An easy way to get leaves out of your pool.

First use a Leaf Rake. A Leaf Rake is like a Leaf Skimmer but has a deep bag-like net instead of a flat net. This allows the pool owner to hold many more leaves with each scoop. Also, the Leaf Rake allows the water to pass through much easier when it has leaves in it than the Leaf Skimmer does, thereby preventing the water wave you can get in front of a Leaf Skimmer pushing the leaves away from it. The Leaf Rake is also much easier to use when scooping leaves from the bottom. When scooping the bottom, extend your pole out as far as you can, face the Leaf Rake back towards you, and pull towards you. This will scoop up the leaves as you pull.

Another great device for lifting leaves off the bottom is the Leaf Eater. The Leaf Eater has jets in it that force water through its deep net bag, creating a suction that will lift debris off the bottom of the pool and into the bag. The jets are powered by water from your garden hose or the booster pump of your automatic pool cleaner. The jets will actually "pack in" the leaves, thereby holding a tremendous amount of debris before it needs dumping. The Leaf Eater comes in two versions: the wheeled model for concrete pools, and the brush model for vinyl pools. We would suggest using the wheeled model for all types of pools because the brushes on the brush model tend to push a lot of leaves away from it.

The best way to keep leaves out of your pool in the first place is to empty your skimmer basket(s) as often as needed. Rather than letting the skimmer basket fill up, choking off the skimming action, dump the basket as often as it needs it. This may be several times a day, but this is still a lot easier than getting leaves off the bottom. If you have your pump on a timer, you may want to run it longer so that the skimmer(s) are working longer.