Pool News

Dyeing Your Pool Green For St. Patrick’s Day Can Be an Unlucky Mistake

Published

4 years ago

March 15, 2022

We’re all about getting into the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and here at Pool Magazine we have some creative suggestions on how to decorate the backyard for the holiday that we’ll discuss a little later. With that said, we can’t say that we’re very big fans of the social media fad of dyeing your pool water green to celebrate. In fact, according to most pool professionals, dyeing your pool water any color can be a recipe for an unlucky and costly maintenance headache that pool owners definitely will not want to deal with.

Why Do Folks Want To Dye Their Pool Green?

Your first experience with dyeing a large body of water may have come from witnessing what happens in the city of Chicago. The Windy City dyes the Chicago River green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day every year and has done so since the tradition first began in 1962. Each year a group dumps around 50 pounds of vegetable dye into the river which transforms the color of the water into a shamrock green color.

The Chicago River is dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day each year

The Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 did the honors this year using 2-3 motorboats to spread the dye. The green color lasts a few days. It only takes around 45 minutes for the entire river to turn bright green. Over 400,000 attendees gather around the river to watch and it’s a lovely event for the city of Chicago.

Watch the Chicago River dyed Green – Aerial drone footage of the process

Dyeing Your Pool Green Isn’t a Smart Idea

To be perfectly clear though, this is not one that we recommend trying to recreate at home in your own backyard and there are some very straightforward reasons why. A few years back a buddy of mine was renting a home with a pool in the East Bay in California. He decided to throw an impromptu pool party for St. Patrick’s day and thought it would be a fun idea to dye the pool green for the party.

Wanting to imitate the look and party vibe that the city of Chicago has going is one thing, but the maintenance chore of cleaning up the pool after the party is one that perhaps he hadn’t anticipated. I seem to recall a prodigious and panicked scrubbing session to remove green dye residue that had discolored the tiles. Probably not the smartest thing to do in a rented home but that’s a whole other headache to discuss which has more to do about protecting your investment by setting some ground rules about how your rental property is used by tenants.

Friends who attended the party remarked how weird it was swimming in a green pool. The water was so cloudy that it was impossible to use the pool even with the lights on once the sun went down. Cleaning the pool proved to be harder than anticipated. My friend’s efforts didn’t pay off nearly as well as he would have liked and his landlord ultimately wound up charging him a fee to have the pool professionally cleaned.

Advice From Professionals – Don’t Dye It

We asked pool professionals what they thought about the practice of dyeing your pool green for Saint Patrick’s day. “If I walked up on a pool that had been dyed green, I’m pretty sure my brain would short-circuit,” said Derrick Todd of Aquanut Academy, “Dyeing the water in a pool causes all sorts of maintenance headaches.”

“For instance, cleaning the filters (can be difficult) as the dye pigments tend to build up there,” explained Todd, “that’s if the filter can even catch them. A cartridge only filters down to about 10 microns. There is always the possibility of staining the pool surface,” said Todd.

Swimming in a green pool for St. Patricks day isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Adverse Chemical Reactions

“You also have to be careful with your pool chemistry as the dye can react negatively with harsh chemicals like shock or acid- which means (if you’re having a pool party); you will not be able to treat the pool for heavy bather loads like you normally would,” explained Cole Daasnes of Poseidon Pools, a Roseville Pool Service company located in Northern California.

Daasnes suggested that by attempting to fake dye your pool a green color, you may end up with a really green pool for your trouble. “If you’re dyeing your pool you’ll be limiting the amount of circulation and filtration after application to make sure you get the desired effect and that it actually lasts (and doesn’t just filter out). Consequently, by limiting your circulation, filtration, and chemicals- you may actually end up with a real green pool only it’ll be caused by algae instead of dye.”

Using The Wrong Dye & Water Clarity Concerns

“I would be nervous that if the right dye isn’t used it could turn everything green. Baskets, filter cartridges, etc.,” said Kelli Clancy of Legacy Pool Spa Service in Sacramento, “I would also be concerned about how long the dye is in the water although I know there are some pool water dyes that with chlorine will oxidize off. My other concern obviously is seeing the bottom of the pool clearly which is more to do with drowning prevention.”

“It seems to go against everything we stand for. After all, we’ve made an entire career out of keeping pools from going green,” said Rudy Stankowitz of Talking Pools, “A little bit of pigment and a surfactant as a spreading agent and voilà; you too can have a swimming pool that looks like you haven’t touched it in weeks just in time for St. Paddy’s Day. Not only that, overuse of color additive can run the risk of the plaster hanging on to that color longer than you had planned.”

Cleaning Up The Mess

Some folks opt to take things a step further than dye and use green paint. Cleaning the pool the day after St. Patrick’s day is when the real chore starts if green paint was used said Stankowitz, “It’s all Éirinn go Brách until the color doesn’t fade, that’s when the 911 calls on the 18th begin,” explained Stankowitz, “By the luck of the Irish, it doesn’t take a pot of gold to fix – the remedy involves the same steps one would follow in any case of vandalism involving paint. Add 40 oz of Pool First aid (the only enzyme product I know of rated for treatment of vandalized water). Filter, backwash, and repeat every 48 hours until the pool water is again clear.”

Throwing a St. Patrick’s Day Themed Pool Party The Right Way

When you use dyes or chemicals in your pool water, you can inadvertently cause damage to the filter and other components. It’s also very easy to cause hard to remove stains. After the party, you must scrub clean the tiles and deck to remove any remaining residue from the dye.

It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive activity that is more trouble than it’s worth. Therefore, unless you love a good “I told you so”, avoid dyeing your pool green for a St. Patrick’s Day pool party.

Tips For Throwing A St. Patrick’s Day Themed Pool Party

Due to the fact that chemical dyes are not healthy for your pool, it’s a smart idea to consider other methods of hosting a St. Patrick’s day themed pool party. Green is the appropriate color, however it’s better to achieve the look with green LED lights to illuminate the pool and spa without using dye.

St. Patrick’s Day themed pool lighting using Hayward ColorLogic LED pool lighting

Bright LED lights will produce a green hue without the maintenance headache. To be clear, there is absolutely no reason why your pool water should ever be dyed to fit any type of party theme.

All it takes is some smart preparation and the right party accessories to create a St. Patricks holiday theme in your backyard. To create the right vibe for St. Patrick’s day, choose green-toned party décor, lighting, and other elements. To get into party mode, you can prepare green-themed food and offer green beverages in green glasses.

Additionally, decorate your pool with green pool accessories such as balloons, floats, floating lights, and floating hats. Whatever you choose, keep it consistent with the theme for the best results.

St. Patrick’s Day Themed Pool Party Checklist

This St. Patrick’s day pool float is the ideal accessory for celebrating the holiday. A fun inflatable to add some themed decor to go with the day.

Beer mug inflatable measures 18″h x 18″W x 14″d (when inflated)
The beer Stein design, Dotted with little green shamrocks, makes this inflatable cooler a fun and practical decoration
Feel and enjoy like a true Irish with this St. Patrick’s day beer mug inflatable cooler
Durability at its finest as after use, just drain and deflate to stash this reusable cooler away until the following year.
Simply fill it with ice followed by your favorite bottled and canned beverages to keep them chilled