Tag: cyanobacteria

How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae

On the Verge of a More Active Algae Season than Ever Before Due to a Nation Wide Chlorine Shortage – There Are Steps That You Can Take to Prevent a Swamp Green Disaster.

There are many fantastic books on pool care available that some exceptionally brilliant people have written. But, what we are lacking are publications and courses that are in-depth and topic-specific. I saw that a program on algae was one of those missing, so I have written ‘How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae’. I’ve been through and taught other programs that merely touch upon the topic. Still, there wasn’t really anything available that offered enough education to equip one with the knowledge necessary to remedy algae problems as folks encounter them in the field.

Rudy Stankowitz, CEO Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants
How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae

GREEN TO CLEAN

It doesn’t make sense that people are forced to reinvent the wheel and employ a trial and error mean to develop a successful protocol of care. The pool industry has been very good to me, and I would like to ‘pay it forward.’ So, I have written this book based on my thirty years of experience and developed the Algae Prevention and Eradication Specialist certification program.

As I said, the goal is ‘paying it forward’. That is why within the first few pages you will see that this book is dedicated to the people who maintain swimming pool(s) for a living. This book is for them – this book is for you.

Rudy Stankowitz, CEO Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants

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the How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae book is available Now

A MUST HAVE that applies to pools of any shape or size, whether you go on to take the certification class or not, you’ll have fewer bouts with green, yellow, and black algae 🦠with this ‘How to’ book on your shelf.

Don’t spend money on expensive treatments! Swimming pool algae is easy and super inexpensive to prevent when you know what to look for. Rudy shares tips and hacks that he has learned over his thirty years in the pool industry to help your pools keep that crisp, clear, Caribbean look.

All algae are not the same, and cookie-cutter treatments don’t always work. Stankowitz takes the guesswork out of identifying what you are dealing with and matching the best treatment to the specific algae type. An excellent book for both residential and commercial pools.

the Algae Prevention & Eradication Specialist certification course is available beginning April 2nd, 2021

Click Here for Certification

Rudy Stankowitz has created a handbook and course that will set you apart from your competition. This is the only publication with a 100% focus on swimming pool algae designed to help you become an Algae Prevention & Eradication Specialist. Now that’s something you can put on your card that will give you a marketable point of difference.

Certified Algae Prevention & Eradication Specialist Course

Be careful; this has the potential to become the most valuable book you own. Rudy has left nothing out, and he does it all utilizing real-world scenarios that make it easy to relate. The A to Z of swimming pool algae: How to prevent it, how to kill it, and how to keep it away. The best part is that the handbook can be used in his online Algae Prevention & Eradication Specialist Certification class (not included in the book’s cost).

In this book, you will learn:

  • Algae Myths
  • Environmental Factors
  • The Role Water Chemistry Plays
  • Conditions Different Algae Types Prefer
  • The Influence of Filtration & Circulation
  • Characteristics of Algae Species
  • Algastats and Algaecides
  • And More!
How to Get Rid of Swimming Pool Algae

“Rudy, your field samples are very interesting – and rare. There is almost nothing published on the varieties of algae in pools… If you focus on black “algae,” you will be the first person in nearly 40 years to document it. That would be really, really cool.” – Dr. Roy D. Vore, Ph.D., Microbial physiologist, Senior Consultant, Vore & Associates LLC, previously Technology Manager, BioLab inc.

“Fascinating!!!” – Dr. Tom Lachocki. Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Executive Legacy LLC, previously Chief Executive Officer, National Swimming Pool Foundation

“Interesting Rudy. I think it points to the importance of conducting a larger study where a number of pools are sampled to look for trends and how and if the trends correlate to certain pool parameters (indoor vs. outdoor, disinfectant used, maintenance schedule, typical swimmer profile, etc.). It also demonstrates the importance of validating the efficacy of a product in a field trial(s). At the end of the day, the best approach may be tailored treatment plans that are optimized for each pools, similar to the “personalized medicine” trend. Good work!” – Darla Goeres Ph.D., Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University

To see other books Rudy has written, visit his Author Page

How to Get Rid of Black Algae

A Few Things That Work

We have found Black Algae in some pretty interesting places. Here, Ashley takes us through several different methods that work on eliminating it.

2018 was a pretty exciting year for us as we dove deeper into swimming pool black “algae”. Not only did we confirm that black algae was actually cyanobacteria, we were able to break it down even further identifying the constituents (yes, there was more than one) of the colonies by genus.

the Black Algae myth ?

In doing this, we had found that we were the first known folks to research swimming pool black algae in over thirty-five years. The last known research document Laboratory Comparison of the Effectiveness of Several Algicides on Isolated Swimming Pool Algae written by R. P. ADAMSON AND M. R. SOMMERFELD of the Department of Botany and Microbiology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281 appeared in the APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, in February of 1980. I hadn’t even made it into High School yet when this publication came out ? and I’m old!!! Interesting to see ? that no one else has really even looked at this stuff since I was thirteen.

So, next we decided to see if we could investigate some methods in How to Rid a Swimming Pool of black “algae”. We were actually able to locate a 230,000 gallon test pool with over fourteen years of black algae growth for this experiment.

Black Algae Copper Experiment ?

By now, I was getting a flood of phone calls from my industry peers asking if, in my research, I had found black algae to be harmful. The truth is at this point I hadn’t. Honestly, my research had not taken me this far yet. I felt that I had opened the door to this and that I had an obligation to take my investigation to the next level.

For this phase, we located a public swimming pool with black algae colonization in Jacksonville (Florida), one hundred miles from where we had taken our initial samples.

All “Black Algae” Are NOT Created Equal ⚖

Unfortunately, we did not get the results we were looking for and would be unable to test to see if the black algae (cyanobacteria) in this swimming pool was toxin producing. However, we did find that the cyanobacteria in the samples we had taken from this pool were an altogether different genus from the three we had identified in the first. The black alga in this pool was also identified as cyanobacteria, withal a new genus not present in the first and at only one hundred miles apart. We were able to determine that geographic location would play a factor in the constituents of black algae.

We could not let things go there. Determined to find an answer, we located a third swimming pool with black algae growth. This one was within a mile of the pool where we had taken our initial samples.

☣ Does “Black Algae” Produce Toxins?

This time we would get the results we were looking for! One of the genus discovered in this third pool was known to be toxin producing, so we would be able to roll forward with our tests for the presence of cyanotoxins. The big question is, in the pool soup of chemicals we use to balance water, would we even be able to detect toxins if they were there? By neutralizing the chlorine in the sample and lysing the photosynthetic prokaryotes, we were able to detect a trace amount of the toxin Microcystin; though in an amount below the acceptable maximum set in the EPA Drinking Water Health Advisory.

 

Still, this was a relatively large chlorinated swimming pool that literally had two to three quarter sized dots of black algae. This begs the question of what would be found in a poorly maintained swimming pool with massive colonization… We will keep you posted as our research continues into 2019…

 


☣ Does “Black Algae” Produce Toxins?

A friend once told me that if they were ever to witness my getting into a public pool to collect…

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Black Algae Toxicity ⚗️

MICROCYSTIN RESULTS Due to the level of chlorine in our sample, testing the pool water for microcystin would be futile.…

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All “Black Algae” Are NOT Created Equal ⚖

And The Biofilm Thickens If you have been following along you already know that we have been doing some things with…

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Black Algae Copper Experiment

a less than lethal dose at an extended contact time⏱ To determine whether a less than lethal dose of copper…

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