should be between 80 to 120 ppm
- The PH level should be between 7.4 – 7.6
- Free chlorine needs to be between 2.0 – 4.0 ppm
- The calcium hardness needs to be between 200 and 400 ppm
Shock Your Pool
Shocking a pool is when you add chlorine chemicals to the water to raise the free chlorine levels. This is done to destroy algae and bacteria and sanitize dirt. It’s perfect for cleaning and removing dirt from your pool.
Now that you’ve tested the water, you can learn how to shock a pool. Add the shock treatment and make sure your pool pump is running to circulate it through your pool for about 8 hours, depending on the type of shock you have. Once that’s complete, test your water levels again and wait another 24 hours before entering. This should help remove
How to clean the bottom of an above-ground pool
While learning how to clean an above-ground pool without a vacuum is similar to an in-ground pool, the material of the pool is different. For example, when choosing a brush for the sides of the pool, choose a nylon brush over a coarse brush because the lining of the pool is soft vinyl. However, the same tips of using a plastic rake, tennis balls for stains, and shocking your pool weekly, still apply to above-ground pools.
There is a difference when it comes to choosing a vacuum to clean the bottom of your above-ground pool. In-ground vacuums are designed to handle deeper pools and can go as far as 8 feet. But above-ground pools require robotic cleaners that can handle shallow waters with a flat bottom. Also, the suction on an in-ground pool can be stronger because the materials of the pool can handle the stronger pressure, whereas the lighter and more delicate vinyl of most above-ground pools requires a more gentle suction. There are still a lot of affordable robotic vacuums for an above-ground pool!
Keeping Your Pool Clean
It takes time and effort, but with a weekly cleaning schedule you can ensure that dirt and debris aren’t going to keep you from a clean pool. Incorporate simple tasks like investing in a pool cleaner, skimming your pool daily, and shocking your pool weekly will help keep your pool sparkling clean.
