stain treatment or acid wash??

[cpropes2005]

My pool has some pretty severe staining. It was there when we bought it 3 years ago and it hasnt gotten worse but I am ready to get rid of it so I am looking for feedback on the best option. Several local people suggested I try the Jack's Magic stain removers so I bought the stain ID kit and after doing the test I am 90% sure Iron Scale is my problem.

After adding up all of the things I would need to do the Iron Scale treatment in a 25,000 gallon pool it is going to cost my roughly $700 in supplies.

I figure I should be able to get it acid washed for close to that same price so I am just looking for some opinions on which treatment would be better. Any thoughts or suggestions?

The pics below show the stains. It is worse in the deep end with almost that entire end of the pool being covered. The black spots are just dirt that I haven't brushed away.

 

[kimkats]

I do not know BUT I will be watching to learn with you. Please keep us posted about what you do and what happens.

Kim

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You've tried holding a chlorine puck on it, and some Vitamin C tablets, and neither lifted the stain? Those are both low cost tests to help determine if a stain is organic or metal.
How is your water chemistry? Do you know if you have metal in the water? Will you be needing to use a sequestrant after you clear the stains?

 

[pooldv]

There is iron and there is scale. Not sure about iron scale. Have you tried a vitamin C tablet?

More here on metal and vit C, Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

 

[cpropes2005]

I will try the vitamin C test tonight.

I am sure that is what is in one of the packets in the "stain ID" kit from jacks magic. Basically has you test 3 different powders on the stain and identify which combination work best. According to the instructions the one that worked the best for me said it was "iron scale". Not sure why they call it scale but I agree it is probably just staining from iron.

http://www.jacksmagic.com/pdfs/FAQ-IronScale-Treatment.pdf

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If it is iron staining would acid washing be a good solution? I am worried that even if I do the treatment and remove the stain that the water will still have all of that metal in it so I will have to run sequestrant from now on so I might be better off just draining, acid washing and starting over with fresh water.

 

[pooldv]

There are some people here who know more about iron than I do who will chime in. Yes, you might need use a sequestrant you can also make a homemade filter with poly fill that will filter out iron once it is in suspension in the water. Quite a few people here have done that.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

If you are considering draining and acid wash, you should first test your fill water to see if it is just going to add back water with metals in it.

Where are you getting your water from?

 

[cpropes2005]

The vitamin C test seemed to work I ended up doing an absorbic acid treatment and I am pretty thrilled with the results. Now I just have to get the fill water tested and if it has low metal content I will probably drain/dilute a significant portion of the water just so I can get it out of there nad hopefully not have to use expensive sequestrants long term. As usual this sight was super helpful figuring out the best approach.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Wow. You should attach the before and after photos side-by-side as it is a HUGE difference!!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Amazeballs!!

 

[Swampwoman]

If you're not on well, dilution will likely help. Keeping ph low-Er, eg 7.2, will also help.

If you want a cheaper date on sequestrant, try poolgeek.com and Metal Magic -- unless you're on SWG.

 

[pooldv]

Wow, looks great! Nice work!