I wanted to take a moment to address the elephant in the room. Your pool is very likely brown right now. Live oak pollen has hit the area heavily this week, and there is not a pool in central Texas that has a live oak tree within a half-mile of it that looks pretty.
This message is primarily for the new pool owners out there or those that are new to our service, as most of you veterans know this will happen every Spring.
Live oak season is by far the most demanding time of the year on any Austin area pool. I want to acknowledge this because for roughly a month in the Spring, we are fighting a losing battle. Although it is a losing battle, it is a very necessary one. Catkins (live oak tassels) can create all sorts of trouble as chemical sponges, clogging lines and pumps, and in extreme cases turning a pool’s water completely brown as they use your skimmer basket as a giant tea bag. Even with 1x per week maintenance, some of these problems may present themselves and I do not want you to think that it is a lack of effort or concern on our part; it is just one of Mother Nature’s gifts to us as Austinites.
Emptying your skimmer baskets as regularly as possible between our visits is extremely beneficial. Many pools will have a completely new layer of catkins on the surface before we can even finish a cleaning visit and they can fill a skimmer basket in under 5 minutes. It is not necessary to take this preventative step between our visits, but it will prove helpful.
Please know that your pool is not the only one in town that looks as bad as it does and our expectation of a clean pool this time of year is COMPLETELY different than any other time of the year.
I hope this helps provide some clarity in case you wondering and lets just hope that the trees finish sooner than later!
Sincerely covered in pollen,
Hal Denbar
