Copper source? Hair turning green

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Nfrisa

Active member
Aug 18, 2023
26
Baton rouge
I have a 6 month old plaster pool
Salt water generator
Hayward Cupro nickle heater

For the first few months I didn’t have any issues with green hair. In the past month my daughter has green hair. I’m trying to identify the source. I’ve never added algaecide.

I did add a brass valve and a small copper fitting in two of my water pots to even the water flow out of the pot. My question is… is the small copper fitting (probably 1 inch) enough to cause high enough copper levels for green hair? Is the brass valve a problem if I remove the copper fitting? Or do I need to look for another source?

All tests with Taylor drop kit
Salt 4000
FC 5
CYA 100
Alk 110
CH 360
PH 7.8
Borates 40
 

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duraleigh said:
I assume you are not using any other source for chlorine but your SWG?

I doubt that brass and copper fitting has anything to do with it so there has to be another source.
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For the first couple of months I used bleach and liquid chlorine until the SWG was up and running.

I can’t think of any other source. That’s what I’m struggling with. All pipes are PVC. My chemistry has never been out of whack enough to cause some sort of corrosion in the heater. I’m at a loss. Before I pull the copper fitting out I wanted to get some opinions.
 
More detail the better. Be sure to look at some of ours. If on a mobile device, turn it sideways to see it.

You do not show any mineral ionizers, etc.

Does your daughter swim in any other pools?
 
JamesW said:
Can you pull the filter cartridges to see if they have any turquoise color?
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I can but it will be a few days before I can get to it. I did notice a very light turquoise stain on the concrete where the heater discharges liquid when it is running. If that is condensate I am not really sure how it would contain what I am assuming is copper.

I don't think the shampoo has copper, my daughter is 6 years old and uses a basic kids shampoo. She swam in other pools every day last summer and never has green hair using the same shampoo.

Does everyone agree that the small copper fitting wouldn't add copper to the pool?
 

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This may be the one time it might be beneficial to have the pool store test your water for metals.
You only need a metals test - and don't buy any magic potions there either.
 
proavia said:
This may be the one time it might be beneficial to have the pool store test your water for metals.
You only need a metals test - and don't buy any magic potions there either.
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So I used a LaMotte copper drop test and got 0.15ppm copper currently.

I looked back at a Leslie’s test I had done 2 months ago prior to adding the copper fittings and it read copper as 0.4ppm

So I’m at a loss as to what caused the green hair. Can I assume the LaMotte test is accurate? And should I attempt to lower the copper level? 0.15ppm seems like it shouldn’t be a problem but maybe I need zero.
 
Plumbing Newb Mistake - you have brass fittings connected to a cast iron T fitting on the PVC. That arrangement will cause a galvanic couple to form and the iron Tee will eventually corrode away. That entire setup needs to be plumbed in PVC, no metals. Not sure what that black contraption is but the threaded part of it looks to be metallic … possibly aluminum? That is also connected to a brass fitting causing a galvanic couple.

It doesn’t take much corrosion for the brass fitting to emit copper into the water. Since you don’t have issues with low pH then your heat exchanger is probably fine unless you have some weird acid injection setup or your pouring chems into the skimmer.

Make sure your equipment is properly bonded.
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
Plumbing Newb Mistake - you have brass fittings connected to a cast iron T fitting on the PVC. That arrangement will cause a galvanic couple to form and the iron Tee will eventually corrode away. That entire setup needs to be plumbed in PVC, no metals. Not sure what that black contraption is but the threaded part of it looks to be metallic … possibly aluminum? That is also connected to a brass fitting causing a galvanic couple.
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The Tee fitting says “F304” which my basic googling says is stainless steel.

I believe the brass fittings and tubing came from the manufacturer. The black box is aluminum. My pool builder installed the water pots, I just added the brass valve to control the water flow to one side.

Is this a big enough issue to bring up with my builder?
 
Nfrisa said:
I believe the brass fittings and tubing came from the manufacturer. The black box is aluminum. My pool builder installed the water pots, I just added the brass valve to control the water flow to one side.

Is this a big enough issue to bring up with my builder?
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Basic Plumbing 101 says you should never connect dissimilar metal fittings together. I had an outdoor spigot once where the copper pipe and brass valve has a tee made of cast iron in between. Never noticed it until that faucet started spewing rusty water every time it was turned on. The tee eventually started to leak. Once I took it all apart I realized the plumbing contractor that installed the autofill used the tee because that’s probably what he had on his truck. It took a few years for the corrosion to start but it eventually got bad enough for me to notice it.

It’s up to you if you want it fixed. I would never leave it that way.

I wouldn’t bother with the builder. It’s less than $20 worth of parts to fix and probably an hour of time if you do a really thorough job. The builder will likely just give you a hard time and try to deny there’s anything wrong with it.
 

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