red water?

[karmazrevenge]

Hi y'all. On top of dealing with my pool's algae bloom, my neighbor just filled her pool and asked me for my help with it. I'm a second year pool owner and the first to tell you I know nada except what I've learned here.
My neighbor does actually have a good test kit (tft), so I trust the results, which are:
FC 4
CC 0
Ph 7.8
TA 100
CYA 45
CH?

What has me stumped is that her water is crystal clear, but reddish brown. Almost looks like someone poured iodine in it. Both of us filled our pools with our wells, and mine didn't do that. Also, the water she runs in her house isn't red, so I don't think it's our nasty red clay tinting it.
She has an agp, not sure what size, but it's round.

Any ideas what is causing this?

 

[BoDarville]

The reddish brown you are seeing is most likely iron (Fe) which is common in well water. However, even though you both filled your pools with well water, the iron content can vary. BTW, don't be surprised if the water turn greenish when chlorine is first added.

A metal sequestrant can be used to deal with the iron. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the best. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff (regular), The Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and The Purple Stuff (salt) are some of the top sequestrants. Note that sequestrants do not remove the iron. Instead, it binds to the metals and prevents them from depositing as stains. Since sequestrants slowly break down in the pool, periodic additions are necessary to maintain the correct level. In addition to the sequestrants, another step you can take to reduce the chances of any stains forming is to lower the pH down to around 7.2 to 7.4.

 

[DKT113]

I am not a pool professional but I work daily with water in my line of work. Reddish water for me usually means metals.

I had to put (2) wells in at a prior house I owned. Red for me was there was iron. I then put a second well in a went deeper hitting a lower vein that supplied better water.

You and her both could fill from a well and even being neighbors be on different veins and have very different types of water. That's determined by where you drill and how deep you go.


The pool experts will jump in and be able to assist just wanted to share that being neighbors, both using wells ~ you are most likely on different veins and will have different water. They do make a product to sequester (it doesn't remove the metal, it just binds it). I know this because when we put our pool in last year they started me on Pristine Blue, which turned my daughter's hair a not so pristine green & I immediately found this place. I had the initial dose of copper in that water & I did use a product to sequester it and switched to the BBB method.

 

[JohnT]

Though iron is the most likely answer, sometimes you can get some dirt when you pump a lot of water out of a well. It's more likely from a shallower well. If you know how deep both wells are, you may be able to figure out if they are getting the same water or a different flow.

 

[Isaac-1]

Depending on the geology of where you live, water well depth, etc. wells that are located very close to each other can have very different mineral levels.

 

[karmazrevenge]

Will using sequestrants take away the red tint, or just prevent it from staining?

 

[zea3]

Have a sample of the water tested for metals. If it is metals your neighbor will need to add an initial dose of sequestrant. As water gets replaced due to evaporation and splash out they will need to add additional doses of sequestrant to be effective. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective. The sequestrant will remove the red tint from the water.