Help - How to clean Rice Field Burning Cinders and Dust from Swimming Pool

[Smileygc]

We live in rural Isaan and have a pool. This is our first year and so are discovering the fun and games of living in very active farmland.

Our pool is made up of blue tiles and white grout. It is a salt water pool. With dust in the dry season and two rice harvests a year, there are a number of months of rice field burn offs. The cinders get everywhere and of course into the pool. Being black they are really noticeable, they seem to adhere to the grout and need a good brushing to loosen them. Brushing is relatively easy in shallow areas, but brushing can be difficult in the deeper parts.

Does anyone have the same problem and an idea how to keep the pool clean without all the brushing every few weeks.

A cover has been suggested, but that is impractical as the dirt is around for most of the year.

+ve part I am getting fitter with all the brushing.

Psst. I do use the vacuum, which picks up some, but as I said the cinders seem to hold on tight to the grout and resist all efforts to vacuum them off.

[fdimike]

I have a similar problem here in Udon Thani also with a salt water pool. Our solution is to use a proper nylon pool brush attached to a long aluminum pole available at just about any pool shop. My brother-in-law lives with us and brushes the pool walls daily. That seems to work just fine. Make sure your water chemistry is correct as well as this will help reduce the amount of crap which may adhere to the tile.

[Chaichara]

You could try using a stainless steel algae brush.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Chaichara

[fdimike]

I would be careful using a stainless steel brush as it could easily scratch the tile. A nylon pool brush should take care of the problem.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/pool-brush

[sakaew]

G'day Smiley GC ( General Counsel???)

I used to have a load of lovely Vanda orchids in my Pattaya house...strung out along overhead beams.

For one reason or another, I finished with the orchids.

Some one year later, I took up with a Winsome Maid, who had a little kid. and I was so taken with both of them...that I whacked in a below ground pool.

What should be above the New Pool....but all the cross beams, from which the orchids hung.

I put some Big C sun shade net stuff up, and consequently, we get next to nothing in the pool.

In your case, you'd need to go a few meters beyond the pool perimeter to stop the s**t coming in from the side, in a strong wind., but the cost is minimal....for a permanent solution both to

the cinders problem...and the Issarn Maidens' horror of the sun striking their skin.

[maprao]

Fill it with dirt and plant vegetables in it. Sorry not helpful I know but my friend did as tired of maintaining his pool under these circumstances

[PeCeDe]

G'day Smiley GC ( General Counsel???)

I used to have a load of lovely Vanda orchids in my Pattaya house...strung out along overhead beams.

For one reason or another, I finished with the orchids.

Some one year later, I took up with a Winsome Maid, who had a little kid. and I was so taken with both of them...that I whacked in a below ground pool.

What should be above the New Pool....but all the cross beams, from which the orchids hung.

I put some Big C sun shade net stuff up, and consequently, we get next to nothing in the pool.

In your case, you'd need to go a few meters beyond the pool perimeter to stop the s**t coming in from the side, in a strong wind., but the cost is minimal....for a permanent solution both to

the cinders problem...and the Issarn Maidens' horror of the sun striking their skin.

Love your phrase "Winsome maid," reminds me of my schooldays and Shakespeare.

[Saan]

I lived in North Queensland with a salt water chlorinated pool. My problem wasn't with rice fields but with cane fields occasionally burning off.

I used to use copper sulphate which was sprinkled over the pool surface. This brought all the impurities to the bottom of the pool and made them very easy to vacuum.

I'll probably hear from someone wiser than me that this will cause instant death.

P.S. I survived.

[carlyai]

Smileygc sorry this is off topic, but did you build the pool yourself?

I am going to build one next year, and am gathering info.

I also live in rural Isaan.

[IMHO]

If you vacuum up the ash shortly after it falls into the pool, do you still have the problem of it sticking to the grout? If yes, perhaps a pool cleaning robot is the solution?

Alternatively, teach a family member/villager how to use the vacuum and get them to do it daily?

[IMHO]

Smileygc sorry this is off topic, but did you build the pool yourself?

I am going to build one next year, and am gathering info.

I also live in rural Isaan.

No offence to anyone here, but if the pool you're considering is less than or equal to 12M x 5M, buy a fibreglass shell and avoid issues like this entirely - the only 'scrubbing' you'll do in a fibreglass pool is a sponge around the waterline to clean the make-up and lotion scum line. You can still DIY the install

[sappersrest]

The way to tackle this, is using the pools filtration system in the first instance and presuming valves have been fitted.

Run the pump 24/7 during the burning season, turn off the chlorinator, so as not to produce two much chlorine, turn back on as required.

Ensure pool is topped up to the correct level.

Ensure skimmer box baskets are clear.

Partially close the valve from the bottom sump approx 2/3 closed.

This should enable most of the ash to be drawn into the skimmer before it gets to the bottom of the pool.

Brush the pool then vac.

If the pool has been correctly designed i.e. 75% of the pools circulation should go through the skimmers or overflow channel the most polluted water is in the top 75mm,this should work

If in fact the grout is blackened it may not be ash but may be black spot algae, This will need to be treated with a good copper based algaecide along with raising the chlorine levels to 5ppm and keeping the pH at 7.2.

Leave for 24 hours then brush and vac away

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Sometime it may be too easy to blame the soot in the air. Soot from the burning of stubble and sugar cane, and black algae are often confused with each other. We know of such confusion in Nakhon Ratchasima, Si Sa Ket, Burriram, Nakhon Nayok, Chayaphum, and Udon Thani.

Some types of soot are extremely fine and may go right through the filter media, especially if the filter is filled with sand and not zeolite. The answer here is to use a flocculant. Soot should not be difficult to remove from the grout. Always do a backwash after vacuuming the floc from the floor. In extremely severe cases vacuum direct to waste, but remember that this will remove a lot of water from the pool.

By contrast, black algae is extremely difficult to get rid of. It does need scraping with a wire brush. It needs a proprietary algicide, preferably applied neat in the first instance to the affected areas, then regularly as a preventative treatment. The instructions are in the bottle. The manufacturers know what they are making. There are many different brands of exactly the same stuff and at prices ranging from acceptable, to extremely expensive.

Check out our website.

Edited May 31, 2015 by SwimmingPoolsThailand

[SantiSuk]

G'day Smiley GC ( General Counsel???)

I used to have a load of lovely Vanda orchids in my Pattaya house...strung out along overhead beams.

For one reason or another, I finished with the orchids.

Some one year later, I took up with a Winsome Maid, who had a little kid. and I was so taken with both of them...that I whacked in a below ground pool.

What should be above the New Pool....but all the cross beams, from which the orchids hung.

I put some Big C sun shade net stuff up, and consequently, we get next to nothing in the pool.

In your case, you'd need to go a few meters beyond the pool perimeter to stop the s**t coming in from the side, in a strong wind., but the cost is minimal....for a permanent solution both to

the cinders problem...and the Issarn Maidens' horror of the sun striking their skin.

Love your phrase "Winsome maid," reminds me of my schooldays and Shakespeare.

Yeah verily. One cannot fail but to surmise that winsome maid is toothsome into the bargain?

My Isaan (rural Sisaket) pool also gets black cinders - but they don't readily sink. They mostly float around and are pushed into the full surround (actually only 3 sides for some reason that escapes me) overflow at the next pumping and dealt with by the sand filter. Those few that do sink never stick to the walls and seem to remain intact on the bottom for the next vacuum without adhering. I think it may be that I'm half a click from the nearest rice fields (generally it's market gardening in my immediate vicinity), so maybe I only get the lighter weight cinders that can carry a longer way on the wind

Sorry that's not much help to you OP to hear how lucky another guy is, but for others contemplating a new build, the overflow/reserve tank approach to construction might save you this heartache if it's a problem situ. Costs more of course but I'm very happy with the way it works and results it gives*. No I'm not a pool-builder btw!

*The reserve/overflow tank syste is useful in other respects as a store of rainwater in the rainy season - I switch off the autofill from my water tower and keep the reservoir level as low as I can in non-rainy days, so that there is up to 5 cu.m of rainfall to be accommodated. Doesn't help much in the height of rainy season (pool doesn't lose enough naturally to accommodate a daily inundation), but useful in the long irregular rainstorm shoulder periods of rainy season. Reduces the impact of chemie (mostly salt) being flushed down the drain! If I was starting again I would ask for the reserve tank to be bigger than 5% of total pool capacity.

[sappersrest]

If contemplating building your own pool and wish to have overflow channels design the balance tank so it is 10% of the total pool volume.

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Whether one has an overflow system (best for many reasons, and not much more expensive when considered the total budget for a pool) , or a skimmer system, when it rains the water goes through an overflow somewhere to waste. A balance tank is not conceived to cope with rain water - once it's full for any reason, the rest goes out to the drains. A typical Isan rain storm can put 20% (or more) new water in a pool. Balance tank design is for around 7 - 10% of the pool volume and takes care of automatic topping up and bather displacement, while allowing the aesthetics of a flush-to-deck concept and/or infinity edges, and a more efficient means of getting rid of surface debris.

[maidee]

maybe buy some vinyl cover when you not using it ?

[Smileygc]

Many thanks for all the replies and suggestions. The vacuuming does not lift the blackness from the bottom. I didn't think it was algae as there wasn't any evidence on the walls. But not much shifts the stuff off the bottom.

To day I tried jet washing the bottom of the pool. I have a long hose on the jet wash and the electric part is some 3 meters from the water....., this worked much better, but still needed a few applications.

I inspected the now floating residue and it seems to be a vey dark green. And as I said looks black on the bottom groat. So I am coming rapidly to the conclusion that this is ALGAE!

So Swimmingpoolsthailand looks live you had the answer. Can you send me your contact details and information on what I need to clear it. Also I may need a good testing kit to test for all the various things of a saltwater pool.

In hind sight, as I have only been using a simple two colour test kit, not adding salt very often as the water tasted salty, and with the recent rise in temperature of the pool, water top ups because of the evaporation - there was not enough chlorine being produced to arrest the growth. The burning has now finished, but the pool blackness is still increasing.

By the way, the water is crystal clear, so another reason I didn't think it was an algae built up.

Once again thanks again thanks to everyone and Swimmingpoolsthailand please send the details I requested. Cheers. G

[IMHO]

Many thanks for all the replies and suggestions. The vacuuming does not lift the blackness from the bottom. I didn't think it was algae as there wasn't any evidence on the walls. But not much shifts the stuff off the bottom.

To day I tried jet washing the bottom of the pool. I have a long hose on the jet wash and the electric part is some 3 meters from the water....., this worked much better, but still needed a few applications.

I inspected the now floating residue and it seems to be a vey dark green. And as I said looks black on the bottom groat. So I am coming rapidly to the conclusion that this is ALGAE!

So Swimmingpoolsthailand looks live you had the answer. Can you send me your contact details and information on what I need to clear it. Also I may need a good testing kit to test for all the various things of a saltwater pool.

In hind sight, as I have only been using a simple two colour test kit, not adding salt very often as the water tasted salty, and with the recent rise in temperature of the pool, water top ups because of the evaporation - there was not enough chlorine being produced to arrest the growth. The burning has now finished, but the pool blackness is still increasing.

By the way, the water is crystal clear, so another reason I didn't think it was an algae built up.

Once again thanks again thanks to everyone and Swimmingpoolsthailand please send the details I requested. Cheers. G

Where I live, the easy way to know when your pool has algae coming, is you'll see a few water boatsman in the water.

(the ones I get look light yellow - almost white when in the water)

I will see these guys a day or two before I'll see any evidence of algae.. so as soon as I spot one (have a few times) a put a little algaecide in the skimmer, and the problem is solved.

[Smileygc]

Many thanks for all the replies and suggestions. The vacuuming does not lift the blackness from the bottom. I didn't think it was algae as there wasn't any evidence on the walls. But not much shifts the stuff off the bottom.

To day I tried jet washing the bottom of the pool. I have a long hose on the jet wash and the electric part is some 3 meters from the water....., this worked much better, but still needed a few applications.

I inspected the now floating residue and it seems to be a vey dark green. And as I said looks black on the bottom groat. So I am coming rapidly to the conclusion that this is ALGAE!

So Swimmingpoolsthailand looks live you had the answer. Can you send me your contact details and information on what I need to clear it. Also I may need a good testing kit to test for all the various things of a saltwater pool.

In hind sight, as I have only been using a simple two colour test kit, not adding salt very often as the water tasted salty, and with the recent rise in temperature of the pool, water top ups because of the evaporation - there was not enough chlorine being produced to arrest the growth. The burning has now finished, but the pool blackness is still increasing.

By the way, the water is crystal clear, so another reason I didn't think it was an algae built up.

Once again thanks again thanks to everyone and Swimmingpoolsthailand please send the details I requested. Cheers. G

Where I live, the easy way to know when your pool has algae coming, is you'll see a few water boatsman in the water.

(the ones I get look light yellow - almost white when in the water)

I will see these guys a day or two before I'll see any evidence of algae.. so as soon as I spot one (have a few times) a put a little algaecide in the skimmer, and the problem is solved.

Now that's what I saw some weeks ago also on the overflow some weird things like scorpions but without a tail, brown in colour and live in the rivers. Only a couple and both were dead. I need to get that algae treatment....

Are there any suppliers near Nakhon Phanom or around that can ship to NP?

[IMHO]

Now that's what I saw some weeks ago also on the overflow some weird things like scorpions but without a tail, brown in colour and live in the rivers. Only a couple and both were dead. I need to get that algae treatment....

Are there any suppliers near Nakhon Phanom or around that can ship to NP?

No leads in your area - but the forum sponsors sell the stuff in their online store... I'm not using any of their product though - I got 3L with my pool, and still have plenty left after almost 1.5 years. It's just a generic copper-based algaecide.

Anyways, if you're seen these little water boatsman, you now know that means you have some not-yet-visible algae in the pool. Get some algaecide in the pool the first day you spot them, and that will be the end of it

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Are there any suppliers near Nakhon Phanom or around that can ship to NP?

• We carry the widest range of swimming pool chemicals in Thailand and we ship everywhere in the country.
• Small orders up to about 20 Kg are generally sent by Thai Post EMS (delivery time about 2 working days)
• Larger orders with a combined weight of over 20 Kg are generally sent by Thai Post LOGISPOST (delivery time about 3 working days to your nearest post office) or by Thai Parcels Co, (delivery to your door 3 - 5 working days depending on distance.
• Most orders confirmed before 12:00 noon on weekdays can ship the same day.
• We currently have Special Offers on 4-packs of gallon (3.78 litres) bottles of chemicals.

Edited June 5, 2015 by SwimmingPoolsThailand

[kungpao]

Thai wife and I plan to move to Thailand in a few years and build a house on some land she has on a sugar cane farm in the NE. I want a pool to swim in. She thinks it's going to be too much trouble with the burning of the sugar cane fields 2x a year. It would be good to know if it's truly feasible and not a great deal of work to keep a pool clean. Seems like its up there with owning a boat. Well, plenty of time for research. I'm sure there is a way. The fiberglass sounds like a great route. Just want a place to swim and exercise. We shall see.