Well water with rust.

[Kias]

Newb here!

Last weekend I picked up an intex bathtub on an impulse buy. (I really should learn to control my impulses...)

Anyway, after about 45 minutes I started filling it with water. So much for the "Ready to fill in 10 minutes!" deal.

My little one was so excited I let him jump in. I made him get out 1 minute later, cause the water is nice 53 degrees out of the ground year round. I turned the pump on, and went to bed. The next morning, the water looked a little yellowish greenish brownish orangeish (How's that for a description!) When I got home from work on Monday, it looked the same. Took off to Wally World and got some hth shock stuff, did some math and shocked it according to instruction. Tuesday after work, the water looked the same. I removed the filter to find it clogged with rust. Which reminded me that we actually have really rusty water, but I had forgotten about it as I constantly feed the salt monster for the house water so there's no rust stains on our sinks.

I've been cleaning filters since, and the water is now clear. Not exactly crystal clear, but that white thing intex likes to call a pump is tryin' it's best! I stir up the bottom with a brush a few times a day.

Tuesday night, I found this place and have been going through pool school, and reading and searching these messages. So I have my wish list for Christmas this year. An SWG, new pump, and a taylor 2006 kit! I've also learned a lot of stuff that I'm doing, and probably shouldn't be doing... like tabs. But I have three, so I'm gonna use 'em! The one thing I didn't do is add stabilizer...

I'm not going to go too crazy with water testing this year as there's only maybe 2 or 2 1/2 months left until I drain the bathtub. I bought the HTH 6-way test... yup, I fell for it. But I didn't get any strips as I knew from high school chemistry class that those things are not all that accurate. Here's what I've gotten so far.

Monday before shock: PH 7.6
Tuesday eve: PH 7.6 Total Chlorine was 1ppm (Is that the same as FC? or am I way off...)
also added clarifier. Type is unknown as it's out there, and I'm in here.
Wed eve: PH 7.6 Chlorine was 1ppm
Thurs eve: same as wed
Friday 6pm: PH 7.8 Chlorine holding at 1ppm. I added some HTH "PH Minus" and I'm about to go check it shortly.

I haven't done a cya test, as there's only 2 tests in this silly kit I purchased. I'm happy with the water right now, so the water chemistry is not my issue. (I just digress often...)

I'm wondering about next year when I fill the bathtub again. I want to filter the water from the garden hose before it goes in. Since I'll have a new pump, could I use the little pump I have now with the cartridge? It only took 4 hours to fill the pool from the garden hose, so that's 425 gallons an hour from the hose... Little slower than the pump, might be an issue unless I can restrict the flow without blowing up the pump. Which in and of itself is no great loss and would probably make a good youtube video if I could get it to actually blow up.

I saw a filter that attached to the end of a hose somewhere, can't find it now to save my life... But it seemed aweful little and looked like it might clog up often with that amount of water.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks! Oh, and thanks to whoever put together the pool school! That thing is awesome! (I've yet to figure out who everyone is around here...)

The best part of having this bathtub is that I can turn off the A/C in the house, and about an hour later, our 3 hermits, who we sometimes call our children, are all in the big blue tub outside... Amazing how that works!

 

[Kias]

Now I know the diff between FC and TC. This stuff is starting to make sense, the more I read.

 

[duraleigh]

Hi, Rob,

Welcome to the forum. It's fun to read your posts as you pick up the info and it all starts to click. Lot's to digest up in Pool School but it's all really good stuff.

Next year, I would suggest you fill your pool from a tap that goes thru the softener first. There is no other way to filter the iron out of your water (a hose filter won't do it). You will be really rewarded if you take the extra effort to do this. Iron in swimming pool water can be an ongoing issue and you will have elimnated it.

 

[Kias]

Thanks Dave! It is a lot to digest, but I'll get there. I make a lot of wine, and it seems to be about the same. Test Test Test! Adjust! Wait. Do it again! Only with wine, the wait portion is measured in months and years, while the pool is measured in hours and days.

Now that I think about it, I do believe our outside faucet in the front of the house is tapped off of the kitchen sink... Is there an iron test I can get somewhere to verify this?

I'm gonna have rust stains on my tub when I drain it, aren't I?

 

[Kias]

Sometimes I wonder how I'm a certified A&P. (That's an aircraft mechanic)

Follow along with my trials and tribulations of this morning.

I was trying to think of a way to see if the garden hose faucet went through the water softener or not. The softener was added to the house 4 years after it was built, so it was possible. Then it hit me! There's a little light on the softener that blinks when water flows. So I went into the water room which is in the garage, turned the garden faucet next to the softener on a little to verify the light blinked. It did, so I turned the garden faucet off, and the light went out. I thought, "Perfect!" So I went out front, turned on that garden faucet, went back into the water room to see if the light was blinking on the water softener, which is next to the garden faucet I used to test the light.

It wasn't blinking, so I grudgingly went back out front to turn the garden faucet off. I was trying to think how to get softened water in a garden hose without hooking it up inside... Went back to the water room and stared for a bit. Of course then it hit me like a brick falling from an airplane! Duh, the garden faucet in the water room will work.


Sometimes I wonder about me...

Well, back to the pool maintenance! I think my wife likes the fact that she now has a husband, AND a pool boy!!

 

[duraleigh]

I think my wife likes the fact that she now has a husband, AND a pool boy!!

I think wives like that idea universally!! :lol: :lol:

As you will learn from reading here, there are many, many women who take immaculate care of their pools. I have sent marriage proposals to all of them but my wife intercepts and deletes them before these ladies have the opportunity to reject me themselves.