Plastic in pool turning yellow/brown color - causes?

[kross65]

I am trying to figure out potential causes/solutions for this. White plastic in my pool has turned a yellowish/brownish color. The pool cleaner is the most noticeable, though it's starting to happen on the cleaner hose, and plastic on returns and such.

The basic water chemistry seems correct, though I have not done extensive testing to see about metal in the water. And I feel like this could be something to look into. There is some spots in the pool where there is rust/iron problem. I bought a house with the pool already there and obviously something was done wrong in that regard. The waterfalls that come out the side have rust stains coming out of them and a couple smaller areas of the pool. My assumption is this is some kind of metal or rebar that was not properly protected or used. I have not yet checked into fixing those issues because I imagine it would be extremely expensive to fix since the problem areas are buried under concrete.

But the actual water clarity seems okay. The water does not have a rusty, disclored, or strange look to it. Is it possible some rebar rust could actually be affecting the white plastic parts in the pool? And if so, is this issue merely cosmetic or should I be more concerned to stop it immediately?

Maybe this issue is more normal than I realize and I shouldn't be concerned at all. Do other people here have an issue with their pool cleaner for example turning from white to a more yellowish/brown color?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Your symptoms sound like there is iron in the water to me ... especially given the fact that you can see the rebar / iron stains.

 

[kross65]

I should be more clear too. The iron stains are coming through those faux rocks, not the actual plaster. I've done further research here and see that, if this is an iron issue, people recommend AA treatment and sequestering agent to keep it at bay.

But I wonder if my problem isn't severe enough to bother with, if this is just cosmetic really. I mean I don't have like giant stains all over the plaster, it just seems to be attacking areas of white plastic.

Besides it is not like the pool looks perfect and this is only issue. I still have the rust stains on the faux rocks, there is a large amount of white deposits on the rocks, the plaster is probably due for an acid wash, the color of the faux rocks is faded and clouds up in the water (I would imagine due to be restained/resealed). It seems like these faux rocks are not the best idea in general if they touch the water. Wish it would have been real rocks, but I suspect that is rare due to the initial expense. I just bought the house with a pool in this condition. None of these issues I mentioned were caused by me since I've been here. Maybe they've gotten slightly worse, but not by much. So I guess I'm trying to sort out if it is pretty common to have some staining on white plastic and some amount of iron in the water. Or if this is a super bad problem that will just get worse and worse if I don't do the AA / sequestering thing and try to fix the root cause of the iron stains.

I could put the AA directly on the stained areas, which I'd imagine would remove some of the visible rust. . .but I think the problem would just come right back because there is something below the faux rocks that is causing that.

And changing the water is not an option at all since I live in California drought area where I'm pretty sure I'll be tarred and feathered and put out in the town square if I refilled my pool water.

 

[pabeader]

A few vitamin c tablets will let you know for sure. I crushed them up in a sock and wiped the area I was interested in. Was like a magic trick!