black algae UNDER pool liner??

[D L and K's Mom]

Our in ground pool seems to have black algae UNDER the vinyl liner......or so says the pool company. We came home from vacation to little black dots. The dots are gone but now there are large patches on the floor of the pool. You can't scrub them away, you can't add chemicals as it does nothing. The stains seem to be under the liner and they look like grease stains...they are brownish! I hate the pool. I would like to fill it in and use it as a tennis court! We bought it so DS and have physical therapy in the pool (he walks in above ground pools so we went for a big inground with large shallow end and deep end for swimming and therapy) Anyone ever have this problem? What did you do? I have heard that the only soulution is to replace the liner....it is only 6 years old. The cost of a new liner $2500-$3000........We can't do that right now. Way to much $$$$$$. Anyone ever have this problem? DH just left to take H2O to be retested...we are hoping that it is a chemical thing and not algae...Have I said I hate this pool...it has had holes, pump problems etc...We jsut spent $125.00 to have a man in full scuba gear come and find the holes in the pool. Guess what.....I HATE THE POOL! I hate it but DS LOVES it and we need it......oh well thank you for letting me VENT!!!! Oh ya I forgot to add.....I HATE THE POOL !

 

[justjulie]

We had the exact thing happen this year. It's been an extremely hot summer here and we've had some trouble balancing our pool. We noticed the same black dots on our white liner - they are like tar and very difficult to remove. One pool store GASPS at the thought of black algae - the worst you can have - and provides us with instructions for the ultra burn out and treatment - does nothing- they don't scrub off - nothing. I go to another pool company and they tell me there is something called "pool goo" (or something like that) and it's actually the adhesive used to adhere the liner that is seaping through the liner - not algae. She suggested that I use something called "lo and slo" (or at least that's what it's called here) and to put it in a white cotton sock and lightly scrub the spot to see if it comes off. It did but it took more than a "light" scrub. Apparently I am not the only case of this "pool goo" problem this year - the "lo and slo" is much cheaper than pouring a ton of chemicals in your pool to treat it and, as far as I'm concerned, the less chemicals the better! Speak to your pool company or chemcial outlet and see if they're ever heard of it - maybe that's your problem and not algae.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Thank you for the info. I am going to pass it on to DH. We dont seem to have "Spots" it is sort of a grease like stain on the bottom....Did your look like that? The little spots went away with a small ammount of scrubbing and a good dose of SHOCK. The stains are irregular in shape and seem to "seep" every day. When we opened the pool this year we foudn that the liner had "Slipped" into the pool and that there was water behind the liner. We had this pumped out and the liner re_attached and we filled the pool. I am now told that the water probably caused the mold or algae behind the liner because it was moist. This doesnt make much sense as would not it stay mmoist because of rain in the ground etc..........argggg How come we were not told this may happen when they pumped it...it seems like there should have been some chemical we could have poured behind the liner to mix with the water we pumped out or something... I don't know. I am leaving this all up to DH.....I take care of the flowers, weeds and landscaping...he gets the POOL. We have an understanding..not me and DH me and the pool. I hate the pool and the pool hates me. Maybe I should go out and talk to the pool. Maybe if I love the pool the pool will love me back and not cause so many $$$ problems. Maybe the pool is upset with me because I hate it so much.......... I feel like I am from Shakespere, "Out Dam Spot..Out I Say!" Oh well. Thank you for the info. I hope it works!!! Thanks again.

 

[justjulie]

We had spots and patches. I hope you find an easy fix - I know the panic I had when they originally told me it was algae - we've never had a problem with that so I went into panic mode ... here's hoping it's a quick fix ..

 

[donaldduck1967]

Holy thread revival.

 

[PUZZLDY5]

I have really got to start looking at the dates. Good grief!

 

[SaraJayne]

Holy thread revival.

I wonder what bumped it up? The post above yours is from 05. Weird.

 

[donaldduck1967]

Someone had posted a website url for help on the problem. Not sure what happened to it

 

[danneva]

Wow! An old thread! I thought it was new, but then I just want to share some info’s regarding to black algae.
The algaecide doesn’t actually harm the black algae. It helps take away the barrier found in the heads that prevent chlorine from doing its job. So by using the algaecide your chlorine spot treatment will be more effective. Vinyl pools are much easier to deal with in regards to black algae. You’ll want to shock treat, and keep your chlorine levels at shock level while treatment is going on. Brushes treat the algae spots every day until it disappears. It may take several days as this type is very tough, but keep at it and your problem should be solved. Well, black algae in pool come about because of poor pool maintenance.

 

[Anne34]

Wow! An old thread! I thought it was new, but then I just want to share some info’s regarding to black algae.
The algaecide doesn’t actually harm the black algae. It helps take away the barrier found in the heads that prevent chlorine from doing its job. So by using the algaecide your chlorine spot treatment will be more effective. Vinyl pools are much easier to deal with in regards to black algae. You’ll want to shock treat, and keep your chlorine levels at shock level while treatment is going on. Brushes treat the algae spots every day until it disappears. It may take several days as this type is very tough, but keep at it and your problem should be solved. Well, black algae in pool come about because of poor pool maintenance.

We also had black algae, but it was UNDER to pool liner due to a small hole in the side we couldn't see. The pool store told us it wouldn't bother us so we just left it that year and replaced the liner the following year. It is not just due to poor pool maintenence.

Sorry -- just realized how old this was!