Chlorine made pool water turn brown

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TraceingPaper

TraceingPaper

0
Jul 26, 2016
32
Pittsville/WI
Water was professionally tested after it was filled with well water and I can get it tested for free anytime.
Per my printout:
FC: 0
PH: <6.2
TA: 19
CH: 260 (Can I lower this somehow? Having water hauled in is NOT an option)
CYA: 0

Other info:
Sat Idx: -2
Iron: 0.7
No algae or mold

I just found this amazing forum so bare with me. I was set up with what I'd need at the pool store for the removal of the iron, because last year with a smaller 3000g intex pool my water turned red after adding the shock packet and it took almost $100 in chemicals and replacement filters to get it to a light green cloudy color before we decided to just drain it and refill and two weeks later we shut it down for the year. So this time I was told to add 2 bottles of Pool Magnet Plus, with the pump running for 15m and then add Sparkle Up. In 24hrs I need to backwash. All before I add anything else.

I did add the Magnet Plus & Sparkle Up and I read a bunch of different things online about pool start up (How I found you!). Now I'm very confused (the more you know...) and a bit frustrated with the different and or vague instructions. Should I have balanced out everything and THEN added the metal remover? Or was the pool guy right to start here because as he said, backwashing could wash out the alkaline/pH.

Also, my neighbor moved and gave me all his pool chemicals (they are new this year) he had bought for his AG pool which he tore down after finding it was in need of a new liner. This is what he gave me :
1 6lb BioGuard Stabilizer 100 chlorine stabilizer
2 bags BioGuard BurnOut3
35lb bucket of Poolife Brite Stix Sanitizer (skimmer use only)
25lb bucket of Utikem 3" Chlorine Tablets
A used box filled with Baquacil products: (2tubes)test strips, (3-1QT)filter cleaner, (32oz)algaecide and (3tubes)chlorine neutralizer.

I know and love the idea of bleach (so simple!), but I have these ^^^ freebies, can I use them to start with?

I was also told to start with 1/2 the recommended alkaline increaser, then have it tested the following day before adding more? With the baking soda do I predissolve each box (1/3 total), apply directly into the pool and wait 4hrs before adding the next box to prevent staining (this is what the instructions are for the Balance Pak100 Alkalinity increaser)? Then wait 2hrs after final application to add the pH.

I love to save money, I'm what I'd consider a professional couponer and I have two little boys DYING to go swimming. So please help me. Also, how often do you run your pump? 24/7 or a few hrs every day?

Updated: after getting the TA and pH stabilized I added my CYA waited until the next day to add my chlorine. CYA was 30. After beginning dose of 80oz chlorine bleach, 2hrs later my water was brown...

TIA!:confused:
 
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Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

Welcome to TFP!

There is no reason to lower CH of 260. But, the only way to lower it is to drain and refill with lower CH water or pay for reverse osmosis filtration to filter it out.

Pump 4 to 8 hours a day is usually fine.

We do not recommend the use of any of the pool store products that you purchased. They are over priced and don't work very well. We have entire forum dedicated to people converting away from baquacil back to chlorine. You can read more here,
Baquacil - Use and Conversion

Start here to understand how we take care of pools,
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Pool School - Getting Started
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

Thanks for responding. I only purchased the metal remover and sparkle up because of the iron in my water, the others were given to me. I'm ok not having to use them. I've never used baquacil, like I said in my post they were freebies from the neighbor :) I also just found a 6lb bucket of stabilizer 100 in with what the neighbor gave me. Is there a different option for chlorine stabilizer I should use, do I need a stabilizer?

Is my next step to add the baking soda and ph increaser (BUT which?: either washing soda, borax or the store product, which amazingly enough is the cheaper option for pH in this case) and then SLAM? I'm going to order a testing kit too. :)
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

I hope you understand that the metal remover is not a remover at all. It binds to the iron ions and prevents staining but the iron is still in your water, and you will have to continue to use it until you remove the iron. If you bring your pool up to SLAM levels of chlorine, it will precipitate the iron out and you can vacuum and/or filter it out to waste. Yes it will turn your pool green/yellow during the process, but it will eliminate the iron for good. Here's my thread when my water was filled with iron:

New Water that's green??

PS....Here's the MSDS for that metal "remover"....Nasty stuff http://www.hydropool.com/downloads/MSDS/bioguard/bioguard-pool-magnet-plus-msds.pdf
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

Thank you! Yes I'd much rather it be removed than constantly having to add something. I'm getting the alk (baking soda) and pH started up now. For pHone do you recommend borax or washing soda? I only need 2lbs of the washing soda vs 11 of borax. After this do I start a slam right away now?
 
So frustrated, added the chlorine bleach = brown pool

So when I had my water tested and it tested for iron at the pool store I got the suggested Bioguard Metal Magnet and Sparkle up (before I found this forum obv ). After adding these and waiting the appropriate time (24hrs) my sand filter was backwashed for 5m and rinsed for 3 and then cleaned with a cleaner.

So the next two days I was able to get my pH (7.5) TA (50) and CYA (30) at perfect levels. So I added the pool math recommended 80oz of chlorine bleach (8.25%). Filter has been running since the pool was filled with our well water, to have water hauled it it's $950 and there's no guarantee if/how much iron is in it.

So fast forward to a few hours later and my pool water is brown :(:(:(. I literally began to cry. I can't even see the third step on the ladder. I don't want to add anymore metal remover because it obviously didn't work the first time and that was a waste of approx $75. Husband is upset thinking it was the bleach and not the shock and all the other stuff, "I should have gotten at the pool store."

I found some things online and currently we are trying the white towel in the skimmer basket and we have a laundry net (idk what it's actually called but it's for lingerie and other 'delicate' items) we stuffed with polyester fiber fill and set the filter to "rinse" (is this ok to run long term?) because we had an extra hose which we placed inside the laundry net bag and threw over the side of the pool. (Couldn't get the bag to stay on the return valve if you're wondering why we had to use an extra hose and set the filter to rinse.)

Will this catch the iron or whatever is making the pool brown? Has anyone tried this before? I know it could take a few days, maybe a week, but idk what else to do, I am feeling so frustrated. :(:confused:
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

As I noted above when chlorine is added at SLAM levels it's going to precipitate the iron out and turn your pool grenn to yellow or brown in your case. That's the iron. You are doing correctly to remove it and it will take some time. Sorry you're husband isn't on board yet but once you get past this hurdle and your water is clearer than its ever been he will understand.

Do you have a means to vacuum to waste? If so you can turn your pump off at night and let all the iron settle. It will look like rust on the floor. Slowly vacuum it out refilling if necessary. That will remove a large part of your iron more quickly. Otherwise filter the best you can and it will eventually be removed it will just take a little longer.
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

As I noted above when chlorine is added at SLAM levels it's going to precipitate the iron out and turn your pool grenn to yellow or brown in your case. That's the iron.
Click to expand...
It would be nice if it was that predictable but it is not. There is no way to control that precipitation and the iron is as likely to settle as stains on your pool walls and floors as it is not.

If you are willing to take that risk, this is a good way to get the iron from your pool....it is not something TFP suggests.
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

duraleigh said:
It would be nice if it was that predictable but it is not. There is no way to control that precipitation and the iron is as likely to settle as stains on your pool walls and floors as it is not.

If you are willing to take that risk, this is a good way to get the iron from your pool....it is not something TFP suggests.
Click to expand...

Not sure I follow Dave...she had already added metal sequestrant and needed to slam. Are you saying that anyone with metals can't slam? That's not what I've read in the past so please clear that up.
 

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Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

duraleigh said:
It would be nice if it was that predictable but it is not. There is no way to control that precipitation and the iron is as likely to settle as stains on your pool walls and floors as it is not.

If you are willing to take that risk, this is a good way to get the iron from your pool....it is not something TFP suggests.
Click to expand...

Are you saying not to turn the filter off and let it settle, because with it on and circulating its less likely to stain?

- - - Updated - - -

robertmee said:
As I noted above when chlorine is added at SLAM levels it's going to precipitate the iron out and turn your pool grenn to yellow or brown in your case. That's the iron. You are doing correctly to remove it and it will take some time. Sorry you're husband isn't on board yet but once you get past this hurdle and your water is clearer than its ever been he will understand.

Do you have a means to vacuum to waste? If so you can turn your pump off at night and let all the iron settle. It will look like rust on the floor. Slowly vacuum it out refilling if necessary. That will remove a large part of your iron more quickly. Otherwise filter the best you can and it will eventually be removed it will just take a little longer.
Click to expand...


Yes, I have a vacuum and can vacuum to waste. I will however need to add more water (overfill) to do this so I will start running the hose now. I actually hooked the vacuum hose up, was able to get the suction part over the skimmer with two hand towels in there and also placed a towel around the head of the vacuum in the center of the pool. I read this will help with the water, dirty water down, clean water top. Idk if this is going to work better, I read it can clear faster this way. I guess time will tell. Is there any reason to add a flocculant under these circumstances?
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

The problem is you cannot predict if iron will precipitate out into the water as a solid you can filter or that it will precipitate as a stain on your wall. That fact is unrelated to a SLAM or sequestrant.

If we could insure that metal always precipitated as a particulate suspended in the water, we would ALWAYS suggest ridding your pool of metal simply by elevating chlorine.
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

duraleigh said:
The problem is you cannot predict if iron will precipitate out into the water as a solid you can filter or that it will precipitate as a stain on your wall. That fact is unrelated to a SLAM or sequestrant.
Click to expand...

I guess I don't follow that logic that it's unrelated. If it's such a risk then Noone should SLAM prior to testing for metals and I've not seen that stressed on this forum or in pool school. As SLAM certainly elevates chlorine. And if you have metals and sequestering is unrelated how would one ever be able to treat algae with iron content in the water?
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

robertmee said:
I guess I don't follow that logic that it's unrelated. If it's such a risk then Noone should SLAM prior to testing for metals and I've not seen that stressed on this forum or in pool school. As SLAM certainly elevates chlorine. And if you have metals and sequestering is unrelated how would one ever be able to treat algae with iron content in the water?
Click to expand...


You have to treat algae and slam regardless of whether you have metals and whether they will stain. What else would you do? Let it turn to a swamp? You have to SLAM and then deal with the metals.

Please stop hijacking the OP's thread. If you have more questions please start your own thread.
 
Re: New 18,500g AG Pool, Well Water=Iron, lot's of Questions, lots of Chemicals

pooldv is completely correct.....the subject of this thread is traceing papers pool.

If there are more questions about metal precipitate, they should be addressed as a new thread in Pool Chemistry 201.
 
Added chlorine and now pool water is brown

Spent all day (10.5hrs) changing white hand towels every 20m. Every 2hrs I'd vacuuming to waste. I also backwased the filter twice. Took the two old intex Krystal clear filters from an old intex pool and ran them as well. Socks over the intake and outtake and over the filters, washed them out and changed them every 20m as well. All my levels are on target but the water remains unchanged. :( nothing is settling on the floor of the pool. Idk what else to do. I'm about ready to just throw in the saturated iron stained towel.
 
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