How to Get Rid of Algae Dust in a Pool (in 30 Minutes)

Any form of algae in a pool is not good news. Algae dust is no exception as once you have dealt with a green pool and killed an algae bloom using chemicals the dead algae sits on the bottom of the pool making it look very unpleasant.

Removing dead algae in pool in the form of algae dust from your pool needs a different approach from carrying out a normal clean using a manual vacuum, an automatic cleaner or a robotic pool cleaner.

Getting rid of algae dust is not difficult to do but it does need a little patience. I will explain why you have to use a particular method and how to go about it below.

What is algae dust?

Algae dust is actually dead algae that the chlorine sanitizer you used to shock has killed in the pool. Although live algae are normally green (or yellow) when they die they turn a dark brown color.

Algae dust is very fine and settles at the bottom of a pool causing the pool to look very uninviting.

What does dead algae look like?

Algae dust in pool water looks like dark brown sludge that accumulates on the bottom of a swimming pool. When you look at it in detail it is comprised of thousands of tiny dead algae particles.

You can tell whether it is algae dust or just dirt by trying to pick a little up between your fingers. If you pick it up easily then it is probably dirt (which is relatively dense). If you find it hard to pick any up as it moves as soon as you try then it is undoubtedly algae dust (which is very fine and light).

How to remove dead algae from pool bottom?

There are two problems when it comes to how to get rid of algae dust in pool water:

1. Since algae dust is very fine and light, it is very easily disturbed when cleaning, causing it to go into suspension in the pool water and then resettle some time later. This then requires further cleaning.
2. As algae dust is so fine, if it is sucked into the pool’s filter there is a good chance that it will pass through the filter (either a sand filter or cartridge filter) and will then be pumped back into the pool to settle back on the floor of the pool.

The best way to get rid of the algae dust in one go is to vacuum using your pool vac but with the pool filter lever set to the “waste” position rather than on the “filter” system (known as vacuuming to waste”.

This means that the water you vacuum up will be expelled from the pool, rather than passing through the filter and going back into the pool.

Quick guide to using a pool vacuum for algae dust

These steps will show you how to get dead algae out of pool quickly and in one go:

1. Top up the pool water. When you vacuum to waste, since the water is expelled from the pool’s system, the water level will drop quite quickly so you should raise the water level well above normal using a garden hose before vacuuming to allow for this. It is a good idea to leave your garden hose running into the pool while vacuuming too.
2. If there is any algae dust on the rungs of your pool ladder, steps or any other flat pool surfaces above the bottom of the pool then gently use a pool brush to sweep these to the floor of the pool.
3. Set up the vacuum using the vacuum head, vacuum pole and vacuum hose then insert the free end of the vacuum hose either into a pool skimmer or into a dedicated pool port if you have one.
   Tip: Ideally do not use a vacuum head that has brushes as these will tend to disturb the algae dust before it gets vacuumed up. Instead, use a flexible wheeled vacuum head (see below) as these will not disturb the algae dust as much if you take care.
4. Set the multiport valve of the filter to the waste position and switch on the pool pump
5. Start to vacuum but try to move the vacuum head along the bottom slowly in order to disturb the algae dust as little as possible. Any algae dust that is disturbed will probably float in the pool water and then settle again later which you will want to avoid since you will probably then need to vacuum again.
6. When you have vacuumed all of the algae dust from the bottom, switch off the pump, disconnect the vacuum and, if necessary, continue topping up the pool water level until it is at a normal level (roughly halfway up the skimmer opening).
7. Now test your water chemistry and add any chemicals that may be necessary to bring the levels back to normal.

For full details of how to do this, I suggest you read my post Vacuuming to waste – step by step guide or watch my Youtube video How to vacuum to waste.

How to remove dead algae from pool without a vacuum

I have included this section as many people ask how to remove algae from pool without a vacuum. However, I am afraid the answer is – with great difficulty.

I am not saying it is impossible but it isn’t easy and it isn’t quick. The biggest problem is that the dead algae/algae dust is very light so it is very easy to disturb it, making it float up into the pool water when you try to remove it.

1. You can try using a pool flocculant first which is a chemical that binds the dead algae particles together, making them a little heavier and less likely to be disturbed.
2. Before removing the dead algae you could try to very gently push it all into one area of the pool. Some of the dead algae will probably still get disturbed when you are doing this so you will need to leave it a while to resettle before going on to the next stage.
3. Then you can try to manually remove the algae using a leaf net or skimmer with a fine net, carefully scooping out the clumped algae from the bottom. This process can be time-consuming and you may have to do it more than once to remove all of it but can be effective eventually.

Will a robotic pool cleaner remove algae dust?

I have a Dolphin pool cleaner that does a great job of cleaning my pool under normal circumstances. Although it will trap any algae dust it picks up as it cleans (with a set of fine filters in the cleaner) I do not actually use it when I have algae dust to remove.

The reason is that when a robotic pool cleaner moves around it actually pushes out quite a lot of water. This water movement disturbs the fine particles of algae dust that then float in the water for some time before coming to rest on the bottom of the pool again.

You then have to run the robotic pool cleaner through another cleaning cycle (or perhaps more than one) to finally get rid of all of the algae dust.

It is much quicker, in the long run, to manually vacuum to waste.

Can you use an automatic pool cleaner to remove algae dust?

Although automatic pool cleaners generally do not disturb the water too much as they clean they would probably do a good job of removing the algae dust.

However, as you would still need to use the waste setting on the filter, the pool’s water level is likely to drop substantially before the pool cleaner had covered the entire bottom of the pool. So manually vacuuming to waste would be the best method.

Should you swim in a pool with algae dust?

Because the algae are dead, algae dust may not present a health problem to swimmers as such. However, because algae dust particles are very fine, swimmers will inevitably disturb them from the bottom as they swim or walk so the pool will soon become brown and cloudy.

You should therefore clean the pool using the method above before swimmers are allowed in the pool.

Pool Care Handbook and Video Course

When I bought my house with a swimming pool, I knew absolutely nothing about pool care. I just winged it for a while, making many mistakes along the way.

Fortunately, I was recommended Swim University’s Pool Care Handbook and Video Course. I bought it and it was an absolute game-changer.

It was the best money I spent that year. I learned everything from basic cleaning to advanced troubleshooting. Swim University offers a no-quibble refund policy too so what do you have to lose?

Further reading

Too much algaecide in pool

Can you swim 12 hours after shocking pool

Algae dust FAQs