Orlando Florida - Samantha Gray, 46, has a rather unique problem. For the last two years, her tidy, above-ground pool has fallen victim to a malady nobody seems to be able to explain. Gray, who's husband Mike (52) characterizes her as "anal-retentive," has been unable to keep her swimming pool clean. It's not algae or falling leaves, but a substance science seems unable to explain.

Is this a bacterial pool of death?

Periodically, a thick, waxy film forms over small portions of her pool's surface. Occasionally, Gray will wake up to find her entire pool covered with the film up to an inch thick. "It's like candle wax or crayons," she says.

"I've tried everything to get rid of this mess. The only thing that seems to work is waiting for it to collect in big chunks and pulling the chunks off in large pieces." She says.

Paulson Pools, who sold the pool to the house's previous resident (previous resident not available for comment due to being dead) said that they've had problems with the pump on this particular model, but no problems involving a thick, waxy film. "I talked to those pool people," says Gray wearily, "... But it's really not their fault. I'm sure there's nothing about the pool itself that would make something like this happen. It's just awful because Mike and I just never want to swim in it!"

As a desperate measure, Gray contacted her local branch of the environmental protection agency. They were unable to help, but Frank Marpuccio (29), a field representative from "Greenpeace" was happy to stop by and see if he could help her nail down at least the cause of this anomaly. "I'm finishing up my masters in ecology, and this seemed to be a prime suspect for some kind of industrial pollution." Said Marpuccio. "I took a sample of the substance down to our lab, and analyzed it eight different ways till Sunday. There were typical traces of Algae, Muriatic Acid, Chlorine, and normal hard-water deposits that one would expect to find in a swimming pool. The sludge was mostly amorphous and waxy, with what might have been beeswax or a similar compound throughout. Also found in it were traces of sand and what appeared to be burned fragments of a fibrous substance like hair. I could find none of the standard pollutants one would look for in industrial waste, like heavy metals, mercury, ammonia, or any distillation of petroleum. No carcinogens like asbestos or anything like that. What's more, none of her neighbors with swimming pools seemed to suffer from similar problems, and her yard appeared to be completely free of the same substance. I keep in touch with the Grays, but I have very little hope of finding out exactly what this 'mystery substance' really is."

Because the Grays have lost hope of solving this mystery, they have decided to get rid of the pool. "We never really used it anyway. Our kids would take a dip sometimes, but not really and they're all moved out of the house now anyway. That thing's such a pain to clean, I don't know why we even bother." says Samantha.

Editor's note: Just after the New Year, the Gray's gave in and tore down their pool. No trace of the substance was found beneath the above-ground pool, and there has been no recurrence of the anomaly.

sources

Interviews with Samantha Gray and Mike Gray, December 27, 1998

Interview with Frank Marpuccio, December 28, 1998

Photo by Derek Barnes