The TFP way

[Vickery]

We finally got the pool replaced this past June after waiting THREE YEARS for the rain to stop and the pool area to dry enough to put the new pool in! The old one blew out in May of 2013 and the rains started the following week. The pool area is inside the deck, at the bottom of a long slope, next to and about 6" higher than the swamp which forms our back yard. And yes, it is in a flood plain. The pics are starting the fill...full and now . It took a week to get it this way. As you can see, our well has a little iron. As soon as the heat and humidity back down - heat index is 111' as I write this - I'll rebuild the deck!

 

[smforte]

So how in the world did you get that water so clear? Looks great!

 

[Vickery]

Magic fairy dust. The hard part is finding the Magic Fairy....
In the past sunlight would precipitate the iron, but not this time. Desperate to act before it stained the new liner (it has slightly, but AA is taking care of it) I resorted to SeaKlear Metal Klear (which is tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Say that 3 times fast!) Then added sand filter fiber and kept filtering and backwashing. Chlorine, salt, CYA and borax. Piece of cake. I kinda, sorta, almost trust the pool store owner since I do my own testing and she figured out by my questions that I had at least a small clue about pools.

 

[max2k]

was it iron or just dirt? If it was iron- please share what did you do.

I believe they call it EDTA for that reason How long did it take to clear?

 

[Vickery]

At first I thought it was red clay, since that was the issue when we lived in the Piedmont of NC. But no red clay here, its all sand with a little yellow clay occasionally. We have both iron and sulfur, constantly fighting iron stains even with a softener.

 

[smforte]

Magic fairy dust. The hard part is finding the Magic Fairy....
In the past sunlight would precipitate the iron, but not this time. Desperate to act before it stained the new liner (it has slightly, but AA is taking care of it) I resorted to SeaKlear Metal Klear (which is tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Say that 3 times fast!) Then added sand filter fiber and kept filtering and backwashing. Chlorine, salt, CYA and borax. Piece of cake. I kinda, sorta, almost trust the pool store owner since I do my own testing and she figured out by my questions that I had at least a small clue about pools.

I've tried metal clear but it clouded my water.

 

[Vickery]

As in many (most?) things in pools and life....YMMV.