Ascorbic acid worked! But ready to close pool...

[jaadkyki]

So, we had iron stains and finally decided to get rid of them--brought our pH down to 7.2, FC to 0, added algaecide and then added ascorbic acid. Nearly stain free now!

However, we're nearly ready to close our pool (on our own this year!). Pool temperature is currently at 70, but I'm thinking that will go down soon because our nights are getting chilly finally. The instruction page on ascorbic acid says to wait two weeks before shocking your pool, and the page on closing says to shock before closing. But I also read one commenter claim he removed stains with this method shortly before closing.

Can we close sooner than two weeks? Otherwise, that puts us at closing mid to late October. But, I'd rather be safe than sorry if that's what you experts say.

Thanks!

PS--REALLY not happy Walmart cleared out chlorine in exchange of Christmas decorations already! I still need chlorine to close my pool!! What do you guys do that have year-round/ indoor pools?! I didn't know how much to buy ahead and have now run out because of the late summer.

 

[Texas Splash]

No problems on the bleach. Just shop around at your local grocery store. If you end-up back at Wal-Mart, go to the laundry section and grab their "Great Value" for about $2.98 per gallon - regular/plain of course. As for closing, I wouldn't rush it nor would I focus so much on a 2-week time frame as I would waiting as long as possible, even if the water temp drops close to 60. Remember the old saying - "close late - open early". I suspect the algaecide is helping you (for now) while your FC is so low. But watch that closely and increase to target levels when permissible. Definitely keep the pH low around 7.2. When the time comes for you to close, you could try slowly increasing the FC to SLAM levels in stages based on your CYA while watching for any attempts of staining to return. Once you are convinced the pool is algae-free, let the FC fall to normal and hit it with another dose of Polyquat 60 is you desire. As you probably know by now, it gets a bit tricky balancing FC with metals, but you definitely want to keep algae away. If it returns, a SLAM is the only corrective action which we know makes the metal water angry. :grrrr:

 

[jaadkyki]

Thanks for the great advice! We'll keep on our current path and close late, as you say.