Pool Opening with high Iron

[RookWDW]

Hey all,

Last two years I had a company open the pool up, but they never dealt with the iron in our water. This year I'd like to do it myself to get it right. We have high iron in our pool from prior years. Last year we had it filled from a truck that supposedly has no iron, but I'm not convinced of that. So, I just want to lay out what I think the order is here. I also have some light iron staining on the white parts of the stairs, skimmer, etc. Not terrible, but now's the time to deal with it. I just want to avoid the two week fight with brown water I dealt with the last two years when the pool company added a bunch of chlorine without addressing the iron.

Open pool late April / early May while it's still cool out.
Day 1. Set up equipment, get trucked in water, start filter / circulation, vacuum, brush, etc.
Day 1. Add some polyquat to prevent algae for the first several days when there is no chlorine.
Day 1. Add salt as necessary.
Day 1. Treat with Ascorbic Acid around the stains.
Day 2. Add some sequestrant agent to lock in whatever iron is in the water.
Day 2. Watch and adjust PH.
Day 2. Adjust stabilizer as necessary.
Day 3 or 4. Once PH, ALK, CYA are good, start to very slowly add liquid chlorine upto 5 / 7 PPM per the FC/CYA chart.

Right?

Hopefully there is no algae to deal with, but if there is do I SLAM on Day 1? Then when finished drop the FC and do the acid treatment? Or SLAM once the acid and sequestrant steps are finished, wait a week or two for the sequestrant to stabilize, then very slowly raise FC to SLAM levels?

OR ....

Do I say f___ it, SLAM right away, let it turn brown, and use a filter for a couple of weeks while its still too cold to swim to try and get some of that iron out?

 

[Texas Splash]

You have a good plan. If you do have algae, hold on any sequestrant and treat that first. During the SLAM, consider packing the skimmer with polyfill which might help capture iron particles to make life easier on your later.

 

[RookWDW]

You have a good plan. If you do have algae, hold on any sequestrant and treat that first. During the SLAM, consider packing the skimmer with polyfill which might help capture iron particles to make life easier on your later.

Thanks. I have a five gallon bucket filled with polyfill rigged to a submersible pump I used before that did seem to help. Albeit very slowly and it's a pain to get the polyfill out to rinse without dumping the iron back into the pool. The DE filter seemed to capture a bit too.

 

[RookWDW]

Weather here is going to be in the mid to upper 70s this week. Then back down to upper 50s lower 60s next, and likely another cold week or two before the weather breaks for the season. I think I'll need to open my pool this week then, right?

 

[Texas Splash]

I think I'll need to open my pool this week then, right?

Once you are past any freeze concerns, the sooner the better we always say.

 

[RookWDW]

Once you are past any freeze concerns, the sooner the better we always say.

I assume a random night or two below 32 is okay so long as the filer is running 24/7, right? Every year in late April / early May we will have at least one cold snap with snow.

 

[Texas Splash]

I assume a random night or two below 32 is okay so long as the filer is running 24/7, right?

Correct

 

[RookWDW]

And, the pool is filled with water again. The water level was low down to the top of the lights, which I'm sure means a leak behind the lights, again.

I added Polyquat and ascorbic acid, got the system up and running (SWG unplugged), vacuumed (but not brushed as my brushed was left out and is now trash), and I'm letting it mix a bit. I think I'll turn on the heater to set it low, like 65 just to protect against any cold nights.

It had a layer of dirt on the liner that I mostly got up and I put an auto vacuum in to mix it up a bit. It's a bit cloudy, I'm not sure if that is from the chemicals I added, just normal for opening the pool with the dirt on the bottom, or sign of algae. It's not green at all, just a tinge cloudy. Unless you guys think cloudy = algae = slam, I'll add the metal magic shortly.

I have yet to test to water, but I'm sure the ph is low from the AA and Polyquat.

 

[RookWDW]

Update: added the Metal Magic around 6:00 PM yesterday. Pool is crystal today. Few more hours and I'll start slowly adding a half gallon of chlorine and turn the SWG on low.

FC - 0
CC - 0
pH - 7.3
Alk - 150
Calc - 150
CYA - 0
Salt - 1800 (per test - not SWG)
Temp 70

My alk was always a bit high last year. Adding CYA now, and in a bit liquid chlorine.

 

[RookWDW]

Well, tis time again in the north. Had the water trucked in yesterday, 13,500 gallons to my 25,000 gallon pool. I continue to have a leak during the winter behind the lights as the water level stops right at the halfway point of the lights. I'll fix that once the water get's warmed up. Added a bottle of Polyquat 60 and some ascorbic acid to clear up a slight bit of staining, got it vacuumed and running. I have the salt ready (the SWG is currently off) and liquid chlorine ready and some metal magic.

I have not tested most of the chemistry yet, but I'm sure there is zero FC, low pH, high Alk, and low CYA. I'll added CYA today.

My question is: I have an issue with calcium flakes clogging my heater tubes, and then blowing into the pool. Last year it clogged enough that my pump was overheating. Doing some reading here and online it sounds like a possible culprit might be high phosphates depositing in the heater. As usual, my phosphates are sky high (not terrible at around 2600 compared to in the past it was 10k). I'm debating doing a phosphate treatment with Seaklear, and once it's filtered out and clear again adding the Metal Magic and chlorine. I'm planning to add less metal magic and hope that three years of trucking in water is reducing the iron and hoping the city water doesn't have iron in it.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan? If so, how long does Polyquat work, i.e. how long can I reasonably go without chlorine, if I keep the autocover closed and the temp lower (60ish)?

Or.... do I get the FC up first, then add the PR, and then slowly add some metal magic once the PR process is finish, assuming of course adding chlorine doesn't turn everything brown (please God)..

ETA: The water is crystal clear and was clear when I opened it yesterday, save some leaves and dirt on the bottom.