Clorox turns water brown..why?

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sandysbiz

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Jul 17, 2007
18
We are having to replace our liner this spring so I do not have the typical readings to post here. I converted to the BBB method last year and all went well.
I am getting things ready to refill the pool after we get the new liner in and have been doing some tests on my well water that will be used to refill the pool. When I added Clorox though, the water turned brown. :shock: What could be the problem? here are the results for my test that I did: PH 7.0, TA 120, calcium hardness 250.
I surely don't want to fill the entire pool and then have to deal with this. I will appreciate any help. Thanks a lot! :wink:
 
sandysbiz
I do not thing the three readings would change the water brown when adding clorox.
I would look at the label of the cloraox. Is it standard no flavor type? lol Please do not taste it.
Without further information I think it is the clorox and not the tap water that is the problem.

Update. I did a little searching around and it may be caused by
1. Too much heavy metal (iron) in your water. It the area you live very old water system or a well?

Anyone else want to jump in?

Iggy
 
You should get the water checked for metals, particularly iron. Bleach can cause iron to precipitate out. In the pool iron would cause staining which can be difficult to remove. Assuming it is iron about the only things you can do are to get water trucked in or use a metal sequestrant.
 
Sometimes getting water brought in is not an option. For those of us in that category of pool owners, sequesterant is a MUST have. Also, it does help immensely to filter that water with a sediment/rust filter system prior to filling by using an inline filter system. That will remove a great deal of the rust but not all of it. We run ours through 3 consecutive filters prior to filling in conjuction with sequesterant at that time. There are many fine products on the market for this purpose just do NOT use the one intended for spas or with any type of soy "softener" or "conditioner" as this will leave an oiley or greasy residue at the waterline. We purchase ours at Menards/Lowes/Kmart/Walmart and all work the same so price is the only deciding factor. Filter thoroughly during and after adding the sequesterant.
 
Thank you all for your advice and input. I will have the water tested for iron and other metals.

Are there any good tests on the market for doing it myself?
I assume that the pool store can do this and I probably will try them if I can't buy the test.
 
Brown water AFTER adding chlorine (particularly well water) is most likely from iron. The reason why is that the chlorine oxidizes the colorless metal ions dissolved in the water and either causes them to become colored or to actually precipitate out of the water. We commonly call oxidized iron rust! :shock: The cure is to add a metal seqesterant such as Jack's Magic Pink Stuff or Proteam Metal Magic (both excellent) after filling and to keep adding a maintenance dose ever week to every month to keep the metals seqestered (non reactive). Not a big deal really. Most metal sequesterants say to add the maintenance dose weekly but in actual practice adding it every two two to four weeks is usually enough. Start with the weekly dose and then go to every two weeks. If you have no problem then try it every month. If you start to see colored water or staining then just add a normal dose, drop your pH to about 7.0-7.2 and go back to the frequency of dosing that did not have problems. Also, keep tabs on the pH and don't let it climb too high because this could lead to metal staining on your liner. Good news is that is staining happens it is easily treated with ascorbic acid powder.
If you keep the seqesterant in the water and watch the pH you should have no problems!

If your well water already has rust particles suspended in it then filter the water through a prefilter as you fill the pool.

Also, if you have a water softener you migh want to consider filling the pool with softened water and using this for topping off since the iron is effectively removed by the softener. If you do this you will need to add some calcium to bring the level up to about 130 ppm. This is to help prevent foaming and is the only reason you might need calcium in a vinyl pool (soft water foams more readily than hard water).
 
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