New pool, brown water, Ocala, Fl

[snakeman]

New here, 1st pool.
I slowly filled the 6450gal pool over a few days using well water. It developed some algae and the water turned a cloudy green tint. Once full I added 1 gal 10% bleach, within 5 minuets the entire pool was a dark red color. I am now swapping filters every 6-12hrs, I also added a diy filter to the return line (plastic jug filled with batting, holes drilled in bottom). My question is what is the best way to treat this problem? I have been filtering for 2 days now with no noticeable difference in water quality. I have not tested the water for anything yet, assuming the iron needs to be removed first.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Well, I think you already have a good idea of the root problem ... metals. Sounds like you would benefit from the Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains page. During treatment, you might also benefit from adding some absorbent material (i.e. paper towels) in the skimmer to help absorb the metal before chlorine makes it precipitate out onto the pool surfaces.

It might also be good to know how you are testing your water for overall chemistry which will at some point become and big player in this as well. Do you have a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006 test kit? In any case, let us know if you still have questions. Lots of folks here would be happy to help.

 

[snakeman]

Thank you for the link to the metals page, I will continue to filter the water. I have not purchased a testing kit yet, do you reccomend the K-2006? The homemade filter seems to be doing most of the work in filtering out the iron particles. I will continue to filter till it is clear.

 

[Mr Bruce]

Check out this page. Pool School - Test Kits Compared

 

[Swampwoman]

Hello and welcome. Since you already have the metals oxidized at the moment, its a great opportunity to try to filter some out with extra measures to keep your regular maintenance easier.

This Slimebag can be a pre filter to reduce the load from a well, but can also be put on a return if you buy the connector ring. The Slime Bag | The Easiest Way To Maintain Crystal Clear Pool Water.

After you're done slamming, you'll also likely need metal sequestrant...wait til you're done to add it. I've had a lot of luck with Metal Magic, which is the recommended HEDP type, as is Jacks Magic Pink.

Hope that helps. Keep us posted.

Once you have your kit and are done your slam, keeping ph lower, eg 7.2, also helps kerp staining at bay.

 

[snakeman]

Well overnight the homemade filter came apart and the pump drained the pool down a few inches. Now I have to add more iron water to the already brown pool just so I can use the filter again. I don't plan on adding chemicals to aid in the removal of the iron for two reasons, no money spent on chemicals and the homemade filter is working to remove the iron. I have ordered a K 2006 kit. Would I benifit from changing my current well water by having it tested and adding shock, adjusting pH and whatnot to help remove the iron particles? Not sure if I should only tackle the iron issue at the moment. Thanks for all of the info.

 

[otter86753]

 

[snakeman]

Now that I have established that I have high iron from my well water, what are my options for adding water to the pool? I still have iron in the water, I'm back washing the filters 4 times a day at a minimum. I am also using paper towels in the skimmer and jug filled with pillow batting on the return. I was under the impression that I could remove the iron in a few days but that is not happening. Any advice for me would be appreciated.

 

[Texas Splash]

Manual filtering could take a while. It helps but is no quick fix. Subsequent water replacements would be ideal to help lower metal-filled water sooner, but sometimes that's not feasible. So other than the filtering you are doing and use of sequestrants, it may boil-down to some water exchange if you have any source of metal-free water.

 

[Swampwoman]

Snakeman, having a high iron well is a pita. Mine is 2ppm at raw well. My hunch based on your post is that yours is higher...I might even guess double mine.

So, just so you know, any and all tricks I mention work only in reaction to the original raw iron load from the well, so your mileage may vary

In fact, it might help if you could check your last well test and tell me your ppm of iron

What people with super high loads on well usually do is truck in clean, metal free water on fill. In my case, at 23,000 gallons, that's $1,000. Then, when adding top up water, they both mechanically filter (eg Prefresh filter...check Amazon) to help reduce some iron, and add metal sequestrant (eg Metal Magic or Jack's Pink) to control the remaining iron that gets in.

When I bought my house/pool, I didn't change water due to high water table.

What I ended up doing was upgrading my whole house softener to a higher capacity dual softener (for constant regeneration) and plumbing my outdoor pool spigot into the softened water.

Over several seasons, this reduced my iron level and I needed less metal sequestrant...but I still need metal sequestrant. IT wears off, so you have to maintain a dosage.

The metal sequestrant does not remove the metal...it just keeps it in solution to not stain or tint the water.

That slimebag I linked you to earlier can also be used on your fill hose, not just a return. It filters down to 1 micron. I think in your case, and with a smaller pool, the slimebag for fills and extra filtering plus metal sequestrant is going to be your cheapest date for metal management.

Also, I've found when you're managing metal its important to always maintain your FC:cya ratio so that you can AVOID ever having to shock/slam the pool. Shocking/slamming both oxidizes the metal and wears down your metal sequestrant.

Controlling ph to the lower end, eg 7.2, also helps prevent staining.

 

[snakeman]

Thanks for the advice, I have removed alot of the iron from just mechanical filtering. I hesitate to use the metal sequestrant chemicals as it wears off. I was able to get the water clear without chemicals and plan to continue to use mechanical filtration for future metal removal. I'm using paper towels on the skimmer and that seems to work very well at catching rust particles and allows me to me to replace it often. I'm taking the actual filter out daily for cleaning while replacing paper towels 3-6 times a day depending on how dirty they get. I found it helped to stir up the pool at least daily to get sediment off of the bottom to be filtered. Thank you all for your help in getting this issue resolved.