Removing iron stains

[AlphaMare101]

I have metal stains on my fiberglass pool steps & at the water line. I have citric acid to remove the stains. I have to drain approx. 1/2 of my pool water due to REALLY high CYA. Could I go ahead & treat for metal stains before draining my pool? I think stains came from rust on the ladder, which has been replaced. Should I add metal out after the citric acid & then drain the pool or wait until refill & then treat?
Thanks,

 

[Richard320]

I have metal stains on my fiberglass pool steps & at the water line. I have citric acid to remove the stains. I have to drain approx. 1/2 of my pool water due to REALLY high CYA. Could I go ahead & treat for metal stains before draining my pool? I think stains came from rust on the ladder, which has been replaced. Should I add metal out after the citric acid & then drain the pool or wait until refill & then treat?
Thanks,

I would remove the stains and drain to be rid of the metal. Be sure you use an algaecide before the treatment, so you don't get an algae bloom while it's low on FC. The metal will still be in solution while you're draining so I, personally, would hold off and add the metal out into the refill water. I see no reason to pour expensive chemicals in only to drain them out again.

But then again, I've never had to deal with metals, so I'm just guessing.

 

[JasonLion]

Keep in mind that fully draining a vinyl liner pool is not a good idea. Depending on the age of the liner it will either need to be reset, or if older replaced. There can also be ground water issues if the water table is above the bottom of the pool.

 

[AlphaMare101]

Richard, your advice sounds logical... wait for the refill to add sequestrate. I'm just not sure if the citric acid will keep stains off long enough to complete the draining of 20k gallons of water. any input?
Jason,
The end of the drain hose is about 2-3 feet below my pool & the "lay of the land" continues down hill from there. I think I will still drain slowly over a few days as we do have under ground springs. I have drained 21 inches & will stop at that for now .Not sure exactly how much I will end up draining , as I am waiting for my test kits to arrive to confirm actual CYA level. If 100 was the true level, the I should drain 30%(6 ft av depth) per pool calculator. My bet is I'll have to drain at least that much more due to the massive amounts of dichlor (110lbs) we have put in this season( pool stored :grrrr: ) But now we know.. expensive lesson learned.
But now that we've found you guys & my replacement SWG cell is on it's way( warranty covered 100%), I know we can do this!!

 

[AlphaMare101]

I had to drain 1/2 of my water due to high CYA, so I figured I'd first try citric acid to remove metal stains on my steps. I added 1cup twice, 30min apart. thru the skimmer basket with the pump on recirculate. In between, I sprinkled the steps several times. I used a total of 10lbs of food grade citric acid( $15.00 on ebay) for the whole process. It did successfully remove all but a couple of VERY faint stains that are not noticeable. I didn't lower the chlorine level(FC 9), but I did lower the PH to 7.0. After the stains lifted, I added 2 bottles of metal free. Then I drained 1/2 the water over 3hours. Next, I refilled overnight & began the shock process the following morning.The stains have not returned with FC held at 30 for 2 days now!

 

[duraleigh]

Can we have Happy Hour at your place to see the beautiful new pool? We'll need lot's of free beer, of course

Seriously, that is VERY nice work!

 

[jpfuse]

I had to drain 1/2 of my water due to high CYA, so I figured I'd first try citric acid to remove metal stains on my steps. I added 1cup twice, 30min apart. thru the skimmer basket with the pump on recirculate. In between, I sprinkled the steps several times. I used a total of 10lbs of food grade citric acid( $15.00 on ebay) for the whole process. It did successfully remove all but a couple of VERY faint stains that are not noticeable. I didn't lower the chlorine level(FC 9), but I did lower the PH to 7.0. After the stains lifted, I added 2 bottles of metal free. Then I drained 1/2 the water over 3hours. Next, I refilled overnight & began the shock process the following morning.The stains have not returned with FC held at 30 for 2 days now!

this is exactly what i am planning to do also. i am very happy to hear how successful is was for you. hope i have the same results.