In-ground plaster pool owners have a unique problem. When you open your pool in the spring, you may see lots of worms after winter. It’s not a pretty sight, and if you’ve never seen it before, it’s pretty disgusting. When you clear the debris and dead worms, you’ll see reddish-brown stains, mainly at the bottom of the pool near the drain.
There are a few reasons why they are there. Worms usually come out of the ground during heavy rains that change the soil’s composition, making it harder for them to breathe. Coming out makes breathing easier. Pool water also makes it easier for them to move, but the worms don’t crawl in by choice. They accidentally fall in, but because the pool walls are smooth or tiled, they cannot get out. Another reason they gravitate to the bottom is that they don’t like the light, so they settle at the bottom of the pool, which is the deepest and the darkest. It’s also warmer than the frozen ground above.
The problem for the worms, though, is that the bottom of the pool has a substantial lack of oxygen, which causes them to suffocate and die. That’s when they start to decay and release fluids containing iron and other chemicals, which cause the reddish-brown rust stains in the plaster. The best way to prevent pool stains is to install a worm stain shield or pool worm guard over the pool drain cover for the winter.
HOW DOES A WORM STAIN SHIELD WORK?
Since the worms settle at the deepest and darkest part of the pool, they end up right around the drain, which is exactly where the shield sits. The worm stain shield is a durable, high-density plastic device that sinks in water and covers the drain and almost 2 feet of the surrounding plaster. Instead of settling on the plaster, the worms settle on top of the shield, so the fluids they release never reach the plaster. It also keeps worms and other debris out of your drain, so they don’t clog your drain line over the winter.
AN EASIER POOL OPENING
Place the shield over the drain when you close your pool in the fall and forget about it until spring. When it’s time to open the pool, use the ropes and handles to lift it out and skim or vacuum up the worms and debris. There’s no scrubbing, no stain remover, and no bags of shock. The shield lasts for years, so you can use it over and over every year. For about $140 one time, it’s cheap insurance against ugly stains, a clogged drain, and all the time and money it takes to fix them.
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