Very cloudy water days after removing metals with citric acid.

[Jennica]

Hi, pool experts!

I did the citric acid thing on Saturday to remove the metals and it worked like a charm. All stains gone. Tuesday morning it finally started holding chlorine and the water was nice and clear. Ph has been holding steady at 7.2.

I had no CC throughout the process and had added an algaecide. This morning (Wednesday) I woke up to very cloudy, almost whitish water and zero FC. I know that cloudy water is common during the metal removal process, but is it normal that it would turn cloudy and start losing chlorine again after four days have passed since I did the procedure? Feels like a set back.

Current reading:

FC - 4
CC - 0
CYA - 30 (Will be bringing up to 40)
PH - 7.2
TA - TA

 

[pooldv]

Yes, it is fairly normal. Keep FC between min and target for your CYA, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. Cloudy water normally clears up in a few days.

 

[Jennica]

Okay, great. Wasn't sure if having a set back after the initial positive results was a red flag. Thanks!

 

[Razorhog]

I recently went through the same thing. Ended up SLAMing for a couple days. Apparently the vitamin C knocked FC down longer and harder than I anticipated. The water cleared up but I was eating a lot of chlorine and failed the OCLT. Best of luck!

 

[Jennica]

I recently went through the same thing. Ended up SLAMing for a couple days. Apparently the vitamin C knocked FC down longer and harder than I anticipated. The water cleared up but I was eating a lot of chlorine and failed the OCLT. Best of luck!

Is it too soon for me to SLAM now? Was trying to bring the chlorine up slowly. The FC is still being knocked down. Just checked it and I lost 4 ppm in three hours.

 

[pooldv]

Yes, too soon to slam, need to try to avoid SLAMing.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Is there a particular reason why you chose to use citric acid instead of ascorbic acid?

Also, I would suggest that next time staining becomes an issue, you try using ProTeam Metal Magic instead of an ascorbic acid treatment. We have had several TFP'ers try MM instead and it has worked well for their staining issues. The best part of MM is that don't need to drop your FC to zero and MM only slightly increases FC demand. As long as you follow the water balancing directions on the MM bottle prior to using it, it should work better during the swim season months as you can keep chlorine in the pool. AA treatments are better done in the off season when the water is colder and the chances of an algae bloom are much lower.

 

[Jennica]

Is there a particular reason why you chose to use citric acid instead of ascorbic acid?

Also, I would suggest that next time staining becomes an issue, you try using ProTeam Metal Magic instead of an ascorbic acid treatment. We have had several TFP'ers try MM instead and it has worked well for their staining issues. The best part of MM is that don't need to drop your FC to zero and MM only slightly increases FC demand. As long as you follow the water balancing directions on the MM bottle prior to using it, it should work better during the swim season months as you can keep chlorine in the pool. AA treatments are better done in the off season when the water is colder and the chances of an algae bloom are much lower.

I used the citric acid because I had a bunch of it on hand from when I was making my own dish washer detergent.

When I started the procedure we were in the middle of a cool weather period here in the North East so I figured I'd have enough time to do it and have the pool ready for when it got hot enough to swim. The water is just warming up to swimming temperature here now so I'm hoping I'll be out of the woods soon.

Thanks for the Metal Magic tip. I will keep that in mind for next time.

 

[Razorhog]

I should add that I used Proteam Metal Magic after removing the stains and I waited a week before SLAM. I'm going to try adding a maintenance dose of Metal Magic once or twice a month.

 

[Jennica]

So, it's a week later and the water is just now clearing up. Can't wait to see my electric bill. But every stain is gone including the hideous yellow tinge covering the liner that I didn't even realize was there until it lifted and I saw how blue my liner is supposed to be. I'm so happy.

So, I guess now I can bring the chlorine up?

Question: Can metals get leached in through the liner? Before I did the process, in addition to stains near the wrinkles on the bottom, there were stains that followed exactly up and down where the seam of the pool wall is. There were also two that ran along the bottom, from one side to the other where I assume some sort of braces were. They were perfectly straight, four or five inches wide.

 

[pooldv]

Yes, keep fc between minimum and target, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA].

I haven't heard of stains coming through a liner.