Neglect your swimming pool or hot tub for long enough, and you’re more than likely to get white water mold. Here we reveal what it actually is, the causes, proper treatment methods, and prevention tips.
Topics Covered
- What does white water mold look like?
- Is white water mold harmful?
- What causes it?
- How to remove white water mold in a hot tub
- How to remove white water mold in a swimming pool
- Prevention methods
What does white water mold look like?
It looks like a thin layer of white biofilm, often appearing pinkish in some spots. The pink stuff is a bacteria, and the white film is a fungus that floats on the surface of the water and covers objects in swimming pools and hot tubs. It’s also sometimes described as shredded pieces of tissue paper.
Is white water mold harmful?
The bacteria and fungus pose no health risk to humans or animals. Nevertheless, it doesn’t look good and is definitely undesirable.
Can you swim in a pool with white water mold?
You can if you’re not easily squirmish.
What causes it?
It’s a combination of not taking care of your swimming pool/hot tub and environmental factors.
How to remove white water mold in a hot tub
1: Drain your hot tub
Since the water in your hot tub is infected, you will first have to drain all the water out.
2: Clean everything
Thoroughly scrub the inside of your hot tub with a good cleaning detergent. Do the same to any objects you had floating in it that you are planning on putting back into the hot tub too. The tub filters should also be removed and cleaned – not only rinsed. Wash the actual filters with a cleaning detergent.
Getting this step right is essential because any white water mold bacteria or fungus that is not killed in this step will result in your white water mold problem returning in a few weeks.
3: Refill the hot tub
Refill the hot tub with clean water.
4: Chemically treat the water and run the pump
Put your normal chemicals into the water but triple the dosage and let the hot tub run for two hours. This will allow the chemicals to kill white water mold in the plumbing system.
5: Drain the water again
Once again, drain all the water out.
6: Repeat step 4 and 5
To make double sure that all traces of white water mold in the plumbing is dead – repeat steps 4 and 5. This is particularly important because doing it only once could very well result in the problem returning in a few weeks.
7: Final steps
Once again, refill the tub and add the normal amount of chemicals to the water. Also, check the PH level of the water. The water PH must sit between 7.0 and 7.5.
How to remove white water mold in a swimming pool
The truth is that once your swimming pool becomes infected with it – you will always have it because it’s not always possible to drain your swimming pool water. Also, the bacteria and fungus live in the pool’s plumbing system and can, therefore, never be fully eradicated.
Since it can never be fully eradicated, regular pool maintenance is essential to keep it from returning.
1: Remove and clean all items from the pool
All items floating in the pool needs to be removed and cleaned with a cleaning detergent.
2: Scoop all of the biofilms out
Scoop it out. The process can take some time, but you must remove as much of it as you possibly can.
3: Scrub
Scrub the floors and sides of the pool.
4: PH check and shock treatment
Get the PH balance of the water to between 7.0 and 7.5. Add three to four times the usual amount of calcium hypochlorite (4 pounds per 10,000 gallons).
Getting the PH balance within the correct range is essential; otherwise, the shock treatment won’t work.
5: Run the filtration and backwash
Run the filtration system for 24 to 36 hours and then backwash.
6: Final steps
It’s more than likely that residue would have settled onto the swimming pool floor during the last few steps. Vacuum it all up and then check the water PH levels again. If it’s not within the correct range, adjust it.
How to prevent it
As mentioned, once you have white water mold, you will always have it, and that is why prevention is the best defense. Having it, on the other hand, is not the end of the world. All it means is that you will have to maintain your pool regularly and without fail.
That means scooping up dead leaves, scrubbing the floors and sides, and vacuuming each week. Also, maintaining the PH levels and adding the appropriate chemicals on schedule.
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