Recovering Swamp-leftover stains

[mattersfact2]

Topic split from this thread by Moderator: http://www.troublefreepool.com/help-with-copper-stains-t12242.html

I believe I have these same stains - there was MUCH leaf debris at the bottom of my pool this year. I had a late opening due to lack of funds, pool turned into a bog, leaves smelled horrid when I scooped them out, had insect larvae everywhere, etc.

I ended up draining 95% of the water, threw 7 gallons of bleach in there, scrubbed everything down with Borax, and refilled with my garden hose.

I did have to use some floc to get the water clean and get the last of the debris vacuumed out.

Then I came to this site - after reading about pucks and commercial shock, CYA levels, and battles with pH, I'm not going to use pool supplies again unless I have to.

So now I have 12 1 1/2 gallon jugs of bleach, 20 pounds of baking soda, and I forget how many pounds of Borax in my chemical supply cabinet.

But I do have these stains - I rubbed a puck over them and noticed little difference, however.

Just wondering what levels I need to raise the FC to, to rid the liner of the stains?

I ran out of most of the testing agents in my liquid kit, and Walmart did not have any new kits, so I am stuck using a dipstick test. Less accurate, I know, but I have to work with that for now. I don't think my CYA will be very high since the pool is full of city water, but then again, I have no idea what they put in city water...so....

Here's what the stick is telling me:

CH - 100
TC - 1
FC - 0
pH - 7.8
TA - 120
CYA - 40

So....I got the hang of the pool calculator. Just wondering how to effectively get rid of the stains. Thanks!

Gina

 

[mattersfact2]

Re: HELP with Copper Stains

I added 2 jugs of the bleach (6% bleach - 364 oz) and the dip stick is registering somewhere between 3 and 10 for FC.

The pool calculator says that should put me around an FC of 8 starting from 0.

Hopefully I will see the stains fade. Crossing my fingers.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi Gina and welcome to TFP.

Usually if the stain is organic, the puck will make the stain fade....

After you refilled, you must have added a product that contained CYA, perhaps a powdered shock? Because city water doesn't contain CYA...

Or perhaps the inconsistency is your test strips, which are very unreliable and inaccurate. I would recommend you invest in a good test kit, not the walmart kind, but one of the kits described in this article.

Is your water clear now? Sounds like quite the cleanup process....

 

[mattersfact2]

Oh yeah - duh...

Once I refilled, I DID initially shock with 2 lbs of powder shock...and I added stabilizer to the skimmer. I still have about 8 lbs of granular shock left....and maybe 20 of the 3 inch pucks. I have had two puck floaters loaded with pucks floating around for the last 3 or 4 days too. I intend to remove them - they are old, stained, half broken, ugly, and a nuisance. Maybe I'll put what's left of those pucks onto the stains. I think the puck that is there is making a "little" bit of difference on the stain. It's hard to tell. I moved it to the darkest area this evening and will take a look in the morning.

But you are right, between the shock and stabilizer, I have introduced CYA to the water. I don't intend to introduce any more.

I started the BBB method yesterday. So far, I am quite pleased. After I raised the FC with the bleach, I "think" I noticed the stains getting lighter already after about 5 or 6 hours. I'll know for sure in the morning when I'm out there doing the overnight test.

The water is VERY clear and the pool is squeaky clean.

I wish I would have thought to take photos to show the difference, but I wasn't very proud of that stinky mess!

I ran into pool newbies in the chemical aisle at Walmart today while I was searching for a liquid test kit and gave them the URL for this website! LOL! They had that "I don't understand how to use any of this stuff" look on their faces, while I am standing there with a cart full of BBB!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You're off to a great start.

Let us know if you have any issues.