Iron water - proof Poly-fil works

AndyTN · Mar 18, 2021

I was changing out the Poly-fil in my pvc pipe contraption and thought I would share the color of the Poly-fil to show it really does capture the iron. The brown that is constantly on my vinyl liner is very concentrated into the Poly-fil. The one clump which is kind of white was brown like the rest before I cleaned it with ascorbic acid in a cup of water. This took about a week to get this color and I have filled up my contraption with new Poly-fil to change out weekly.

Texas Splash · Mar 18, 2021

You're a pro at this Andy. :goodjob:

ghall6292 · Mar 31, 2021

Hi Andy. Just came across this thread. I'd like to learn more about your "contraption," as we, too have iron well water as a fill source. My sister lives in town and has chlorinated city water, and I have been considering hauling water (275 gallons at a time) in a container designed for that purpose when I need to add water. It takes about 300 gallons to raise my pool 1", so I'm thinking your solution might give me an option. Thanks!

AndyTN · Apr 5, 2021

ghall6292 said:
Hi Andy. Just came across this thread. I'd like to learn more about your "contraption," as we, too have iron well water as a fill source. My sister lives in town and has chlorinated city water, and I have been considering hauling water (275 gallons at a time) in a container designed for that purpose when I need to add water. It takes about 300 gallons to raise my pool 1", so I'm thinking your solution might give me an option. Thanks!

Here it is. I am not yet ready to go to the patent office because I would change a few things if I was building it again. I would go shorter and fatter as I used about 7 feet of 2-in PVC pipe and the Poly-fil ends up getting compressed, slowing down the flow rate. I would use at least 3-in pipe and only make it 5 feet long. Drill all your holes at the very end of the pipe as you can see from my picture, the water isn't making it past the first several inches of holes so there is a decent amount of Poly-fil in the end of the pipe not getting water flow.

I put the threaded coupling in the middle and the threaded cap on the end, which both make it much easier to remove the compressed Poly-fil when changing out. I originally thought I would just hook this up to one of my 1.5-in threaded returns to run off my main pump but this was too much pressure once the Poly-fil compressed in the pipe. I then added more attachments at the beginning to hook up to a 3/4" garden hose which is hooked up to my booster pump line. Many of the attachments where the hose hooks up are unnecessary due to my trial and error. Once the PVC cement is glued, there is no removing attachments.

The key to iron absorption with the Poly-fil is a high flow rate. You could even buy a cheap submersible pump made for a fish tank at 800-1000 gallons per hour instead of trying to hook up to your pump. The high pressure from the main pump compresses the Poly-fil which then slows down flow rate.

There are other designs on TFP if you do some searching.

ghall6292 · Apr 5, 2021

Thanks. Looks good. I'm gonna take your lead and build the newer version you mentioned. Just so happens I have one of the portable submersible pumps in the 1,600 gallon/hr. range that I use to drain water from my winter cover. Appreciate the help; thanks again!

AndyTN · Apr 14, 2021

ghall6292 said:
Thanks. Looks good. I'm gonna take your lead and build the newer version you mentioned. Just so happens I have one of the portable submersible pumps in the 1,600 gallon/hr. range that I use to drain water from my winter cover. Appreciate the help; thanks again!

How us this working out for you? I just changed out my poly-fil again with the same brown results, just not as dark as the first time. I'm still getting minor staining on my fiberglass steps but the rest of the pool looks good. My steps are always the first to stain so it doesn't worry me.

If you are using a wider PVC pipe than me, your poly-fil should not get as compressed as mine. I found a easy trick to get the compressed poly-fil out of the PVC pipe. I took a 2 foot dowel rod and duct taped a 1/2 inch drill bit to the end. Put the dowel rod in my drill and then drilled into the poly-fil. The sharp edges on the drill bit get caught in the polyfill and then you just pull it right out.

ghall6292 · Apr 14, 2021

Actually Andy, I just drained water off the cover today in preparation to begin opening. My water temp at 2' depth is not quite 50 degrees right now. Possible snow flurries tomorrow.

I have the pieces ready to put my poly filter together, just haven't gotten to it yet. I'll have it ready for my first needed water top-off for sure. I like your drill bit tip. Sounds easy and not much trouble.

On a plus note, due to all the snow we got this year, my winter cover held enough iron-free water to completely top off my pool today with enough extra to complete my opening backwash. I simply duct taped a filter sock over my portable utility pump intake and another over the end of an attached 6' piece of garden hose, and transferred "double-filtered" (sorta) water under the cover and into the pool. When I pulled back my cover a few feet, my pool water was crystal clear, both before and after my addition. I'll get my first water sample shortly, and begin the TFP process for another season.

If you come across anything else to make your gadget better, let me know. Usually I'm the guinea pig! LOL

Take care and be safe.