As the cooler temperatures start to roll in, it’s important to keep on top of the leaf problem in your pool. Not only can they be a nuisance to swim through, but they can also cause serious issues with your pool’s equipment. If not properly dealt with, leaves can clog up your drains, pumps, and filtration lines, leading to reduced efficiency and potentially even damaging your pool’s equipment.
They can also block plumbing lines and increase energy costs as your pump works harder to maintain proper water flow. Save yourself the time, effort, and stress by tackling the leaf problem before it becomes a bigger issue.
Best Ways to Keep Leaves Out of a Pool
Here are some tips for dealing with unwanted leaves this pool season:
1. Trim Your Trees
The best way to prevent leaves from falling into your pool is to keep them out of the water in the first place. This can be done by keeping trees and shrubs trimmed away from the property, as well as keeping your house and yard clean of debris.
Many trees shed so many leaves that it’s impossible to keep them from falling into your pool, but trimming the trees and hedges around the perimeter can help.
You’ll prevent those that don’t fall directly into the water from building up in the skimmer basket or on top of the surface of the water. This will also help keep trees healthy and prevent them from dropping more leaves into your yard.
2. Cover Your Pool
Covering your swimming pool with a Pool cover can be a great investment. It not only helps to keep out leaves and debris, but it also protects your pool from sun damage and chemical evaporation.
There are two main types of pool covers that can be used to cover a pool when it is still in use during the summer months.
Leaf Net
You can place this net on top of the pool to catch leaves, keeping them on top of the pool instead of falling into your pool and making its way into your skimmer or sinking to the bottom where you’ll have to rake manually.
The 1/8″ mesh opening keeps most debris out, but small pine needles and other fine debris types can still fall through.
Solar Cover
Solar pool covers are designed primarily to warm the pool water but also help keep leaves and debris from entering the water. They also keep the pool water from evaporating, saving you money on chemicals.
Consider purchasing a solar cover reel to make it easier to roll up your solar cover while your pool is in use. You’ll save time and energy by not having to manually remove the cover every time you take a dip in the water.
3. Use Leaf Removal Tools
There are several pool cleaning tools that can be used for removing leaves from your pool, making the task much easier.
1. Leaf Rake
The pool leaf rake has a long handle and a net on the end, which drags across the surface of the water, catching leaves and other debris.
2. Pool Vacuum / Leaf Gulper
A leaf vacuum sucks up leaves from the floor of the pool and catches them in a mesh filter bag attached to it.
3. Surface Pool Skimmer
A surface skimmer connects to your swimming pool’s return line and uses suction from your pump to draw floating debris into a mesh bag.
4. Leaf Canister
A leaf canister connects between your suction side pool cleaner’s standard hoses and traps leaves, twigs, and other debris before they make their way into your pool pump or pool filtration system.
5. Solar Pool Skimmer
A solar pool skimmer floats on top of the water and collects leaves, dust, pollen, dead insects and other debris from the surface into a large debris basket. The unit operates all day and night on solar-energy stored in it’s rechargeable battery.
6. Automatic Pool Cleaner
An automatic pool cleaner is a vacuum cleaner for your pool and it’s designed to clean the dirt, sediment, and debris from your pool automatically, so you don’t have to.
There are three different types of automatic pool cleaners, and they are suction, pressure, and robotic. We’ve put together a simple guide to help you choose the right automatic pool cleaner for your swimming pool.
Final Thoughts
The best way to help keep leaves out of your pool is to trim your trees. This will dramatically reduce the amount of leaves that fall into your pool, and you’ll be amazed at how much of an impact it makes.
The use of a pool leaf rake can be one of the best methods for removing leaves from your pool.
If you have just a few leaves floating around on top of the surface of your pool, then using a surface pool skimmer can remove them before they sink to the bottom where it would take more effort to remove them later on.
You should use a solar pool skimmer for heavy debris swimming pool. It is a workhorse at removing surface debris and will save you hours of work a day. If you manually rake your pool 2 to 3 times a day, a solar pool skimmer is the answer to your problems.
Trimming your trees, installing a pool skimmer on your swimming pool, and purchasing a solar pool skimmer will help you save time this pool season as well as deal with those pesky leaves.
