Anybody have experience with the HTH metal control? I believe it is phosponic acid based rather than EDTA, similar to Jack's. I have used Jacks with good luck. Clears the iron I have in my pool right up when I add fill water. But...it's ~$25 a quart. I see amazon has HTH for 10 bucks a quart if you buy a 6 pack. Sounds too good to be true. I was going to try it out, but if anybody has a negative, or positive comment, I'd like to hear them.
Jack's Magic vs. HTH Metal Control
- Thread starter bk406
- Start date
I used that all winter after doing an AA treatment in fall using another sequestrate during the process. My stains are iron from our sediment dragged in by dogs and blown in. It has continued to lift the scale for months and has kept stains at bay. I didn't measure how much I used and probably used more than the minimal dose.
gg=alice
gg=alice
I am always leery of anything with the HTH brand. There's a reason it's so much less and I guarantee it isn't because they are what's best for the consumer. Sticking with the Jack's and avoid all things HTH is my own personal rule.
Scott
Scott
All things? I recommend the HTH stabilizer all the time....their 6-way test kit is fine...
frustratedpoolmom said:
Not trying to get off the original post, but just a quick question. Where can you get refills for the 6-way test kit?
Tim
Oh and our local Walmart had the HTH metal out for $11.
You can't that I'm aware of, I tried three years ago, but then ended up getting a TF100. Honestly if you are going to spend money on more testing reagents, just get one of the recommended kits from Taylor or TFtestkits. You won't regret it. 
I did some more research on it last night after i posted and it is phosphonic acid based, like jack's. I'm not a brand fanatic. If it works, why pay for a brand name.
Phosphonic acid based sequestrants are better as a class compared to other kinds of sequestrants, but they are not all the same as each other. By all means, try out some less expensive brands. Just don't automatically assume they will be just as good as the expensive brands. A given brand might be just as good, or it might not, or it might vary over time. Most of the less expensive brands purchase chemicals in bulk from other companies and the bottle them. Depending on pricing they may change suppliers for different production runs. The best thing to do is to try it out and see how it works for you.
The top brands we recommend are recommended because they have worked consistently for many different people over a long period of time. Less expensive brands come and go and change over time. There is almost invariably a less expensive brand that works just as well at some specific point in time. But there hasn't yet been an inexpensive choice that has proven reliable over longer periods of time.
The top brands we recommend are recommended because they have worked consistently for many different people over a long period of time. Less expensive brands come and go and change over time. There is almost invariably a less expensive brand that works just as well at some specific point in time. But there hasn't yet been an inexpensive choice that has proven reliable over longer periods of time.
JasonLion said:
Gee Jason, like to cover your bases much
My wife picked some up at Walmart this morning. I'm going to try it and see how it works.
Hope it works better for you than it did for me...a few years back when we first put up our Intex pool (15x48) I tried it. I first used to rec. dosage, did nothing. I gradually did higher and higher doses until I was using a couple bottles per dose, and it never worked. The only solution for me was to shock up to around 20 ppm, and once I had ~5000 gallons of tea I had to floc and vac to waste. Then I refilled with water softener water. From then on when draining and refilling the pool each season I always used softened water. It may have taken a couple days, but at least I didn't have to deal with the iron.
Thought I'd bump this and let you al know how it worked. I added 1 quart of HTH Metal Control to 14,000 gallons. I added it around 3 pm and ran the pump overnight. The next morning it was clear and blue again. I will say that in the past when I've used Jack's purple, it clear a bit faster, but I am happy with the results. For 10 bucks a quart, i'll keep using it.
Glad to hear it worked for you. I probably should have mentioned that sometimes our fill water is extremely high in iron content (+5ppm, I don't remember what it was the last time it was tested). So, our situation here is a little different than what most people here probably have.
Wow. 5 ppm is pretty high. Mine only tops out around 2, and thats in August when they turn on the iron heavy well. Right now it's 0.5 ppm, so its much more manageable.