Last Updated on June 23, 2021 by Shain Jorgensen

Rain doesn’t directly harm your pool, however it often dilutes the balanced chemistry in the water. Correspondingly, this can irritate pH levels, decrease chlorine and other sanitizers, and exponentially increase the growth of algae and other contaminants.

Once the algae is in a pro-growth environment, they conglomerate quickly which is why a pool can turn green overnight. A green pool certainly doesn’t please the eyes, but most importantly, it’s a health hazard to swim in.

Large amounts of algae in a pool can lead to skin irritation, ear and eye infections, and gastrointestinal illness. To prevent your pool from turning green after a rainstorm you should try to stop dilution before it occurs.

Here are a number of ways you can do that:

Pay Attention to Weather Forecasts

Observing the weather forecast daily can help you prep your pool for a rainstorm. However, pool cleaning services Gilbert AZ recommend investing in a pool cover is an even better alternative. A quality pool cover is a useful tool to protect any mess from forming in the pool water after a storm or rain. 

Clear Debris From the Pool Immediately

If the weather forecast was incorrect and it’s too late to cover your pool, it’s important to recover any leaves, twigs or branches that fell into the water. You should also check the pump and skimmer baskets to make sure no clogging occur. Vacuuming the bottom of the pool is also a great way to clear excess debris. 

Observe Water Levels

A fair amount of pools automatically drain excess pool water, however, this isn’t the case for every pool, so be sure to remove a portion of the water to get your pool back at the proper water level before you start rebalancing chemicals.

Test Chemical Balance in Pool Water

After checking water levels, pool maintenance Gilbert AZ recommends to proceed by checking the chemical balance for pH, total alkalinity, and calcium hardness. Checking chemicals will determine whether or not the pool is safe to lounge in or not. Heavy rainfall can dilute chemicals which will raise or lower the pool’s pH level. It’s essential to test your pool for the appropriate chemical balance before taking a dip after a heavy rainstorm.

Check for Good Pump/Filter Circulation

Make sure you’ve achieved good mechanical circulation and filtration before you give your pool a test swim. To do that, you’ll want to let the system run and give the equipment time to verify the water and chemical balance. A full circulation could take a few hours or a few days, depending on the type of filter. Run the pump and filter the water to avoid any green or contaminated water.

More Pool Cleaning Tips

There are other pool cleaning tips that may prevent your pool water from turning green after a heavy rainstorm. 

The tips to clean your pool include:

• A pool bleach, also known as sodium hypochlorite, can be used as a liquid to shock the pool to raise the FC concentration in the pool water. Sometimes, calcium hypochlorite can also be used as pool bleach. 
• The calcium hypochlorite reacts with the pool water to release the FC. However, it often dissolves pretty slowly. To raise the FC level, this calcium hypochlorite can be added to the pool water at night to prevent its evaporation. Then, one needs to wait for 8 hours to start using the pool. 

These are the few tips to prevent the pool water from turning green even after a rainstorm.