Swimming Pool Red Slime...Red Algae
by Sharon
My friend said it was probably red slime which can sometimes occur in a pool. He vacuumed the the whole pool then everyone (five other people) went back in to swim. Also his daughter was having a pool party the same day for eight lifeguards from the local lake where she is head lifeguard. I was curious about the health risks of red slime so I researched it on the internet. The only information I found was your article about how to get rid of red slime and how no one was to swim in the pool until the problem was cleared up. Do you know what red slime health risks are or do you know who to contact to find out? Thanks for the question Sharon From my experience red algae/slime can be one the hardest kinds of bacteria to kill. Yes, it's a bacteria, not really an algae like green or blue-green kinds of swimming pool algae. Because red slime is really a bacteria, you need to approach it a little differently. You can go to this link to learn about red algae: Red Algae There's a product that I've never used but I've heard of some people that have had success with it. This product is called "Yellow Out" by Coral Seas. You might find them at this link: http://yellowout.com/index.html You'll need to add yellow out and then the chlorine at the points where the red algae is the worst. Bring the chlorine level to a shock level of 10 - 12ppm up from your normal chlorine level. You'll need enough chlorine for 3 consecutive shocks. Swimming Pool Shock There is a man named Fred at Coral Seas that can help you with most of your red algae problems if you need more assistance or questions. The 800 number is available on the package label and in the website. I'm not aware of any long term health risks associated with swimming in a red algae, but I'm not a biologist. For more in-depth answers you might want to contact the Center For Disease Control. Hope this helps and have a wonderful rest of the Summer Robert Aug 23, 2010 Rating Thanks by: Sharon Thanks for the feedback. I will pass the info on to my friend. |
