Using a Pressure Washer to Remove Algae in a Pool

I don’t get an infestation of algae in my pool very often, fortunately, as I keep on top of my pool maintenance. However, I went away for ten days, leaving my wife in charge of the pool, and returned to find algae starting to grow on the walls and in the corners.

In the past, I have always used my pool brush and walked around the pool, scrubbing the walls as I went before shocking the pool to kill the algae. But it can be quite difficult to exert enough pressure on the brush to dislodge stubborn algae and it is definitely not great for my lower back.

Then, the thought struck me as I reached for my pool brush and saw my pressure washer sitting nearby. I wondered if I could use the water pressure to dislodge the algae, which would be easier and certainly better for my back.

So did it work? …….

Removing Algae from Pool with a Pressure Washer

I connected up the hose to my pressure washer and plugged it into the electricity supply. Then I started in one corner, pushed the pressure washer gun into the water, and pulled the trigger as I aimed it at the algae lurking between the pool bottom and the wall.

It disappeared instantly!

I continued along the pool removing the algae as I went, both in the join between the floor and the wall and on the sides. It was like magic.

It took no more than a minute to do an entire side as opposed to probably 5 minutes of scrubbing with a pool brush. And the big plus was that it didn’t cause me any lower back pain or tire my arms as it would when using a pool brush.

Obviously it is easier in the shallow end but I have even managed to tape the pressure washer gun to a pool pole to get to the bottom of the walls in the deep end.

As well as using a pressure washer to remove algae easily from walls and the harder-to-reach areas of the pool, I have also found it gives great results on the rungs of my ladder. I was never happy with the results of using a pool brush as it was hard to get into the crevices but the pressure washer removes everything in seconds.

Another plus to using a pressure washer is that while you have it out you may as well make the most of it by pressure washing pool deck or pool surround.

Then it is time to shock

Once you’ve removed all the visible algae, it’s time to shock your pool to kill all of the algae spores now floating the pool water. Obviously using the pressure washer doesn’t actually kill the algae, it just removes it from the surfaces, where it is more difficult for the shock to kill effectively.

Follow the instructions on your pool shock product carefully, and be sure to test the water regularly to ensure it’s safe for swimming.

Be Careful

My advice would be, particularly if you have a vinyl pool liner like I do, that you start off using a wide pressure washer nozzle and don’t hold the end too close to the liner. Make sure that the pressure won’t do any damage on a small area first. Then you can move the nozzle closer and even use a more compact nozzle.

I used maximum pressure on mine without any problems at all.

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