Are POOL PHOSPHATES Feeding ALGAE In Your Pool? | Swim University

[@SwimUniversity]

We hope this helped you understand phosphates in your pool! Want to learn more about pool cleaning and pool maintenance? Subscribe and leave a comment to suggest a future pool care video. And visit www.SwimUniversity.com/pool to get the Pool Care Handbook and Video Course (Use The Promo Code VIDEO for 10% Off!)

[@rileydavis7475]

The main issue I have had with phosphates is that it eats the chlorine right out of the water, so even at a level of 500ppb the chlorine generator can not keep up with the amount of chlorine that is being depleted. So it requires more chlorine or overworking your salt system to compensate. I feel phosphate remover is a must! This is the only video so far that I don’t agree with, everything else has been great!

[@courtniecox]

Have you seen his video on Chlorine Demand? That might also be your issue. Happens to us every time is rains a lot.

[@leydamoncada4851]

I too have this problem when there is high phosphates my chlorine can not keep up even when my cya levels are where they should be

[@alanhoy5347]

Perfect comment. I definitely relate to this completely. Definitely with all the research I have done, the thing this guy is saying doesn't sit right with me at all when it comes to phosphates

[@JohnDoe-vh4rt]

I spent $1,000 to replace my saltwater chlorinator because at 100% output my chlorine levels still dropped to near zero. The new chlorinator had the same problem. The root cause? High phosphates at 600 ppb. Swim University doesn’t know what they’re talking about on this topic.

[@readmore3634]

Had my pool re-plastered with Quartz in mid 2022. Cost a little more but way worth it! After a few months I had to add a gallon of chlorine about every 2 days (33,000 gal. pool). I had the water tested 7-15-2023 and was sold a half gallon bottle of No-Phos and a Pool RX thing. The next day the pool had all these dirty looking clouds at the bottom. I vacuumed them up, cleaned the filter and it looks great....And now I'm adding only a gallon of chlorine every 4-5 days...if that...what a difference! The pool guy said "it's because there's nothing for the algae to grow on....makes sense to me....But every municipal water district has different water...mine has a lot of " Ferrous sulfate" in it used as a coagulant to remove the rust coming from old main water pipes.

[@sethmercer1600]

Lol that's funny because Phosphate remover especially during the winter in AZ works great for us especially when my chlorine levels are through the roof and my levels are great. Yellow algae has been very prone in the winters.

[@grassthief1280]

I take my water to leslie's pool when I'm really board on a sat, just to listen to everyone who walks through the door it's the same script "is your water clear " then they will start a out telling them the phosphate' s are to high and your nitrates are to high and their selling 80lb bucket of some chem, and then you need to add this and add this after you add that then drain half the water in your pool what a gotcha game they play with people so ridiculous so peeps , TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN POOL NEXT YEAR take a little time out by a good pool tester and you will be surprised how much money you would save

[@IbmStooge]

Truth!

[@willie3528]

We have pinch a penny down here in Florida and when i take my water for testing, they'll say that everything in my chemistry id great but i have green algae that i can' t get rid of. WTF. Im doing my own research cause these guysvat the store are making minimum wages and they don't know squat.

[@JamesWhiteszln6z]

I have tried to follow this guidance and avoid phosphate remover. However, I think there needs to acknowledgement that certain circumstances can result in phosphate increases that can pose a problem. In my case, it's my proximity to trees and their pollen. My pool constantly has leaves and pollen in it. The phosphate can reach 2500 ppb quickly, and when it does, if I just get a little behind on chlorine, I'm in trouble. Last year, I did not use phosphate remover, and I eventually paid the price with a cloudy pool. I now have a crystal clear pool only after resorting to an aggressive round of PhosFree Extra Strength. I am back to including a weekly maintenance dose of PhosFree to help keep phosphates in check.

[@jenniferlattanzio2637]

This is EXACTLY what I deal with . Our neighbor has a million trees and we are lucky enough all his leaves fall in my pool . I’m in the middle of a phos treatment now .

[@amazoy1723]

I would love for you to make a video about keeping my pool open in the winter instead of closing it.

[@Texasmediatv]

Just keep maintaining it. You should keep your Chlorine level at 3 PH LEVEL at 7.6 alkalinity at 90 ppm minimum phosphates at 300. Keep netting and brushing. Do this once a week. If you have a vac. Vacuum weekly. Pretty much keep your water chemistry up. And you won't have to Close for winter.

[@erickmartinez6479]

This video is oxymoronic. It uses the analogy, “if you have a garden and beetles are eating your vegetables, do you remove your garden? No, just the insects with an insecticide.” And that’s what I’m doing with a phosphate treatment….I’m not removing the pool, I’m removing the phosphates. It is 100% true that if I add chlorine, algicide and shock weekly, I will keep the water crystal clear. However for a customer that just sent me this nonsense, I pointed out that he had a Hayward T-9 cell that is equipped to handle 25,000 gallons. His is a 10,000 gallon pool. If he has a working salt chlorine generator, why are you going to add chlorine to supplement? It’s almost….as if….high phosphates render your salt system ineffective by increasing the chlorine demand. And if I have to I add chlorine, algicide, and shock on a weekly basis, I’m going to bill more for service. I sent him a new service proposal for triple his monthly rate because if I have to send someone to brush twice a week, vacuum weekly, and shock weekly, then I’ll happily follow this misguided logic. Make more videos like this so I can make more money tripling the cost of service plans. -An ACTUAL pool professional that wasted 3 minutes of their life watching this joke of a video

[@AjayKumar-er7up]

1000 ppb is only 1ppm. 1ppm is not so hard to achieve. Phosphate removers bind phosphate. It’s kinda like having food but being unable to digest it. So you starve and die. Same thing happens to algae. Since phosphate is the food source of algae, but because of the binders, it’s unable to use the phosphate and starves and dies. Using chlorine never really removes the phosphates and algae will always come back with a vengeance.

[@adamkrauss303]

For the first time in 15 years or so, our phosphate level has been sky high. I’m in New York and have a salt chlorinator, well water and 20,000 gal pool. When first tested this month, pool store said phosphate was around 3400ppb. Never been a problem in 15 years since we bought the house. At that time some of the other chemistry was off a bit (Free Chlorine, PH, Alkalinity). Used Phoenix SuperPhos. and went down a bit. Pool seemingly not algae filled as it milky colored blue. Tested today and pool store said it’s up to 5019ppb!! All other chemistry including free chlorine and stabilizer good. Now I’m about to drop almost two jars of SuperPhos in pool. I see a comment here about pollen contributing to phosphates and the pollen here in New York as been at record highs. Note that we have not applied fertilizer to our lawn in years. Any advice appreciated. Also, I don’t see discussion about the after care such as running filter a vacuum once the Super Phos is applied. Finally, the Phoenix SuperPhos I have says new and improved formula non- toxic 100% safe for family and environment. Last question, is it safe to swim in pool at those phosphate levels? Thank you.

[@RyanTehPyro]

But how do phosphates effect the rest of the pool picture? Like how do high levels of phosphates effect chlorine efficiency and stabilization? Phosphates need to be removed from the water and you can’t always burn them out with chlorine. Cloudy but balanced water can be a sign of high phosphates that something like phosfree does a great job of resolving in my experience. I’ve used enzymes with some success as well.

[@Omni_Actual]

Thank jeebus some sanity on the topic. Every pool guy in AZ is obsessed with this snake oil. It's pretty difficult to explain to them it's a non issue for a dozen reasons.

[@ricardovenegas4195]

So I know Phosphates have to be at least 1000 parts per billion. but my test kit shows my phosphate levels are over 1000 parts per million which is very high. A separate professional pool company came over and said the same thing without me even mentioning my previous test kit results. it's from our small city water supply its crazy high with phosphates!

[@JohnDoe-vh4rt]

Swim University doesn’t know what they’re talking about on this topic. I spent $1,000 to replace my saltwater chlorinator because at 100% output my chlorine levels still dropped to near zero. The new chlorinator had the same problem. The root cause? High phosphates at 600 ppb.

[@HAULUUZ]

Wow I’m in that EXACT same boat!!!! Salt cell only managing 2.0 ppm chlorine production. I just treated my pool with phosphate remover today. I hope that’s the reason for the low production.

[@JohnDoe-vh4rt]

@@HAULUUZ My pool water turned cloudy because algae started feeding on the 600 ppb phosphates. I was manually adding chlorine while running salt cell at 100% and pump 24/7. But the cloudy water would come back. Chlorine levels were near zero. I added phosphate remover and chlorine and the water very quickly turned crystal clear and chlorine levels rose and stayed up without any supplemental chlorine needed. Sure, you don’t need phosphate remover if you’re manually adding chlorine, but that’s only because you’re manually adding so much excess chlorine to fight the algae off of the high phosphate load. It’s cheaper and easier to add NoPHOS, then you don’t have to add so much expensive chlorine, nor add it as often. For saltwater pools, if you never use NoPHOS, you will have to manually supplement chlorine on a regular basis like I was doing when air temps are 80+. Much better to simply add NoPHOS.

[@GeeYo25]

Wish I had seen this before dumping 43oz of Phos Free into my pool that had 974ppb... as recommended by my local pool shop.

[@alexpanduro756]

Shock and cleaning filters did nothing to clearing my pool of green algae spent so much on chlorine and shock in a month but I had some No Phos in my inventory from Leslie’s and last night I was fed up and finally added 16 oz since I have a 15k pool and that was the recommended dosage … ran filter all night woke up this morning and my pool was almost completely clear of algae

[@byan4003]

Are there any alternatives to phosphate removers? If a pool is at 1,000+ ppb will the phosphorous levels naturally drop over a week? Calcium? A new video idea for Swim University - Your pool has tested over 1000ppb of phosphate. What are your options? Seems to be a common question with not a lot of definitive answers outside of using phosphorous removers which everyone says are not worth using.

[@bikesandbeats4693]

Not sure about this. I have salt water, chlorine levels stay in spec in relation to my CYA level of 80, other pool chemicals perfectly balanced using K2006 for exact numbers, no rotting leaves, shock occasionally, backwash filter regularly and around the end of July through August every year, I start getting phosphates increasing and mustard algae growing in perfectly balanced water requiring Yellow Out to kill it. My pool sees full sunlight from 10am to sunset.

[@bobannan]

Try using Leslie Pool’s “No Phos” once a week down the skimmer. I only use two capfuls a week. In addition I use “Perfect Weekly” on a different day ( one and a quarter capfuls added to the skimmer). Trust me, with these two products you will have amazing results, a beautiful clear blue pool. You will spend less time cleaning and less money. I also use chlorine liquid shock every night ( 16 ounces or less around the perimeter of the pool). I don’t use chlorine tablets anymore. I keep my chlorine level at 3 or 4. Our pool is a joy to maintain now and not a burden. You can order Leslie Pool products online from their website. I had a miraculous turnaround when I made these changes to my pool this summer.

[@bikesandbeats4693]

@@bobannan Thanks. I will give it it shot next year. Now that we’ve passed the heat wave months, I’m not having the issue anymore this season.

[@bobannan]

@@bikesandbeats4693 you’re very welcome. We are closing our pool soon, but at least next year we will have a better start at the beginning of the season. It’s always good to share ideas, tips and insight. That’s how I figured out my solution -- I read a commenter’s note on a Pool care video about phosphates and how they feed algae.

[@kencarp57]

Like the video said - phosphates are food for algae, but if you keep the free chlorine high enough in relation to the CYA level (FC should be 7.5% of the CYA level in PPM), and your pH is correct (7.2 to 7.6), you will not have algae problems.

[@JosephTramontana]

so algaecides are healthier than phosphate removers?

[@sjgoff]

Great video. There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt lately about phosphates. I ignored it all as SwimU hasn’t mentioned them before so I knew I was good.

[@oldgreenbus]

I would like to know about adding salt to a regular Chlorine pool in order to make the water soft. Great Vids!! Thank You!!

[@ChuckD59]

I know you're not asking me, but I tried this one year and got pretty positive feedback. My dosage was 3 - 40 lb. bags of water softener salt in a 22,000 gall on pool. The "softening" was noticeable and welcome.

[@chuck_in_socal]

My experience is this isn’t good advice. Keep phosphates low and stabilizer not too high.

[@jackdawson3276]

My tap water has 1000pbb straight out of the faucet! I add algaecide, shock one in awhile. Never see Algae. I only use phosphate reducer in my Hot tub because it has a salt system.

[@marcuscampos2887]

I drained cleaned and refilled my pool and when I went to leslies to check my chemicals my PHOSPHATE was 4000 PPB I bought the PHOS remover but it was $60 and they said I need 2 minimum I got 1 only so I used half today…

[@marthelenada6197]

Did it work? Mine has 4000 PPB, as well. I’ll start the treatment tomorrow.

[@phyllishertz2812]

@@marthelenada6197 phos free works i use it monthly

[@gregjohnson2073]

@@phyllishertz2812 How much do you add?

[@jeremyprice5423]

If your phosphate level is around 2-3,000 over chlorinating will not work

[@RaiderNationPodcast]

I’ve been paying a pool service to maintain my pool weekly. Last week I had noticeable algae on the walls. Pool guy shocked it. I took water sample to Leslie, and it tested 1550 on phosphates. He sold me muriatic acid to balance ph first, the Nophos to use afterward. I have ph at 7.8, was at 8.2. Should I not use the Nophos? Leslie told me the extremely high phosphate level needs to be brought down. I think the pool guy may have skipped coming for a couple weeks. I hadn’t seen signs he had been here. Leslie says I should maintain my own pool. I’m retired, so thought maybe I should. I bought your course. Now I see you recommend not using phosphate remover?

[@SwimUniversity]

You can use phosphate remover after you've exhausted your other options. But we don't recommend it as a go-to right away. Check out this algae video for help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4icmKOci9l3ntU

[@new002one]

Hi. My newly plastered pool just finished a 10-day startup. I brought a sample to be tested at Leslie and the phosphate was 1140. Water is clear and no algae. However, chlorine level is very low. I just add more chlorine today. Should I add some phosphate remover?

[@skelley1474]

Should I add algicide even if I have no obvious signs of alge growth in the pool?

[@nejaveit9413]

You can add it as a preventive measure but it’s not a must. I don’t add it at all and we haven’t had a problem :)

[@adamkrauss303]

I just commented below with my messy phosphate situation seeking answers, but forgot to ask this, which I’m doing separately. Please comment upon proper methodology for adding Phosphate remover. My pool store said apply, run filter for 24 hours, shut filter for 24hrs and then vacuum, as I understand the phosphates in solution are turned into solids and sink to bottom. I almost never use a suction line to vacuum, but rather my pool robotic cleaner and rechargeable hand vac where I’m in pool with mask and snorkel. So what is best practice and can my sand filter remove the phosphates after treat with SuperPhos?

[@phyllishertz2812]

clorine tabs and phos free works miracles

[@bobannan]

I use chlorine liquid shock in small amounts each night (16 ounces or less). I don’t use chlorine tablets anymore. I put 2 capfuls of NoPhos in the skimmer once a week and one and a quarter capfuls of “Perfect Weekly” in the skimmer once a week ( on a different day than the NoPhos). The result is a clear, blue pool with less work and less money on chemicals. I’m so happy with Leslie Pool products to keep the phosphate levels down and eliminating algae. The reason I don’t use chlorine tablets anymore is because my cyanuric acid level was high from using the tablets.

[@alfredkulhanek1889]

Good afternoon, I just had my water tested at Leslie's and they said my phosphates were at 1048! Is that possible, my chemistry was almost balanced and no signs of algae, should I still use phosphates remover? Thanks for any reply

[@grassthief1280]

Hello Sir so this is what I did some time ago look into purchasing a phosphate tester made by SEA KLEAR , their is a product made by ORENDA CV-600 buy this in a gallon size depending your size pool balance your levels then add this as a maintenance chem each week & all your phosphate troubles will be behind you the GRASSTHIEF

[@jurachitv8907]

What if the pool is somewhat cloudy

[@alanayalavideos1947]

Do you guys still have the handbook? On your site says video course only

[@SwimUniversity]

We now only offer access to the handbook to people who've purchased the video course.

[@sandym4494]

So helpful! I do have a question...I have a hot tub and there's algae on the side, not under the water. We have had someone maintain our pool for about a year now. It was suggested to me that I could dilute some bleach and spray it on the side to remove the algae. Yes or No? Thank you and your articles/videos have been very helpful as I am a new pool owner. :-)

[@meesterSmeeth4182]

Is your hot tub bromine?

[@SwimUniversity]

Check out this article about hot tub water chemistry. Depending on your hot tub's environment or water chemistry, algae shows up for a variety of reasons. This may help you solve that problem! www.swimuniversity.com/hot-tub-ph/

[@charlies.5777]

@@SwimUniversity This is such a good video as EVERY Pool store in my area pushes THEIR phosphate remover AND it's ALWAYS very expensive. It just seems to be the "in fashion/cool" pool chemical RIGHT NOW!! Since algae-free pools were possible prior to the creation of phosphate remover, I don't think it's really necessary. Again, thanks for the excellent explanation.

[@shyuhway7509]

Totally unfair description of phosphate removers in every way. This is misinformation.

[@Keme1213]

My button on my hottub is stuck so I cant turn on the light and change mode. Pls help

[@Keme1213]

The button to turn on the light

[@troyann1415]

I have been having struggles with my pool turning green, I had it tested and found out that it had over 1300 phosphate count. Are used a phosphate remover it’s been blew perfectly blue until I had to fill the water again from our well. I had that water tested and it has phosphates in it so how can I take care of this phosphate problem without spending an arm and a leg weekly when I fill it with water?

[@courtniecox]

My advise would be to move to a mineral system. Best way we did it was an expensive system from Amazon called PoolRX. Then add a filter on your garden hose when you fill up the pool. Both of these things are on Pool University's website under mineral system. It was a game changer for us.

[@mikeyc8139]

I took my water to two different pool stores and do all the proper maintenance listed in the video. They said my chemistry was perfect and couldn't understand why my pool was green. No amount of shocking got rid of the green. Then they tested phosphates and recommended a phosphate remover. I used it as directed and my pool cleared up in 24 hours and has been clear since. Before that I was breaking the bank adding chlorine and algaecide.

[@rovan26]

@@mikeyc8139 I have same problem. Put $200 in chemicals into my 18 ft round pool trying to remove algae. Finally took water sample to a different company, they said my chemicals were perfect but phosphates were off the charts. I bought the remover, they said pool would be clear in 24 hrs, and it's still green as before. The only thing I did different this year was drain 75% of the water and refilled it from the tap in May. I'm ready to get rid of my pool.

[@laurenganser6044]

What keeps eating my chlorine?

[@Sihkster]

The 🌞... Check your Cya/stabilizer levels