I have over the past many years at different times cleaned the various pools at DCHS. Not lately though as I have been hiking in the desert Mountains of north eastern Apple Valley, such beautiful landscapes! There are of course other folks who also have done lots of cleaning, a good example being Jobe, a long time regular. He also with his great cement work revived the Phoenix Pool back to a wonderful condition. Regarding scrubbing the algae on the rocks in the hot pools, I have used various tools for this. I have found that smaller wire brushes or pool type brushes with handles tend to get clogged with algae. What has worked best for me was to use a smaller broom with longer plastic stiff bristles. You can leave the handle on and brush while standing or can also unscrew the handle and just brush with your hand while in the pool. The broom brush is easier to clean and does not get clogged. I have also use a smaller plastic spackle tool, which works as a scrapper that does not damage the rocks and gets the bigger algae off quite well.The Contemplation Pool is rather easily cleaned by pulling the drain plug then brush the exposed rocks as it drains while rinsing your work with a bucket, then when the pool is empty put the plug in and refill. I won't mention the Crab Cooker since at around 112 degrees is usually not soaked in very often. The Serenity Pool can be scrapped, brushed, and vacuumed out with a 20 foot, inch and a half pool hose. Since there is little drop between the pool level and the creek, the suction of the hose is weak so algae is easily removed but try not to get sand in the hose since this will quickly clog it.
The Womb being the deepest hot pool needs a longer hose, at least 25 feet to get to the bottom. It is higher off the creek so if the pool is full the suction is strong. The deeper you clean in the pool because of the gravity situation concerning siphoning the suction strength weakens. An inch and a half pool hose will work for algae and small debris but will get clogged if you try to suction up too much sand or little rocks. There is a drain hole at the bottom of the dam of the Womb and when its removed the pool will go down close to half way, which on the one had will get you closer to the bottom since its not so deep, but then there is less head pressure because of the lower water level which will reduce the suction strength of your hose. In recent years I would bring my mask and snorkel. I also brought an extendable type pole which I would use grey tape to attach to the end of my 25 foot pool hose, then I could float on the surface while looking down ( being able to breath while doing this ) so I could see what I was cleaning without having to dive down each time holding my breath to do the same. The algae at the bottom of the Womb can get quite deep if no one has cleaned it in a while so sucking it all out with a smaller hose can take some time. One year long ago the Womb got about half filled with muck, mud and other debris after massive flooding went above it. With the help of some friends we fastened together 3, 10 foot sections of 4 inch flexible hose and used it for vacuuming out all of the debris in the pool. It was so powerful like using a dredge and you had to hold on tight with two hands to control it, but we needed something that big to get the job done
The Anniversary Pool is easier to clean and a 20 foot pool hose or even shorter can work just fine. It has a low drain plug and can be drained too for brushing or scrapping of algae. The Phoenix Pool is quite close to the creek level so using a pool hose to vacuum it goes slowly since the suction is quite weak. Avoid getting sand in the hose as it will clog it quickly. Jobe did build a drain into the pool and its at the bottom of the big triangular rock on the creek side of the pool, but best to leave it alone because this pool is prone to leaking and messing with the drain plug can open up leak problems. I see in recent instagram pics that this pool is pretty full of sand which does have the benefit of sealing the various leaks. This pool being close to its hot source generally stays pretty clean, and with less algae since it is so hot.
I also by various means over the years have altered the hot flows into the Serenity, Womb, Anniversary and Phoenix pools to get them to a cooler temperature which I prefer, around 100 degrees. Like for example the Phoenix Pool can be quite hot, and I found that more people would like to soak in it when I was a bit cooler. Some folks prefer the pools hotter so its best to do this only if the other people using the pool wish it to be cooler.
I have had this idea for a long time of hiking down this smaller, six foot round, 15 inch tall little self standing kiddie pool to put in a flat spot up at the main hot source by the PCT, then I could use a pool hose to fill it with hot water from there. With an adjustable end on the hose I could then introduce the hot water into the full pool slowly and would have for the day a perfectly clean, perfect temperature pool. One day maybe I will finally try that. The little Pool I have I bought a long time ago at Walmart for 8 bucks and its pretty light weight to carry
Another thing, when cleaning the pools, depending on the time of day/weather it can be a very hot endeavor. Like if its a hotter day and you are trying to be immersed in the Womb vacuuming your body will overheat fast so best to do something like that when its cooler or early/late in the day. Sometimes I do the cleaning like in the Phoenix Pool or the Anniversary Pool while standing so less of my body is in the hot water.
So there are some ways I have gone about cleaning the various pools at DCHS in the past
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2018 11:10AM by Wizard.
