Oh please help! Brown water & New sand Filter pump

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J

jdgange

0
Jun 21, 2016
14
Karlsruhe, ND
Hey! Year #3 putting up my Intex 16x48 round pool. Water lime green like previous years. Shocked it like normal & turned brown. What?! Horrified! So went to the pool story hopping for magic & purchase biogard Sparkle up. Put a cup in my new upgrade a Krystal Cleqr Sand Filter Pump Model SF90110T expecting some magic results this morning and I still have brown water....sadness. :-(

What am I doing wrong?! I'm a little confused about the backwash process with this new pump. Just had the cheepo that came with the pool before.

Am I on the right track? How about this sock and rag treatment, I've been hearing about? Do I just put the rags in the sand filter compartment?

My husband is farming and I'm on my own. 20 miles to the nearest town for a pool for my kids....help please!

Janell :confused:
 
jdgange said:
Hey! Year #3 putting up my Intex 16x48 round pool. Water lime green like previous years. Shocked it like normal & turned brown. What?! Horrified! So went to the pool story hopping for magic & purchase biogard Sparkle up. Put a cup in my new upgrade a Krystal Cleqr Sand Filter Pump Model SF90110T expecting some magic results this morning and I still have brown water....sadness. :-(

What am I doing wrong?! I'm a little confused about the backwash process with this new pump. Just had the cheepo that came with the pool before.

Am I on the right track? How about this sock and rag treatment, I've been hearing about? Do I just put the rags in the sand filter compartment?

My husband is farming and I'm on my own. 20 miles to the nearest town for a pool for my kids....help please!

Janell :confused:
Click to expand...
Welcome!
Please don't put anything in your sandfilter but pool sand.

Your instruction manual for the sandfilter will explain the backwash setting. After filling the filter with sand and assembling per the manual, hook up the pump/filter assembly to your pool.

You need to backwash and rinse the new sand before you can filter water. Remove the cap from the waste port & attach a discharge hose that leads to an area you don't mind flooding with water. On the top of the sandfilter is the multiport valve, gently but firmly push down on the valve handle and rotate to 'backwash'. TIP: Always rotate the valve with the system OFF and in the same direction to extend the valve's gasket life. I always rotate clockwise.

Run the system for approx. 2-3 minutes, or until the water flows clear from the discharge hose. There is a small sightglass on the side of the wasteport, and you will see sand collecting in it. Mine never clears no matter how long I backwash.

Turn off the system, rotate the valve to 'rinse', and run the system for 1-2 minutes. This is when my sightglass will clear out the sand.

Turn off the system, rotate the valve to 'filter'. Remove the discharge hose and cap the waste port.

Backwash done.

Turn on the system and watch the return flow. There may be a small plume or cloud of discharge when the water starts flowing, but that should stop in a few seconds. At no time should sand be coming out of the return.

Be sure to note the reading on the pressure gauge. This is your "clean pressure". When that pressure rises 20-25% it is time to backwash again. TIP: The gauge that comes with the Intex is sub-par, mine lasted 5 weeks. TfTestKits.net has a very good quality replacement at a very reasonable price. http://tftestkits.net/Pressure-Gauge-Glycerin-filled-2-5-Rear-Center-Mount-p78.html

For example, my clean pressure is 9psi with the solar off. I backwash when the pressure reads 11-12psi, and/or the flow of the water return to the pool has greatly diminished.

If you decide to go with the replacement gauge you will need a reducing fitting to adapt the new gauge. And big box home improvement store should have what you need, just bring both the gauges with you.

Here is a pic of my sandfilter:
C08C9163-70A9-403F-BE52-ADC140BDAEBA_zpskyyurrx5.jpg



Dom
 
Stay out of the Pool Store. We need your test results to help you get your pool back to sparkling....pool store tests and test strips just don't work.

Stop driving into town for magic potions......the pool store will tell you they exist and sell you lots of them.....they won't work.

We don't teach magic. We teach you to manage your own pool. Armed with your own high quality kit and help from thi forum, you will never make that 20 mile trip again.

read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. It's the basics of what we teach.
 
Janell, that looks like metal (iron) to me. You didn't confirm, but I suspect you are on a well huh? While we generally never recommend pool store testing, they do show some iron content even after the chlorine was increased, so I bet there's a lot of iron in there. In any case, the iron precipitated out when you increased the chlorine level. You have a couple decisions to make at this point:
1 - Do a near-100% drain and replace the water with fresh water that does not have any metals in it (if that's even possible in your area).
2 - Exchange as much water as you can in an effort to help make what's left "manageable" by using a sequestrant; Also see Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

In addition, you also really must avoid the pool store's free testing. They won't do you any favors. There is no magic bullet for clear/clean water - just proper chlorine sanitation. That's why we always recommend pool owners test their own water, and to do that we recommend either a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit (Link below). If those test results were believable from your own testing, I'd also say that with no CYA your chlorine is in an extremely harsh state right now which is probably another reason the water reacted so quickly. Your CYA should be at least 30 ppm to help buffer the effects of chlorine.

Please take a few minutes to review what I've listed, and also review/bookmark the vital links below in my signature. We'd be very happy to help you change that pool from brown to clear, but we need to makes sure you have a true understanding of what you need and the processes to do it. The proper testing and removal/control of iron in your water is where it all begins.
 
Re: Oh please help! Brown water & New sand Filter pump

All I have is AquaCheck test strips here.
PH is high at 8.4. Our water is normally high in Ph,
Chlorine is High at 10 but I had just shocked the thing,
Alkalinty is high at 240,
PPM stabilizer says Ideal at 30-50

I'm about ready to drain the dame thing and start over. I have a hot tub and it never turned brown?

I'll go back to the ABC's of Pool water Chemistry and read but I just not sure what to do right now? I really don't have time for this either! No one does...

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry, this is city water. I live in extremely small town. Thank you! I'm considering your recommendations and will order the proper testing strips.
 
Yeah our city water is what I got to use. We have a new water treatment plant but it really isn't being manned correctly. We do not drink the water personally, we haul our water. Use city for washing closhes and cleaning. Its ridiculous. They did just recently flushed the hydrants in town so wondering if that kicked up sediment in the pipes. Like I said though, we have a hot tub and when I filled that it was lime green, like the pool but in short order I had it sparkling blue. Never had problems with the previous years with the pool either. went from green to blue. This brown yuck is just crazy & very frustrating!
 
I'll toss few other ideas out there for you to consider as you try to manage what you have to work with:
- Let the sun burn-off that FC for now. Even though you say it's high, it actually could safely go much higher if you had CYA (stabilizer). But since it was green before, let the FC sink slowly to about 3-5 ppm and see if that water begins to change back to its original color. That will also confirm you have metal. Your hot tub probably didn't react the same way because I suspect the FC level was much lower at the time.
- A high pH can enhance a metal reaction in water, so if your pH is currently high, it should be lowered with muriatic acid. You can use the Poolmath calculator (link below) to help you determine how much acid to add. I would try to lower your pH to around 7.5 for now. You could even try 7.2 with the pump mixing the water and see if that helps.
- Metals in water is a tricky thing to manage which is why we generally recommend a water exchange, but some people always have water with metals so they have no choice. If you ever do try to refill with new water in the future, consider trying to "pre-filter" it as best as possible to catch any iron before it gets into the pool. Pushing water through a 5-gal bucket with batting materials before it goes to the pool. A pain perhaps, but some have success with it.

The Bioguard won't help with iron removal, so don't waste the effort or product. That's just a DE-type product that has cellulous in it. You might however try placing some batting material (paper towels, cotton rags, etc) in the skimmer to see if it grabs some of that iron while it's precipitated out of the water. It may help a little.

Now after all of this, if you have an algae problem, we may be back in a similar boat because to kill algae we need to increase the FC level. But we'll do that with stabilizer as well and a lower pH. Those things may help. But you will need the proper test kit. There's just no avoiding that one I'm afraid.
 

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No I don't have one. I guess I never did. I just skimmed it out with a net & we had a pool vac that hooked to a hose to clean the bottom.

Well, I'm draining the pool right now. I'm really upset about the whole thing. Looks like I'll have to clean the pool out after the drain. There is sediment on the sides and bottom of pool. Sorry to be whiny. A lot of time and energy went into this & all I want is a pool for my kids to swim in. Now quite sure how to avoid this browness from recurring. Is there other alternatives to chlorine that I can use?
 
Hello again! Today is another day! Done being whiny, just wanta fix the problem. So my pool is almost drained, got a lot of gross iron sediment at the bottom. I'll have to clean that out but lets talk about refilling pool. So obviously my water has lots of iron so I need to try to filter as much out as possible when refilling pool. Should I go with the homemade bucket with pillow fill?

Thanks for all your support and help by the way. This time I will read up on the pool school & get the right strips!

Janell
 
Good morning Janell! I'm going to give you a few links that have some ideas on how to manage metal much like what you are going through:
Iron Filter
Iron Problem .... Will this ever end??
garden hose iron filters
Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

A bit of reading but there really are some good pointers on those pages. Your pH and FC levels will also be important when you refill. You'll see some mention of that on those threads. We at TFP use drop-test reagents to accurately test our levels, never strips. For that we recommend the TF-100 test kit (link below). If you can't get that right away, at least try to pick-up a 6-Way HTH test kit at Wal-Mart like THIS ONE. If they don't have that on the shelf, look for the very basic OTO kit like THIS ONE. At least that way you can ensure pH stays low enough, along with FC, to try and prevent the brown reaction you had earlier.

Remember you need to have stabilizer in the water right away as well. You can get it at Wal-Mart, Lowes, or Home Depot much like what you see HERE. As soon as the pool is almost full, get that stabilizer in there with a CYA target of 30 ppm. The Poolmath Calculator can help you with that.
To increase CYA via granular stabilizer, place the required amount as calculated by the Poolmath calculator into a white sock and place in the poolside skimmer basket. For those concerned about suction flow to the pump, suspending the sock near a return jet or from a floating device will also suffice. Best never to allow undissolved granules to rest directly against the pool surface. Squeeze the sock periodically to help it dissipate. Once dissolved, consider your CYA adjusted to that programmed (target) level. CYA test readings should show a rise in 24-48 hours, however some pools may experience a longer delay to fully register. Best to confirm final CYA in about 5-7 days before adding any more stabilizer/conditioner.
Click to expand...

Day 1 of new water only add enough regular bleach to increase FC to about 2-3 ppm. After that, never let the FC drop below 3 if you can help it. You can try on day 2 and beyond raising FC to about 4-5 to keep the water clear, but do it slowly and watch for color changes to prevent reactions with the iron. pH is kept down by using muriatic acid. Never add acid and bleach at the very same time. Separate by about 30 minutes with the pump running to mix things. I would recommend keeping your pH down to about 7.2-7.4 for a while to see how that works.

Okay, enough for now (info-overload). Let us know if you have any more questions or problems.
 
Janelle, Pat asked me to take a peek at your iron situation.

For your size of pool, if you picked up one of these hose filters. Think it would help reduce your iron load: Amazon.com : Pre Fresh Garden Hose End Water Filter all purpose, pool, spa, hot tub, pets, car wash : Garden Hose Parts : Patio, Lawn Garden

For a more permanent filter where you can just replace the insides year after year, look at this one for a filter housing you can attach to your hose: Amazon.com : Pre Fresh Garden Hose End Water Filter all purpose, pool, spa, hot tub, pets, car wash : Garden Hose Parts : Patio, Lawn Garden

With a 1 micron filter: One Big Blue Sediment Filter Housing 1 Micron - 4.5 - - Amazon.com

You will also still need a good metal sequestrant like Metal Magic or Jacks Magic - it need to be what they call the "HEDP" type. (Pre filtering cannot get ALL the metal but helps lower the load to make it more manageable.)

But when you start with fresh water, don't SLAM - that oxidizes the metal. Just add enough bleach and cya to get to the ratio recommended in [fc/cya][/FC/cya] chart. If you keep your water at the right level on the fresh fill, you can avoid oxidizing whatever iron still gets in. Keeping h a bit lower, eg 7.2-7.4 also hels keep teals in solution.

I hope you do get one of the good kits at TFTestkits.net because its easier to manage water balance with it.

But hopefully those tips will get you off to a better restart on the iron front ;)
 
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