My Pool Turned Green (May be Metals)

[poodlegirl]

My pool turned green. It may be metals. I treated for metals about a week and a half ago. I used Ascorbic Acid and then Jack's Magic Blue Stuff(2 bottles). The stains went away and slowly have been raising my chlorine. Saturday my chlorine level was about 1.5; Ph was about 6.8; TA was 50. The stains had started coming back a little on my returns so I just used a few Vitamin C tabs to get it off. I put more Jack's Magic Blue Stuff in. I probably should have just put about 16 oz but wasn't thinking and just put the whole bottle. I did not adjust the TA or PH because I read somewhere you should wait to adjust the PH if there are metals in the water.

I checked the chlorine yesterday morning and it was about 2.0; PH -6.8 and TA-50. I've been pulling up my old wood deck by the pool and forgot to backwash it yesterday. This morning I was still pulling up by old deck and forgot again to backwash. This afternoon, after a hard rain of about 15minutes, I went outside and my pool was green. I checked my water and the chlorine was 2.0; PH-below 6.8 -it took about 9 drops of the testing drops to make it come up; TA - about 45.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? I have been draining and filling the pool with new water a little at a time. until I figure out what to do. I don't want to adjust PH and TA until I hear from someone that knows more than I do. I have been just so focused on trying to pull this deck up, I just wasn't paying attention.

 

[Catanzaro]

Let's start from the beginning:

Q: What test kit are you using for your results? TA of 45 seems off.

Please post some pictures of the pool and a full set of test results as follows:

CYA
FC
CC
TA
CH
PH

You will need to slam your pool. Your PH swings could be due to your low TA. You may want to increase TA to 60-70 and PH to 7.2 prior to slamming. Is the green from algae? Check the walls with your hand to see if it is slimy (being algae). Your SLAM level is based on your CYA level, which I believe you have not posted.

 

[poodlegirl]

I do not think it is algae. I did forget to say that I put an algae prevention after lowering my chlorine initially. A Polyquat 60 like what was recommended on this site. I think the green is from metals. I did not test the CYA. It's turning dark here now. Should I leave my pool pump running overnight? Or would that make it worse?

 

[pooldv]

Running the pump shouldn't make it worse. Here is an article from Pool School about metals, Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

 

[poodlegirl]

Thank you pooldv! I left it running. I'll just check it in the morning.

 

[poodlegirl]

My pool was better this morning. Still had a tint of a little green. The more I drain and refill the more the green goes away. What could it have been? I just tested my water again. The chlorine was between 2 and 3. The PH was 6.8. It took about 7 drops of the test drops to make it rise to 7. 2. The TA was 60. The CH was 230. The CYA was about 100. The returns are starting to look a little more stained again. I don't notice any other stains in the pool right now.

Can anyone tell me if it would be OK to start adjusting alkalinity now? Or should I shoot for raising the PH first? I am trying not to let these metals come back but I guess I need to worry about the PH be so low? I have to go back to work tomorrow so if anyone has a moment to reply that would be great! Thanks!

 

[JesseSchmidt]

What test kit are you using for your numbers?

First thing I notice is that your Chlorine to CYA is off. According to the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart your minimum FC should be 7 with a target of 12. CYA is high and from what I've read on here, that requires water replacement to lower.

Did you check to see if it was slimy(algea)?

 

[smforte]

I fight a metals problem also. Raise your ph to 7.2 but no higher. Is your water clear green (metals) or cloudy green (algae)? If your sure your cya is 100 a 50% drain is in order to get it down to 50. With a FC of 2 you may have algae, if not you will soon. Test Kit?

 

[pooldv]

Your TA is good at 60 right now. It is important to keep PH between 7.2 and 7.8 at all times.

Common sources of copper
Heater or copper pipes that have been dissolved by PH below 7.0
Algaecide that contain copper
Mineral system that adds copper

 

[poodlegirl]

The test kit I have is made by Taylor- Total Poolcare DPD Test Kit(has the number 18-576 on it). I do not have a heater. My chlorine is low because I had to lower it to put ascorbic acid in it. I used a chlorine neutralizer to lower my chlorine. That is why it is slow to come up. I've done that slowly because the instructions on this site said to raise chlorine slowly when trying to get metals out. At this time, the pool is just about back to normal now. The stains are coming back on my returns because chlorine is coming back up. When I dropped the chlorine, I put a Polyquat 60 to prevent algae like the instructions on this site said to do. I have been draining and filling since 7;00 am CST.

I guess the thing now is concentrate on raising the PH? And Chlorine? I do have plain bleach. However I use Trichlor pucks in chlorinator.

 

[crokett]

Have you had your tap water tested? At our old house I had a metals problem. One thing I did was have the tap water tested at a local pool store, the amount of metals, especially iron, in my tap water was very high, high enough that my initial treatment turned out to have to be about 2.5 times recommended to get it from a yellow-brown to clear. i actually did some testing on my pool water in a 5 gallon bucket. As was mentioned already, if the water is green but clear, it's a metals issue. If it's green and cloudy, its algae. I've dealt with both, unfortunately. 3 seasons ago I had a very long conversation with Jack, the guy who's name is on the Jacks' Magic bottle, and one of his head chemists. Among other things I learned that for their products to be most effective, the other water chemistry needs to be ideal. So before you treat with a sequestrant, you should adjust the other water levels, including pH. I'm going to get the tap water at my new house tested for metals. We had our pool filled so I don't have the same problem yet, but as I refill over time I expect to.

 

[poodlegirl]

Thanks crokett! What you said sounds about right. I did not adjust my other water chemistry before putting Jack's Magic Blue Stuff in. However, that's not the instructions I've read before (not sure where). It starting to turn a little greenish again. But it is a clear greenish. I put a gallon of regular bleach in a while ago. After that, it started having more of a greenish tint to it. I thought I would put the chlorine in first. Think it would be ok to put the Soda Ash in now? I know, I haven't been doing the TFP protocol. My life has been a little unbalanced lately (like my pool!). I had to put my standard poodle asleep in April (about the time I start getting my pool ready). Think Soda Ash now? (That's all I have right now to raise PH).

 

[poodlegirl]

One more thing. I just went outside and drained the pool a little again. (I've been just draining via the "Waste" setting instead of "Backwash".) Should I be backwashing and rinsing to help that stuff get out? When I started my pool again (in "Filter setting), some brown stuff came out of a couple of returns. It must be that stain that was on the pool. Almost every year, I have to do the Jack's Magic Stuff and I've never had this much problem. I guess I must have missed a step somewhere. I don't remember my PH ever dropping that low. I read the instructions for the soda ash to raise the PH. It said if PH is below 7.2, that metals may be present and raising PH while metals are present will cause pool staining and discoloration (which I already have).

My pool was fine until the chlorine started coming back up. I'm at a loss. I have to go back to work tomorrow (been on vacation). I'm trying to get it a little balanced before I have to leave it for 12 hours tomorrow. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[crokett]

I backwash every time I need to pump to waste. It doesn't hurt anything and it minimized things stirred up from the filter getting back into the pool.

Here's a summary of the half hour conversation I had with Jack. It cleared up nearly all the misconceptions I had. I spent a lot of $$$ on other products before I tried Jacks Magic. I don't know if the education helped or his stuff works better, but after that I won't use anything else.

1. Even if the water is colored, the chlorine is still doing its job and the pool is safe, it just doesn't look inviting to swim in. So don't stop maintaining the chlorine.
2. Adjust the other water chemistry first. I didn't have any staining issues while I was adjusting the chemistry.
3. After #2 is done, if you can, test in a smaller container. I used a 5 gallon bucket that I just dipped into the pool. I did the math to figure out the dose for that bucket and that's when I discovered I'd have to use a lot of product for the initial dose. After the bucket cleared up then I used the same dosage rate for the pool. After that, the maintenance doses worked. jack makes a test kit that you can use to test for sequestrant levels. Prior to my doing the bucket testing, the test kit was reading 0.

 

[poodlegirl]

Thank you Crokett! The water finally turned back to normal. I think the problem was I was not backwashing. I just kept thinking I didn't want that water going back into the filter. Evidently, I was wrong. I tested the water when I got home. My chlorine is 4; PH-7.2; and ALK- 80. I just ran out of the CYA test solution. I'll have to get some this week. I'm curious with all of that draining helped it lower. But, at least the green is gone! Thank you so much for your help!

 

[poodlegirl]

After I got the "green" out of my pool, I adjusted my water. After chlorine was normal and a week went by, I started to get different stain. It had more of light black color. Tested with Vit C tabs and stain came off. I then started to add Ascorbic Acid again. Chlorine was around 3 but I decided to try anyway. Some of it came off (where I was able to apply right over). Before I knew it, I had used the whole two pounds. Really wasted it since I had not dropped my chlorine. So, I have been brushing it and trying to drop chlorine.

Before I started to drop chlorine I put the Polyquat 60 in it. Today I wanted to start the Ascorbic Acid again since chlorine is now zero. However, when I went out this morning the pool was cloudy. We had a very hard rain late yesterday afternoon(not sure if that matters). Is it safe to try the Ascorbic Acid treatment with the pool cloudy? It's not a bad color just a little cloudy. I tested the water this morning.
Results:
Chlorine - 0. FC ,TC, CC
PH - about 7.3(color was between 7.2 and 7.5- took one drop of acid demand to go to 7.2)
Alk- 90
CYA- 90