Pool water turning finger nails green

[Bon]

Copper in my pool water. How do I remove it?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The only way to get rid of copper is to drain and refill. You need to ditch that Intex ionizer system as it constantly adds copper to your water. TFP does not recommend using copper ionizer systems for this very reason.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Best way would be to drain and refill.

Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

Do you know how you got the copper in there?

 

[Bon]

I'm thinking like what "JoyfulNoise" mentioned in his comment below, the saltwater generator. This is my third year with it and it has a slow leak in it. My next question is, do I have to dump all of the water in the pool, can I fix this with dumping half of it? Thanks in advance for any/all the help.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

That model of Intex SWG has an "ionizer" cell in it - basically a copper rod that has a voltage applied to it to cause it to dissolve copper metal ions into your water. The problem with copper is that it is a great algaecide....it also is great at staining pools and causing hair to turn green. Unfortunately, the concentration at which copper ions kills algae is very close to the solubility limit of copper in neutral pH water (pH in the 7 range) and so you will eventually wind up staining your pool with copper scale. Copper scale, unlike iron scale, is actually a lot harder to remove and so any actual benefits from copper are not worth the costs.

Unfortunately, without knowing how much copper is in your water, there's no way to know how much you need to drain. Take a water sample to your local pool store and tell them you need to test for copper metal. They can typically give you a ballpark number.

 

[Piolin]

You don't really need to get rid of your SWG, just disconnect the plug that goes to the copper electrode, I had one before

8,400 gal 3K GPH pump, SWG CG-28669, TF100 test kit, speed stir, K-1766 Taylor salt test.

The corner stone of TFP
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[Bon]

You don't really need to get rid of your SWG, just disconnect the plug that goes to the copper electrode, I had one before

8,400 gal 3K GPH pump, SWG CG-28669, TF100 test kit, speed stir, K-1766 Taylor salt test.

The corner stone of TFP
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

If I unplug the copper electrode it won't produce chlorine, am I able to use the chlorine pucks 'till I purchase a new SWG?

 

[Mr Bruce]

You'd be better off manually adding bleach

 

[LFrankow]

There should be three wires running to the SWG, one to the flow switch, one to the salt cell, large flat one, and one to the copper cell. My earlier Intex SWG had one so I just removed the wire from the copper cell. Search utube and there is even a video of people removing the copper cell.

 

[Bon]

There should be three wires running to the SWG, one to the flow switch, one to the salt cell, large flat one, and one to the copper cell. My earlier Intex SWG had one so I just removed the wire from the copper cell. Search utube and there is even a video of people removing the copper cell.

This may be a stupid question, but if I'm unplugging the copper cell so that it doesn't produce chlorine that in turn is putting copper into my pool, would just turning off the SWG unit be the same, and I can keep it all hooked up to the pump and pool 'till I get and new one?

 

[Piolin]

If I unplug the copper electrode it won't produce chlorine, am I able to use the chlorine pucks 'till I purchase a new SWG?

It will produce FC just fine I used it for almost a year, there it tons of post about this issue in TFP from a few years ago

8,400 gal 3K GPH pump, SWG CG-28669, TF100 test kit, speed stir, K-1766 Taylor salt test.

The corner stone of TFP
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[Mr Bruce]

The copper cell doesn't produce chlorine. The SWG does.

 

[Bon]

The copper cell doesn't produce chlorine. The SWG does.

Thanks for your responce "Mr Bruce" Excuse my ignorance, but what is the purpose of the copper cell?

 

[Mr Bruce]

See JoyfulNoise's post #5

 

[Bon]

I unplugged the copper cell, what do I do with the exposed prongs, do I need to cover them up to prevent possible shorting the system from rain/water?

 

[Piolin]

I didn't do it, and everything was fine

8,400 gal 3K GPH pump, SWG CG-28669, TF100 test kit, speed stir, K-1766 Taylor salt test.

The corner stone of TFP
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[Piolin]

Just remember you now are not adding more copper, but you need to get rid of the one you have in the pool, follow instructions in post 5

8,400 gal 3K GPH pump, SWG CG-28669, TF100 test kit, speed stir, K-1766 Taylor salt test.

The corner stone of TFP
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[Bon]

Thank you so much "Piolin" and everyone else for all your help, very much appreciated!