Yes, I plan on doing another round of vacuuming tomorrow morning. I am testing, replenishing FC and brushing the floor & walls each morning. My FC has been at least 20 each time I have tested over the past week which should be sufficient based on my CYA so I don't believe I am dipping below this mark during the day. Does FC test also need to be tested at room temperature? I have been doing that as soon as I collect the water sample when the sample is probably 45 degrees if I had to guess. Also, yes we have well water.
Pool Is Green With High Chlorine Reading
- Thread starter jonathan8610
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- Jun 1, 2018
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The fc test isn’t affected by the cold water - all good there
i am a little concerned that you may have iron in your water that’s causing the green to persist because it has oxidized due to the high fc.
It wouldn’t really have anything to do with the cloudiness (that’s algae/hopefully mostly dead algae at this point) and sand filters are the slowest to clear the smaller particles so cloudines is to be expected for a little bit.
To test the iron theory you can put some polyfill (pillow stuffing/stuffed animal guts)
in your skimmer to see if you catch any iron whilst at slam fc levels.
I think you are probably right in regards to the iron. I've noticed some rust on my pump basket and vacuum. I did notice this last year as well but never had this problem. Maybe when I filled the pool up some more was added through the well water and it precipitated when I SLAMed the pool. I could still do the PolyFill test, but not sure how to do it.The fc test isn’t affected by the cold water - all good there
i am a little concerned that you may have iron in your water that’s causing the green to persist because it has oxidized due to the high fc.
It wouldn’t really have anything to do with the cloudiness (that’s algae/hopefully mostly dead algae at this point) and sand filters are the slowest to clear the smaller particles so cloudines is to be expected for a little bit.
To test the iron theory you can put some polyfill (pillow stuffing/stuffed animal guts)
in your skimmer to see if you catch any iron whilst at slam fc levels.
I attached a few more photos. If there is iron in the water, what are the solutions? In the past, I have used a combination of Metal Magic & adding DE to the sand filter to catch and filter out the metals, so I suppose I can do that again. I would assume I need to continue to SLAM the pool until I am sure all of the algae is gone and then lower my FC and try using Metal Magic again.
I tested the FC & CC in the pool this morning and the FC was 17 and CC was 0.5, so I think I am making progress in terms of eliminating the algae but the cloudiness is throwing me off a bit.
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- Jun 1, 2018
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You literally just rip open a pillow/stuffed animal & put the polyfill in the skimmer. You can use a skimmer sock to keep it together if you want.
While you’re at slam level & it has precipitated out it’s your chance to catch it & remove it from the pool.
You can also buy a bag of polyfill for like $4 at Walmart
While you’re at slam level & it has precipitated out it’s your chance to catch it & remove it from the pool.
You can also buy a bag of polyfill for like $4 at Walmart
- Jun 1, 2018
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Metal magic is a sequestrant - it just “hides” the iron & will prevent you from catching it with the polyfill & removing it from your water.
Sequestrant also has the potential to cloud the water even more so I would hold off on that as it would do you no favors there.
While they claim it allows you to catch it in your filter that function is iffy at best. Its main function is to hide the metal & to continue doing so you must replenish the sequestrant with maintenance doses (metal magic is monthly) as fc breaks it down. Some with very light staining also note that it lifts them.
I wouldn’t use Metal magic or any sequestrant until you’ve caught all you can catch via the polyfill and the slam is complete. You can just rinse the polyfill out with the hose as it gets dirty with iron.
www.google.com
www.troublefreepool.com
Sequestrant also has the potential to cloud the water even more so I would hold off on that as it would do you no favors there.
While they claim it allows you to catch it in your filter that function is iffy at best. Its main function is to hide the metal & to continue doing so you must replenish the sequestrant with maintenance doses (metal magic is monthly) as fc breaks it down. Some with very light staining also note that it lifts them.
I wouldn’t use Metal magic or any sequestrant until you’ve caught all you can catch via the polyfill and the slam is complete. You can just rinse the polyfill out with the hose as it gets dirty with iron.
Sequestrant - Further Reading
www.google.com
Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
That makes sense, I will try that approach.Metal magic is a sequestrant - it just “hides” the iron & will prevent you from catching it with the polyfill & removing it from your water.
Sequestrant also has the potential to cloud the water even more so I would hold off on that as it would do you no favors there.
While they claim it allows you to catch it in your filter that function is iffy at best. Its main function is to hide the metal & to continue doing so you must replenish the sequestrant with maintenance doses (metal magic is monthly) as fc breaks it down. Some with very light staining also note that it lifts them.
I wouldn’t use Metal magic or any sequestrant until you’ve caught all you can catch via the polyfill and the slam is complete. You can just rinse the polyfill out with the hose as it gets dirty with iron.
Sequestrant - Further Reading
Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading
I ordered some PolyFil and it should be here tomorrow. In the meantime, I am continuing the SLAM process. While the pool is still green (assuming from the iron in the water), should I continue until it the water clarity is perfect before doing the OCLT? It is still somewhat cloudy near the middle of the pool so I am assuming that is algae and not metals in the water? CC reading is 0.5 as of this morning.
reggiehammond
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Yes - wise to continue with SLAM until you really feel like clarity has improved.
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Yes, I have kept the FC at SLAM level. I checked the PolyFil after a day of running the filter and it certainly caught a lot of bugs and debris but I did not notice any metal staining. I'll continue running the filter but any idea how long it typically takes for the PolyFil to catch the metal that has precipitated in the water?
- Jun 1, 2018
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If precipitated iron is your problem (the reason for the green water) it will become obvious after a day or two on the polyfill.
**Polyfill will not catch copper.
Has the pool color gotten any better?
Keep slamming until you get to Crystal clear water (even if it is a color).
Have you ever used copper containg chemicals in your pool?
Chlorine products that say xtra blue, 4 in 1 etc., algaecides?
If you’re passing the oclt & have time to babysit the filter you can add a little de the filter to help catch the finer particles which are causing the cloudiness.
Here’s the guide for that
Add DE to a Sand Filter
A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
www.google.com
It can take a month to clear a swamp especially if you got a slow start at clearing all the debris out and only maintaining slam level a couple times a day.
We’ve seen many long slams that look like yours & somewhat suspected metals but they suddenly turned blue overnight. Patience is key. Hang in there & Keep going
If you get to Crystal clear water with no recurring algae dead or alive & passing oclt & its still green tinted then we’ll pursue more avenues with metals aside from polyfill.
Pool color has not changed much. Looks similar to my previous photos. I have not used copper containing chemicals in the pool, but just figured it could potentially be a metal contained the well water I suppose. I will get some DE to use for the sand filter to see if that helps with the cloudiness. The water is clear for the most part but not 100%. Just not sure whether it is live or dead algae, but have been on SLAM for almost 3 weeks now so figure it is likely dead. I'll stick with the current process and see if any progress is made over the next few days before figuring out next steps.If precipitated iron is your problem (the reason for the green water) it will become obvious after a day or two on the polyfill.
**Polyfill will not catch copper.
Has the pool color gotten any better?
Keep slamming until you get to Crystal clear water (even if it is a color).
Have you ever used copper containg chemicals in your pool?
Chlorine products that say xtra blue, 4 in 1 etc., algaecides?
If you’re passing the oclt & have time to babysit the filter you can add a little de the filter to help catch the finer particles which are causing the cloudiness.
Here’s the guide for that
Add DE to a Sand Filter
A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
It can take a month to clear a swamp especially if you got a slow start at clearing all the debris out and only maintaining slam level a couple times a day.
We’ve seen many long slams that look like yours & somewhat suspected metals but they suddenly turned blue overnight. Patience is key. Hang in there & Keep going
If you get to Crystal clear water with no recurring algae dead or alive & passing oclt & its still green tinted then we’ll pursue more avenues with metals aside from polyfill.
Here’s what we’re looking at after running for a few days. Not sure if that is iron or something else? I also bought some DE to add to the sand filter. I will add some after passing OCLT. My question is since it will cause the PSI to increase fairly quickly and I’ll likely need to backwash soon after, does it make sense to add it when it is almost time to backwash or is it best to add it after it’s already been backwashed?
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Just an update, the pool water clarity has improved but water is still a light green. I need to check my PolyFil to see if it has caught any more of the iron. My last post had the results through yesterday. I'll perform an OCLT at some point this weekend to confirm SLAM is complete. Will the DE help remove any precipitated metal in the water? Trying to plan next steps in terms of how to either remove the metal (through PolyFil/DE) or potentially sequester with something like Metal Magic at this point.
- Jun 1, 2018
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You add it after backwashing- enough to increase psi by 1# over clean pressure.
Its all in the guide in post #33.
You should be around to check it incase it rises quickly to your normal backwash psi (25% over clean pressure)
Doesn’t look like iron in the polyfill but no harm keeping it in there a while.
Some iron can be trapped & removed via your filter/de - how much is really a toss up.
High fc eats up your expensive sequesterant so hold off on that until slam is done & fc is down at normal levels.
May seem silly but I must ask….
Have you confirmed that you’re reaching slam level for your cya or are you assuming you reached it?
I'll keep the PolyFil in there to see if it catches anything. I did order some Metal Magic because after SLAM is complete (and water clarity is perfect), I plan on bringing down the FC to around 3ppm (since that is the minimum per my CYA of 40) and adding 2 bottles of Metal Magic. I have used it a few years ago with good results so hoping that along with DE will help since that was successful for me previously.
Yes, I have been testing each AM and have been adding enough to keep my FC slightly above SLAM level as a bit of a buffer since I have not had time to test multiple times per day. I do feel the water clarity is continuing to improve but the water is still a light green. I am pretty confident there is oxidized metal that has precipitated in the water that is preventing the water from turning blue.
- Jun 1, 2018
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- 26000
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When you return home & test again what is your fc level? If you could get 3 doses a day in if it all possible it would probably help things along more quickly.
Am before work, as soon as you get home, then before bed as an example.
While higher fc does consume a bit of the sequestrant being in target range for your cya when applying it shouldn’t cause an issue. I wouldn’t go below min to use it
Am before work, as soon as you get home, then before bed as an example.
While higher fc does consume a bit of the sequestrant being in target range for your cya when applying it shouldn’t cause an issue. I wouldn’t go below min to use it
I tested last night and this morning and both readings were at 19 FC and 0.5 CC. So I believe based on this I passed the OCLT and was thinking of letting the FC drop to normal levels and trying a metal sequestrant solution, since I have not had success with PolyFil unfortunately.
In the meantime, I will try the DE for the sand filter as well to see how that helps. The water clarity has improved, but the water is still green and has not changed in that regard over the past few weeks. I'm assuming the green color is from precipitated metals in the water. The Metal Magic should arrive this week. It says to bring the pH up to 7.5 which is higher than I have currently. I haven't tested pH during the SLAM, but will do so when FC is down to regular levels for my CYA and bring up my pH to that level.
The Metal Magic does say to bring FC down to 1-3 but based on the FC/CYA chart, my FC range should be 5-7. Is it OK to use the Metal Magic at those levels? I know higher FC levels cause the product to not work effectively, but wondering if 5-7 will be high enough to cause the product to not work. I wanted to see what everyone thinks prior to adding to pool.