My pool build is in progress. Going forward I have a choice of using my well water that has been softened with a swg/cartridge system or straight well water that is very hard and full of iron. I have a special filter on the softener that removes iron. Which should I use to keep pool topped off?

For topping off (2-300 gals at a time) on a 5400 gal pool, I would use your softener.

working in the industry, I help a lot of people with this issue. Pool startups are difficult to go pure softened water. The benefits are there, but if you are building a plaster/concrete/marsite pool, then you do not want soft water... at all. A vinyl, or fiberglass pool, then you don't need calcium at all!! Iron obviously is not desired (along with manganese) De-ironed water, try bypassing just the softener, but be mindful depending on what type of iron filter system you are using, most like softeners have a maximum gallon capacity before they need to clean/regenerate/pause. So if you are still wanting to use the softened, de-ironed water, then you will have to do some calculation... need to know the general hardness of your well water, (preffered in grains per gallon, so take your ppm reading and divide by 17, this is used to calculate your resins capacity in gallons/per lb of salt) and your iron level. Also, what type of system/size of system are you using?

If I can help further, please let me know!
good luck!!

I am no expert but I am somewhat confused by that. I see no benefit to filling a pool with iron laden water........only the potential for iron stains to form on the fiberglass surfaces.

Based on the hundreds of reports of iron staining on this forum, it seems logical to me to NEVER let iron get in there in the first place. While the capacity of the water softener may be a problem (and it usually is), if you have the capability of filling the pool with softened water, why wouldn't you?

I have an Aquasana EQ-300 model filter for well water and a Kinetico softener system.

I would use the softened water. It may take you longer to fill the pool, but once filled it will be easier to maintain than dealing with iron and delicate balancing act for TA, pH, and CH that you need for a high CH level. Topping off the pool with softened water is best as well.

Have you looked into the possibility of having iron free, low CH water trucked in to fill your pool? That would save a little wear and tear on the softener system and fill the pool more quickly.

Take it from someone with well water, iron and no water softener - go with the softener. We have no choice but to deal with the iron (it can be dealt with but why if you have a choice)

not sure of the disadvantage of softened water- you can always add Ca when needed, and even the hardest water probably requires some addition. Also, hard water sometimes has other **** in it that messes with pool chemistry...
The advantage of getting rid of Iron I think overrides any disadvantage!

PB was going to truck in water but his guy had mechanical problems. We ended up having the fire dept. deliver water but it was high iron contant. PB shocked the pool several times and then manually vacuumed bottom. He told me that the iron would settle out. They then ran an external filter rig for a number of days and we kept changing and cleaning filters. I just turned on my Intelliflo today.

Hi,

I'm not a pool expert, but I am in the well water iron water treatment industry, and from my experience I would suggest that you calculate what the capacity of your water softener is, and then use only that amount of gallons. You would need to wait at least 4 hours before using the soft water because it takes that long to make the brine water. You can find the water softener regeneration calculation at here. (www.crystalclean.us/regeneration)

You never want to use iron well water to fill a pool. As soon as you add the chlorine, all the soluble iron will fall out of the solution of the water and turn to rust. This will turn your water orange, and will penetrate the porous pool surfaces causing ugly stains.

Bill Stepp
Terlyn Industries

Welcome Bill, we hope you stick around. We have a lot of 'iron' and could use someone that knows how to deal with it on a pool sized basis.