Metal in Intex metal frame pool! VERY NEWBIE and need help!

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angieh299

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Jul 4, 2009
5
My problem is similar to this link:
intex-newbie-iron-bacteria-in-well-water-t13337.html

I have sunk more money into this "easy set" metal frame 18 x 48 Intex pool than I care to even add up. We are eating on the cheap this month and probably next...

1) gallons 18 x 48, 6,200 gals approx.
2) filter Intex came with the pool, cartridge filter you pull out
3) TypeAG
4) Vinyl, metal frame
5) pump size(flow rate) of your filter. Model 620? 4000 flow rate

At any rate, I have also put on the Intex saltwater system if that makes any difference with testing and balances and stuff and anyone's answers to my questions, I obviously can't shock my pool since it is run with salt.

Now, we filled it with well water, thinking the pump would pump out the rust. Nope. The pool is filled with rust that is floating on the bottom and of course staining, which at this point, the staining isn't the problem, it's getting rid of the rust somehow that is just settled all over the bottom of the pool.

Now here are my levels with the Walmart 6 way strip:

Hardness ppm: 400

free cholorine: 0 (ran the pump and saltwater system yesterday and it didn't register any problems with the salt being low or high, it just ran the 5 hour course and went into sleep mode, we assumed it had produced chlorine, apparently not)

ph: 7.8

TA: alkalinity 240

CYA ppm: 30-50

Now I read in the above post that chlorine should be 0 to add HTH METAL CONTROL...so since it was 0 I just added about 1/2 quart.

What do I do next?

I want to add that I am handicapped in my knees with severe osteoarthritis, my mom is 65 and has trouble getting around but can help some. And I have my 13 year old son who is strong at 170 and 5 feet 10, so he can help with the physical tasks. He is also highly gifted so he can understand all the chemical processes and how things work. I can understand the how to's if said in layman's terms.

We need this pool for me to be able to exercise and hopefully gain some more mobility. And of course most importantly for my kids to have fun this summer.

It has been a week now of installing, getting the pumps to run together, then trying to clear the water, the filter, etc....I've had a handiman and his pool expert come in and put up the pool, run the outdoor cords and ground faults and install the saltwater pump (which has a small leak at one of the cords, but let's not go there now) :roll:

I also read online to try putting a sock over the out flow of the filter pump into the pool to catch some of the rust so it's not being fiiltered back into the pool because apparently the Intex filters DO NOT Filter rust. We noticed that right away when we tried sucking it out with the vacuum, it just pushed the rust back in. We've changed the sock twice and it's been bright red. We've hosed the filter off 3 times now too.

And I read to try a wet vac to suck out some of the rust and I really want to try that but not sure if that will help.

Okay that is my long explanation and plee to anyone who can provide me with some answers.

Also, when is it safe to swim in it? Can you swim with the rust? Can you swim with 0 chlorine?

How soon can you swim after adding METAL CONTROL...? How much metal control will I need for this size of pool.
I plan to add the rest of the quart tonight before bed.

Thanks again!
Angie
Bluffton, IN
 
The reason your FC is 0 is because you probably have little to no CYA, Chlorine burns off in the sun, So its one of those deals where you have to check your FC everyday until you get your SWG set up correctly.

I don't know about the metals etc, but you can swim in the pool without Chlorine, the only problem is, is that you are going to get algae soon without have a steady level of FC.

and to be honest with you, when I first set up my intex, I ended up taking my Salt Water Generator back because I "thought" it wasn't working. but the reasoning was due to no CYA.

But once the CYA is up to the proper level, you will see your FC stabilize somewhat. The sunnier it is out, the quicker the FC burns off.

Don't fret, in a day or two there will be more people stopping by your thread, and giving you excellent suggestions on what to do and move you in the right direction.
 
Hey Angie, welcome to TFP!

You need a better test kit. The strips are worthless and don't tell you anything. We recommend two kits, they are compared in an article in Pool School.

If you haven't manually added CYA/Stabilizer, via CYA or Dichlor powder shock, then you don't have CYA in the pool and that might be contributing to why you have 0 FC.

Jack's Magic, Sequasol and Proteams Metal Magic are good sequesterants - I don't know if the HTH brand will work or not. But you need to keep adding the metal treatment till the water clears, and from what I've read on here the iron will precipitate out and can be filtered out. You need to keep changing out the filters with fresh ones as the clog up with the gunk. It sounds like you have the right idea with the sock/filter changeout combo. :goodjob:

You need to get some dry acid/ PH Down and lower the PH to 7.2. Have your son learn how to use the Pool Calculator to determine how much PH Down to add to lower the PH. There is an article in Pool School that teaches you how to use the Pool Calculator.

It is not safe to swim with the chlorine that low. What is your salt level? Do you have a way to test?

I'm not sure where you heard you can't shock your pool because it is saltwater....that simply isn't true.

In fact, that's exactly what you should do - shock, but depending on the CYA question above, what product you should use at this point.....to get to where you need to be.

So....have you added CYA/Stabilizer at any point? If no, then we'll help you get to the recommended range.

In the meantime, you need to get your PH down as instructed above, wait an hour, and then pour in 1 and a half small jugs of 6% clorox bleach (or store brand generic) into the return flow.

Hope this helps. Post back to answer the questions and holler if you have more. :wink:
 
Thank you for the help. Are these things to add available at Walmart or Lowes? That is all we have in this small town, otherwise it's a drive of 45 minutes. I am going to check Lowes online for Metal OUT, think that is what is needed instead of metal control.

Now, in the last thread it stated that you need to have the chlorine a 0 until the rust/iron is removed. Is that correct?

Should I add anything at this point or wait until the Metal out/sock method removes the rust? Or do I need to add the CYA along with this process?
 
So you haven't added CYA? or Dichlor? Yes, you need CYA for the SWG to maintain FC levels properly. There is no reason to wait for the CYA addition. You need the PH down today too, lower PH will help with metal issues too.

Yes, check Lowes' pool department for Dichlor and/or CYA, it may say "spa use" on it but that's okay too, Walmart usually has the HTH brand CYA/stabilizer in a 4 lb cannister, they don't usually have the Dichlor bags though.

Having the chlorine at zero is for removing metal stains from pool surfaces.... I don't think that's required for getting the iron to precipitate out so it can be filtered out....I could be wrong though.
 
New readings from an Intex 3 way test strip (is this an okay strip to use?) that came with the pool:

FC - 5
PH - 8
PPM -150-175

We don't have access to getting the testing things mentioned, except for the Walmart one listed at the bottom.

We are now not going to add CYA since the FC is at 5. We are now going to add the PH lowering stuff and see what happens. As well as change the filter, sock and add more metal control.
 
Yes, lower the PH, add the metal control and change the filter. :goodjob:

You still need CYA to protect your FC from sunlight destruction, it doesn't matter that the level is 5 now. You need to get CYA, either thru the purchase of stabilizer or getting some Dichlor. Check Lowes for Dichlor or get the HTH stabilizer/CYA from Wal-mart. It's essential that you have CYA for your SWG to function correctly.

No, strips are not going to be reliable - you need to get the 6-way HTH drop based kit from Wal-mart at the very least.
 
We added 24 oz. of HTH CYA., 60 oz. of bleach, metal control and 8 oz. of ph minus.

When should we test the levels again? Is it okay to wait til morning as I don't have the Walmart tester, still have the strips tonight and we aren't going back out tonight. we can test with the strips tonight though.

Is it okay to set the SWG to go on tonight?

Can we change the filter tonight after we added the above stuff or should we wait? Should we place the sock back on?

Should we put the cover over the pool tonight? We haven't put the cover on yet.

What is the next step?

Sorry for all the questions.
 
Our salt level was about 2000 last time we checked, we put in 5 bags of 40 lb. salt, and have ran the SWG once. We'll check more tomorrow AM and see if there are any good changes. I'll post then! Thanks!


Update: bad stuff, the ph is now 9, and the salt is 5, 270. What are we doing wrong?

Update 2; with the drop test kit it is now 7.2 ph, and everything else was at perfect levels, despite the rust.
We got in the pool today and it was great, we plan to clean and put on the solar cover for tomorrow and see how it goes then! Should be good I hope!
 

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