Leaf vacuum for the pool

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Get leaves out of your pool with a leaf vacuum!

The leaf vacuum does exactly what its name implies: it vacuums up leaves. Of course, it can vacuum up other debris in the pool as well. Many leaf vacuums are constructed of hard plastic or aluminum. The vacuum is attached to the telepole and a garden hose. The water is forced from the hose into the vacuum, then redirected into multiple small jets, which in turn direct it up toward a fabric bag which is on top of the vacuum. In order for the vacuum to operate efficiently it must have heavy water pressure from the garden hose. As the water wells upwards, it creates a vacuum at the base of the plastic helmet, thereby sucking up leaves and other debris into the vacuum then into the attached bag. The bag is a mesh type which allows the water to pass through, while the leaves and debris are trapped inside the bag. Dirt that is fine is able to pass through the filter bag. In order to catch more dirt, you may switch to a bag that is of smaller mesh. However, once the bag contains a few leaves, it may also catch a great deal of the sand and other fine particles.

A disadvantage of this type of vacuum is that if your water pressure from your hose is not very strong, the jet action of the vacuum will be weak, and your vacuum will experience a weak suction.

Another drawback of this type of action is that when the bag becomes filled with wet leaves, it weighs it down and the bag may, in turn, tip over. This would result in a scraping of the bottom of the pool, stir up the debris in the pool that hasn't yet been vacuumed and may tangle the hose. A solution to this problem would be to put a tennis ball inside the bag, then placing it in the pool. Since the tennis ball floats, it is able to keep the vacuum bag in an upright position.

In order to clean out the leaf vacuum, you need to remove it. To do so, turn it slightly to the side and lift it slowly through the water and up to the surface. Some of the debris may come out of the bag then go back into the pool, if you suddenly pull it straight up out of the water. Wait to turn off the water until the vacuum is out of the pool and on the ground.

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