Swimming in your pool can be such as pleasure when it’s clean and sparkling. On the contrary, when there’s bugs and other dirt present in your swimming pool, it can be very unpleasant to take a swim.

As a pool owner, you spend lots of time and money on pool maintenance. Don’t let bugs deter you from enjoying your swimming pool this summer! Getting rid of these pesky little creatures can be easier than you think.

What Are the Bugs in Your Pool?

If you have little critters swimming around in your pool, chances are you’re struggling with some of common water bugs. Common water bugs species that can be found in pools are bugs such as water boatmen and backswimmers.

Water boatmen are dark brown, speckled bugs that feed off algae, mosquito larvae and other water organisms. They don’t bite, so they don’t pose any health risk. Having them in your pool might even control mosquito populations, preventing bites from mosquitos. However, they’re still not pleasant to have in a pool. They often lay their eggs in pool algae, which is quite a nasty thought.

Backswimmers look similar to water boatmen, but unlike water boatmen, they swim on their backs (hence the same, backswimmers). However, the patterns on their wings will usually differ, they also look a bit lighter. Just like water boatmen, backswimmers lay eggs in algae. They eat water boatmen and other bugs, so they’re quite viscous – considering that, it’s not surprising that they bite. Having backswimmers can ruin your swimming experience if they often bite you.

How to Get Rid of Water Bugs in Your Pool?

Water boatmen eat algae, they also lay their eggs in algae. What this means, is that they need algae for survival. Among other things, backswimmers eat water boatmen – like water boatmen, they lay their eggs in algae. The common denominator for both these pests is algae. To get rid of your water bugs, you must get rid of algae in your pool.

Algae can grow rapidly in your pool once it goes out of control. To get rid of water bugs, it’s important to get rid of your pool algae, and then to continually manage algae so you can prevent algae levels from spinning out of control again.

Getting rid of algae and effectively managing algae levels in your pool doesn’t have to be too difficult. As an added bonus, reducing the algae in your pool will also help to control bacteria levels. Having an algae-free pool will make your pool more overall more inviting in many ways, seeing as algae growths also look quite repulsive.

How to See Algae in Your Pool?

If you have water bugs in your pool, it’s a sure sign that there must be algae. Once you get rid of the algae in your pool, your water bug problem should also disappear. However, knowing the signs of algae growth in your pool can help you identify a pool algae problem before it leads to water bugs – preventing water bug problems in the future. Some common signs of algae growths in pools include:

• Discolored pool water: Depending on what type of pool algae you have, the color of your pool water could be anything from green or yellow, to blueish-black
• Algae growth: This seems obvious, but it’s important to keep an eye on areas such as the space around the stairs, tile grouting, pool walls and corners for discoloration
• Foggy pool water: Algae in your pool will not only make discolor it, the resulting color can also look foggy

If you look out for these issues whenever you swim in your pool, you can treat an algae problem before it gets too serious.

How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae?

There are a few ways to control algae in your pool and prevent algae growth from getting out of hand. However, there’s only one way to get rid of algae in your pool and that’s with a pool shock. The most common pool shock treatments available on the market contain three main ingredients:

• Calcium hypochlorite
• Sodium di-chlor
• Potassium monopersulfate (or chlorine)

These ingredients have anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties that help to control bacteria and other harmful things too, not just algae.

The most common kind of pool shock is calcium hypochlorite. Calcium hypochlorite will won’t stay in your pool for long after you shock it, but it’s very effective in killing off any organisms you don’t want in your pool.

Always clean out debris from your pool before shocking it. Be sure to also vacuum and brush your pool to clean off algae from the pool walls and corners. During the pool shock treatment, you’ll need to run your pool pump for 24 hours every day. Doing so prevents algae from growing again, as the water is always moving. Also be sure to clean your filters by soaking them in muriatic acid before you start.

How to do a Pool Shock?

Always read the manufacturer’s directions for use. Often, pool shock has to be diluted before you add it to your pool water. Carefully read the product label to ensure you dilute your pool shock correctly. Only forego the step of diluting your pool shock if the instructions on the label specifically state that dilution isn’t necessary. Failing to dilute certain kinds of pool shock can damage or discolor your pool vinyl.

After a pool shock, your pool water might look cloudy for a few days. However, this is nothing to worry about, as it’s usually just the large amounts of the product in your pool water.

You’ll need to stay out of the water and give the product time to disappear from your water before you can swim again. Only swim again once chlorine levels have returned to normal.

The more serious the algae problem in your pool, the more aggressive your pool shock will have to be. A very dirty pool will require more product than a cleaner pool. However, be careful not to use so much product that it damages your pool.

After doing a pool shock, be sure to brush your pool again. This will help to remove algae blooms.

Often, more than one pool shock treatment is necessary to get rid of algae completely. If you aren’t sure how long after a pool shock treatment you can swim again, check the product label to see if there are any instructions regarding this.

How to Control Algae in Your Pool Water?

Once you have repeated the pool shock treatment enough times that you no longer see any recurring algae growth, you can adjust your pool maintenance schedule to prevent the problem.

Some things you can do to control algae growth in your pool include:

• Control your pool water chemistry: Keeping your chlorine and pH levels in balance can help to prevent algae growth in your pool
• Regularly remove debris: Often scoop up floating debris from your pool using a pool net
• Clean your pool filters: Cleaning your pool filters will ensure that any algae blooms your filters catch aren’t released back into your pool water
• Regularly brush: Brushing keeps your pool walls, stairs and other areas free of algae growth
• Vacuum regularly: By regularly vacuuming your pool, you’ll get rid of potential algae growths before they become a problem
• Do a regular pool shock: You can do a pool shock weekly, or once every two weeks as part of your regular pool maintenance

Controlling algae in this manner will help you get rid of water bugs once and for all.

How to Get Rid of Dead Bugs in Your Pool?

Sometimes, bugs in swimming pools are just normal, unfortunate bugs that found their way to your pool and drowned there. If this is the problem you’re struggling with, you can try to control it by scooping out the bugs every time before you take a swim. It’s a tedious, but effective way to get rid if any debris your automatic pool cleaning equipment didn’t catch. Plus, pool nets are cheap and they can last for years, so cleaning dead bugs out manually before you swim is practically free.

If you find that you struggle with dead bugs in your pool more than most people, it might be that certain types of bugs are overpopulated in your yard. In these cases, you can look outside your pool for the solution. There are various plants that repel insects, by planting them around your pool, you could reduce the problem.

There probably won’t be a solution to your problem that completely eliminates the problem of dead bugs floating in your pool water. It’s best to manage this problem by cleaning your pool. By cleaning all areas of your pool regularly, you’ll control both floating debris and algae.