Iron stains gone but water still green

[Speedy0701]

This is our third time this summer where the water turns that slight teal green colour and our white walls turn yellow. Did the AA treatment each time, but this is the first time the water remains green. Brought TC to zero, put in some “HTH Extra 60%” algaecide, dumped in the AA and let it circulate until walls were white. Then put in a bottle of “Atlantis Metal Remover” and let it filter for 24h. Then put a Culator in the skimmer and even emptied out about a third of the pool to help eliminate some of the “bad” water and. It’s been 3 days and water colour has not changed one bit. Not worse, but not any better. After reading about 482 threads on here we also filled an old stocking with Polyfill and put that in the skimmer too today. Started to see a few spots of algae on the walls and water is slightly cloudy so we put the SWG back on and have it on the max setting. We also have no idea where the iron is coming from! We are in the suburbs of Montreal with city water (no well). Had the pool installed in 2021 and this is the first summer this happens. Have not been able to find any place here that does proper water testing and the strips we got on Amazon are worthless. How do we get the water blue again, and how can we find the source of this iron?? At this point we are considering converting this thing into a giant vegetable garden thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! You appear to have two problems right now - iron and algae. When that happens, you must treat the algae first via the SLAM Process. You cannot do a SLAM Process without a Taylor K-2006C test kit, or a TF-series test kit if you travel across the border. As you now know, "guess" strips aren't worth the paper they are printed on, and free local testing isn't much better, so you really need your own (proper) test kit. Many things you try to do now could be in vain without one. So treat the algae first, continue with the polyfill as the same time, then move on to the iron after theSLAM Process.

As to the iron specifically, unless you have some rust issues locally, it's got to be the water supply. Some city municipalities simply have an elevated iron content. Do you notice any discoloration in your household porcelain fixtures?

 

[Speedy0701]

Welcome to TFP! You appear to have two problems right now - iron and algae. When that happens, you must treat the algae first via the SLAM Process. You cannot do a SLAM Process without a Taylor K-2006C test kit, or a TF-series test kit if you travel across the border. As you now know, "guess" strips aren't worth the paper they are printed on, and free local testing isn't much better, so you really need your own (proper) test kit. Many things you try to do now could be in vain without one. So treat the algae first, continue with the polyfill as the same time, then move on to the iron after theSLAM Process.

As to the iron specifically, unless you have some rust issues locally, it's got to be the water supply. Some city municipalities simply have an elevated iron content. Do you notice any discoloration in your household porcelain fixtures?

Thanks for the response. We do have a K-2006C kit and have been using it for all water testing. The problem with slamming is that it negates the entire AA/sequester process and it’s a do-over every time. It’s getting frustrating and very expensive Did not notice any discolouration elsewhere in the house but perhaps I’ll call the city and ask about the water. Thanks again

 

[Mdragger88]

When you do the
SLAM Process you can also then use the polyfill to help actually remove the bulk of the iron from the water while it is “showing itself”. 2 birds with 1 stone kinda thing (algae eradication & iron removal)

If you’ve got iron in your fill water, use Polyfill to remove it

EDIT: Found out this method only works if your iron is oxidized already, meaning it’s got a dull or bright green tint to the water, or a nasty brown tint. If you know you have iron in your fill water, but it isn’t oxidized yet, bring your pool to shock level and it’ll turn the telltale green...

www.google.com

Then afterwards you can deal with the stains. Using the AA treatment. You may want to wait to deal with the remaining stains until the water temp is much lower (around 60 degrees) near closing time to help prevent any algae problems from having low fc along with using a polyquat 60 Algaecide at that time as listed in the article.

 

[Speedy0701]

Just had the city come by and perform an iron test on our supply tap water (garden hose) and it read a measly 0.11 ppm, so it is not the source of our iron. Also had the sand in our filter changed a couple weeks ago, in case there was a physical chunk of something stuck in there, so that’s not it either. What on gods green earth is left for us to check? Is there anything worth a look on our 3 yr old Hayward electric heat pump??

 

[Texas Splash]

You can inspect the heater core, but many of them are copper. Perhaps you have a metal water supply line to the house? Remember though, a water (iron) supply or 0.11 doesn't mean your pool will only stay at 0.11. The more water you add each season the more iron will accumulate. The iron never leaves unless you change water. You would lose some for winter prep, but that's all.

 

[Mdragger88]

Have you fertilized your yard? It is not uncommon for that to cause iron staining if it makes it’s way into the pool.
Btw- I have iron staining & my pool & house water tested nill for iron.
Are you catching anything in the polyfill?

 

[Speedy0701]

Have you fertilized your yard? It is not uncommon for that to cause iron staining if it makes it’s way into the pool.
Btw- I have iron staining & my pool & house water tested nill for iron.
Are you catching anything in the polyfill?

No fertilizer. And the Polyfill still looks white. I’ve never used it before, should I be seeing something after 1 day? Or is it because the iron isn’t oxized enough? Or because it’s still sequestered from the metal remover? I’ve read so many things here I can’t keep the chemistry straight anymore

 

[Mdragger88]

Probably both- what’s your fc level?

 

[Speedy0701]

Probably both- what’s your fc level?

Still very low at 2ppm last I checked today. First time slamming too did not realize how much liquid chlorine was needed so we will need to go get more tomorrow.

 

[Mdragger88]

Still very low at 2ppm last I checked today. First time slamming too did not realize how much liquid chlorine was needed so we will need to go get more tomorrow.

Your cya counts as 30 (no in betweens) so slam level fc is 12ppm.
After slam is complete & you confirm you’re algae free you’ll wanna raise your cya to 60-70 range to help your swcg out.

 

[Speedy0701]

Quick update, still slamming with FC at 12.6 and CC at 2.0, but water has definitely begun to clear, I can see the bottom perfectly. But as expected the iron is back in full effect! Walls are mustard yellow, and both the polyfill and Culator are finally picking up some brown stuff. My question is, once the slam is complete, and I do the AA to remove stains, should I immediately to the sequester? Or should I let the polyfill pick up what the AA removes? The polyfill seems less effective when the metal is sequestered, is that an accurate statement?

 

[Texas Splash]

both the polyfill and Culator are finally picking up some brown stuff.

That's good to hear.

My question is, once the slam is complete, and I do the AA to remove stains, should I immediately to the sequester? Or should I let the polyfill pick up what the AA removes? The polyfill seems less effective when the metal is sequestered, is that an accurate statement?

Once you add sequestrant, the iron will be contained in a soluble form so you probably won't see much success with the polyfill, but you can always keep the polyfill in-use just in case. Your best opportunity to physically remove iron is now, during the SLAM.

 

[revitup]

We battled iron staining for 3 seasons, including 3 AA treatments and 2 complete water exchanges. By process of elimination we finally determined that the iron had to be coming from the salt. Finally bit the bullet and used Aquasalt with the last AA treatment and water exchange this past March. So far, no more staining.

 

[jesse-99]

Hmm I never heard of AquaSalt before. 99.9% Pure Sodium Chloride. Where did you buy it from? Direct? or somewhere else? @revitup
Edit: Also what brand salt(s) had you previously been using?

 

[Mdragger88]

@revitup curious to know what salt you used before as well.

 

[revitup]

Hmm I never heard of AquaSalt before. 99.9% Pure Sodium Chloride. Where did you buy it from? Direct? or somewhere else? @revitup
Edit: Also what brand salt(s) had you previously been using?

I got the Aquasalt on Amazon. It was the least expensive I could find but still $24/bag. I know, ouch. Still worth it to me to solve my iron staining issue.
I don’t know all the brands I’ve used in the past. Morton’s for sure, whatever is sold in Lowes and HD too. I used some ice melt from Ace Hardware also, on occasion. Never Clorox.

 

[Speedy0701]

So we finally got the algae under control and have begun the AA treatment again. Pool is crystal blue and I can’t stop staring at it haha! So something dawned on us as we were once again contemplating possible sources of this iron… we have these decorative black rocks right near the pool, along one side, about 2 feet away. I think it’s slate? Those flat black pretty stones… also noticed they have these brown rust like stains all over!! Could this be the source?? Right under our nose all this time?? We’ve had tons of rain lately, which means water probably running off from the rocks in to the pool? Pics attached.

 

[Mdragger88]

So we finally got the algae under control and have begun the AA treatment again. Pool is crystal blue and I can’t stop staring at it haha! So something dawned on us as we were once again contemplating possible sources of this iron… we have these decorative black rocks right near the pool, along one side, about 2 feet away. I think it’s slate? Those flat black pretty stones… also noticed they have these brown rust like stains all over!! Could this be the source?? Right under our nose all this time?? We’ve had tons of rain lately, which means water probably running off from the rocks in to the pool? Pics attached.

While its possible, you would think there’d also be staining on the concrete as well if they were the cause.

 

[Speedy0701]

While its possible, you would think there’d also be staining on the concrete as well if they were the cause.

Hmmm good point. Could the chlorine be the differentiating factor though? Perhaps the rust on the rocks isn’t enough to stain the pavers, but oxydation with chlorine is? In any case, we decided to remove them all! Once the AA treatment completes, we will drain and replace as much water as possible and see what happens. I’ll post back here with any findings. Appreciate everyone’s help!