Is this a pool or a swamp? Help

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Mopar4u

Mopar4u

Well-known member
May 24, 2021
48
Wisconsin
Pool Size
7000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
1st time doing the pool thing. Forced to use well water which we already knew is full of iron from our culligan tests. I have a 18’ x 48 intex with 10” intex sand filter. No chemicals have been added yet. Sand filter is running non stop with 3 a day backwashes. The picture is before it was completely filled. 24 hours afterwards not much change. Will the filter eventually take care of this? Any pool chemical at local walmart that will help (?clorox DE media and filter aid?). Head to pool store for testing asap? Should i panic?
 

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Hey Mopar and Welcome !! Looks like the filter has its work cut out for it. I would let it sit with the pump off for a few days and see if the bulk of the crud settles for easy vacuuming.

add 5 PPM of chlorine daily per the pool math app and stir by hand with the pool brush. Whatever you stir up off the bottom should settle relatively quickly a second time.

Sand filters take the longest to filter out large amounts of crud (But once it’s clean it will do just fine keeping it that way). You can add some DE to the skimmer to speed things along but you’ll need to babysit the filter and backwash when it rises 25% psi. Which will be quick due to the DE speeding things along.

then see this for the iron Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading
 
i also have the original cartridge filter that came with the pool along with plenty of hoses and valves. Any advantage to running both the cartridge and sand filter at the same time or will both become less efficient?
 
Mopar4u said:
Any advantage to running both the cartridge and sand filter at the same time or will both become less efficient?
Click to expand...
Any benefit is wiped out by the extra flow restrictions, moving less water to be filtered. A bigger filter is always king, and only because it needs to be cleaned less often. They all work just fine for what we need them to do.

Now, If you found or borrowed a 2nd pump.....😁
 
*edit. Just realized you have the Intex cartridge filter. They are notoriously undersized and more comparable to a hot tub filter. People need to clean them many times a day in this scenario and it ends up giving cartridges a bad name when they switch to a larger filter of a different style.

Don’t even waste your time trying to find a spare pump.
 
If you had a bigger filter and a separate pump to have 2 complete systems, then yes it would help.

2 filters on one pump, ( and *especially* the Intex small cartridge ) won’t help any.
 

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Don't worry - there is definitely hope. I have a 27' AG pool I also filled from my iron rich well 2 years ago. The water went in crystal clear. A few hours after adding chlorine for the initial SLAM - it turned into chocolate milk. Polyfil in the skimmer basket and vacuuming the sediment off the bottom had it cleared up in about a week. I go thru a mini version of the same thing each spring when I have to top the pool back up - just finished up yesterday actually. Assuming you don't have a skimmer basket - but take a look at this post: If you’ve got iron in your fill water, use Polyfill to remove it

Edit: just re-read and noticed you said you didn't add any chemicals yet.. could be a little bit different issue than mine then as mine was fine until the chlorine oxidized the iron... so maybe Polyfill isn't the solution yet here.
 
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So i talked to my direct neighbor who has done AG pools for 4 years now. He’s not an expert but has experience. He said his water comes out the same as mine when he fills. He said he simply runs the sand filter 24/7 without any chemicals added and it eventually clears up in about a week.
 
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No offense to the advice given about turn pumps off for a few days and vacuum but i decided to stick to my plan of filtering 24/7 and if after 7 days it wasnt better i would try no pumps and vacuum. Im happy to report it is getting better, i can actually see bottom.😀 still have a bit to go though.

as expected i see staining. I still havent added any chemicals or had water tested. My questions are mostly around order of operation:

1. When should i shock and how much? I have 4 gallons of liquid chlorinator.

2. What do i use for stain removal and when do i use it?

3. When should i get my water tested?
 

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I filled from a well too. Last year I used an RV filter inline with my hose and it got all the iron. This year that didn't do the trick and pool water turned yellow when I added chlorine. I wanted to cry! But then I remembered reading about the sock method. Search for videos on youtube. I did it and it literally cleared my water in a day! Basically you put two regular tube socks (one inside the other) on the return jet. You can see the rust accumulate on the sock in a matter of minutes! Keep the pump running and keep rinsing out the socks. Yours might take a little longer to clear, but I'm sure it will. It was so easy! Like magic!!
 
Mopar4u said:
No offense to the advice given about turn pumps off for a few days and vacuum but i decided to stick to my plan of filtering 24/7 and if after 7 days it wasnt better i would try no pumps and vacuum
Click to expand...
None taken !!! You need to filter and settle. Try one, try the other. Some sort of combo will get it all. (y)
Mopar4u said:
1. When should i shock and how much? I have 4 gallons of liquid chlorinator.

3. When should i get my water tested?
Click to expand...
What are we doing about a reliable test kit ? You’ll need it frequently and besides the pool store being unreliable, they won’t be open and right there when you need to test.
Mopar4u said:
2. What do i use for stain removal and when do i use it?
Click to expand...
Rub Vitamin C tablets on the stains. (AA/Absorbic Acid). It’s small enough to just do it by hand.
 
So far all i have are test strips that someone gave me, i havent procured the recommended kit yet, been crazy busy fixing everyone else’s stuff.

can i use proteam metal magic?
 
Newdude said:
Hey @mguzzy !!! Cleanup on aisle 3

(he’s awesome at this part)
Click to expand...
OK, ok.. I am on my way!
cleaning up mr clean GIF by ADWEEK
 
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Mopar4u said:
So far all i have are test strips that someone gave me, i havent procured the recommended kit yet, been crazy busy fixing everyone else’s stuff.

can i use proteam metal magic?
Click to expand...
You MoPar.. I haven't ordered MOtor PARts in a while... not since the family Chrysler Station Wagon was on my fix it watch.

So Yeah, you got Iron... I assume you confirmed this with a VitaminC test. there are three ways to get rid of it
1) Filter it (using a polyfill filter)
2) Drain it-and then refill your water
3) Sequester it... well this just hides it.

For option one, So when the water is in the Brown/Green state the iron is in a form that can be filtered. Try putting a some Polyfill (essentially synthetic pillow stuffing) in your skimmer basket. The iron will cling to the fibers and you can rinse and repeat to get the iron out. Or make a big filter like in the link below.

Option two works if you have a clean source of water which you don't. So that is out. The procedure for this one is to use Ascorbic Acid (vitaminC) to clean off the surfaces, then a sequestrant to bind the iron and then drain it out of the pool.

Option three: Most sequestrants will just bind to the iron but it is still in the water. so when the sequestrant beaks down, the iron is released back into the water. So it just hides it. There are a few (I should say two) that claim to remove the iron from the water by creating a crystalline byproduct with the iron that is filterable. Metal Magic is one of them and the one I used in this thread:

What I thought were old iron stains on my cartridge filters, is iron my water!

Hi all Amazingly I found no posts on the forum about this. So I was the victim of the dreaded Iron contaminated Clorox Pool Salt about 3 seasons ago. Apparently it was worse than I thought. There is a nice darker area in my mottled dark plaster in the deep end from salt additions from that...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Here is some other water closet reading material for you while you are waiting for your test kit to arrive. :

Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

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.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

And while we are at it:
Test Kits Compared
Here.. blatant product plug, get this one.
tftestkits.net

TF-Pro Salt

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net
Or the one without salt if you don't have a SWG.
 
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