Missouri City Green Pools After Wind, Lake Water and Hard Rain

Roof debris you cannot see through green water

Harvey is remembered here for flooding, but on August 26, 2017 two tornadoes also touched down in the area and caused the most damage in several Missouri City subdivisions. In Sienna Plantation, a tornado affected an estimated 75 to 100 homes, with roof damage, blown-out windows and destroyed gutters.

Wind like that puts shingle pieces, roofing nails, gutter sections and broken glass into backyard pools, and once the water clouds over, none of it is visible. So a wind-damaged green pool gets cleared by feel before it gets cleaned by machine: a leaf rake worked slowly across the floor, no robotic or suction cleaner until the sharp material is out, and nobody wading in to look. The same care applies for weeks afterward while roofs are being repaired and granules and nails keep landing in the water. Our storm cleanup handles the heavy debris, and our post-storm guide lists the steps that are safe to take before we arrive.

When a lake or creek comes over the coping

Several Missouri City communities are built around water. Riverstone is known for its many man-made lakes, Palmer Plantation at Lake Olympia has lakes of its own, and Oyster Creek runs through the middle of Sienna. Lake Olympia and Riverstone were also among the neighborhoods hit hardest by Harvey flooding.

Water that reaches a pool from a lake, pond or creek is not just rain. It can carry silt, plant debris and algae of its own, along with the nutrients that feed it, so the pool can turn quickly and keep a heavy chlorine demand for days. The solids come out first. Heavy silt is vacuumed to waste where the plumbing allows instead of being pushed through the filter, and if the pad was under water, the pump stays off until it has been checked. Chlorine goes in once the floor is clear enough for it to reach the algae.

When the clay stops taking the rain

The USDA soil profile for Lake Charles clay explains why the same storm can hit a pool differently from one week to the next. While the soil is cracked from dry weather, rain soaks in quickly. Once it is wet and the cracks close, water enters very slowly and runoff is high. The first downpour after a dry spell may barely touch the pool, while the second or third, on ground that has sealed up, sends lawn water across the deck and over the edge.

That runoff carries soil, grass clippings and fertilizer, and fertilizer brings phosphate. A cleanup after that kind of storm includes a phosphate test, and we note where water crossed onto the deck. If it pours over the same edge every time, the bloom will tend to restart there until the yard drainage changes, however well the chemistry is fixed.

What to tell us about your Missouri City green pool

• Whether roof, window or gutter damage nearby could have put debris in the water
• Whether lake, pond or creek water came over the coping
• Whether the equipment pad was under water, and if so, leave the pump off
• Which edge of the deck the runoff crossed
• How long the pool has been green, and what has been added so far