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Black Tarry Stuff In Skimmer


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There is a line of grey-ish sooty stuff on the skimmer walls, also on the hand rails of the steps and on the white parts of the thermometer. I rubbed at it with my thumb and it sort of smears but doesn't come off. It reminds me of road grime on a vehicle. This substance is NOT on the pool walls or on the steps.

Water chemistry tests consistently acceptable with both reagent kit and strips.

Any ideas of what it could be? Soot from the burn barrel? Carbon from the air? We're in a flight path. And how do I get rid of it? I can't very well wipe it with solvent, that would do terrible things to my water :(

Anka

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There is a line of grey-ish sooty stuff on the skimmer walls, also on the hand rails of the steps and on the white parts of the thermometer. I rubbed at it with my thumb and it sort of smears but doesn't come off. It reminds me of road grime on a vehicle. This substance is NOT on the pool walls or on the steps.

Water chemistry tests consistently acceptable with both reagent kit and strips.

Any ideas of what it could be? Soot from the burn barrel? Carbon from the air? We're in a flight path. And how do I get rid of it? I can't very well wipe it with solvent, that would do terrible things to my water :(

Anka

to the best of my knowledge this stuff is accumulation of body oils, sunscreens, etc. that tend to collect. Therre are some enzyme based products that are pretty good at getting rid of it and keeping it from coming back if you use them regularly but they are expensive. What I have done is put a 'Scumbug' or a 'SunSorb' in my skimmer (same type of product from different companies). It is a sponge that absorbs these contaminents. They are usually used in spas but work great in pools also. When it gets dirty turn it over and when the second side is dirty you rinse it out and it's ready to go again. They cost about $6 in my area and last about a season. Been using them for many years now. An enzyme products like Pool First Aid from NaturalChemisty (there are other ones out there also from other companes....Jack's Magic has one aslo that I know of) will clean it up for you and then a scumbug will help keep it from collecting again.

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What I have done is put a 'Scumbug' or a 'SunSorb' in my skimmer

Thanks for the suggestion. I've seen this product at the pool store but didn't pay much attention to it because it was labeled for hot tubs. I'll give it a try.

Anka

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've seen this in the skimmer of may above ground pool. I too thought it was residue from people's body oils and cosmetics, however a few folks told me it actually is from pollen. (?)

I'm not sure where it comes from, but try Mr Clean Magic errasers. It wiped it away with no problem and clean up the liner as well.

They work like a charm.

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I've seen this in the skimmer of may above ground pool. I too thought it was residue from people's body oils and cosmetics, however a few folks told me it actually is from pollen. (?)

In a vinyl pool this can be platicizers leaching from the vinyl. It is most commen with new liners but if the pH is too low it can happen with older ones also. It is sometimes called 'pool tar'

I'm not sure where it comes from, but try Mr Clean Magic errasers. It wiped it away with no problem and clean up the liner as well.

They work like a charm.

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Thanks water Bear.

Yes, it is a new pool and liner. My ph is "acceptable" . If I continue to see a problem, not only will I clean it up with the Mr Clean MAgic Eraser, I'll take a closer look at my PH.

Thanks!

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Thanks water Bear.

Yes, it is a new pool and liner. My ph is "acceptable" . If I continue to see a problem, not only will I clean it up with the Mr Clean MAgic Eraser, I'll take a closer look at my PH.

Thanks!

It's fairly commen with new vinyl liners...after the first or second year it pretty much stops.

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  • 14 years later...

I’m going with the pollen answer.  I have a 20k gallon in ground pool.  We have a screen enclosure, and our back yard is surrounded by pollen baring trees.  We don’t use the pool that much, nor do we use sunscreen. It’s funny that the only parts of the pool that attract this grungy black stuff are the top of the floating plastic thermometer, and the inside of the plastic skimmer around the water level line.  I haven’t tried the Magic Eraser yet, but I plan on doing that soon.

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