newbie blunder

[bobmac]

Hi... brand new to this site, ablsolutely no pool experience, and I just filled my new pool yesterday! (12X24 AG)

First mistake: Too much bleach. When I added the bleach, the pool turned green instantly and my chlorine test was off the chart.... As it turns out, I overestimated the total volume of my pool by 100% ( my first of many bonehead moves to come) . Therefor, I added way too much bleach. Should I be concerned? Do I need to correct, or will the chlorine come down over time? The final inspection on the pool is still pending, so I don't plan on swimming for at least a week.

 

[Guest]

If your pool turned green instantly when you added a lot of chlorine then you have metals in your water! Find out why!
Green is usually indicative of copper BUT if your pool has a blue surface then it could be iron. Iron colors the water yellow and against a blue suface (blue plaster, liner, or fiberglass gelcoat) it will make the water look green! Since you have an AGP and I bet the liner is blue my bet is iron in your fill water. Do you have well water by any chance?
Your problem right is to find out where the metals have come from and exactly what they are!

the high chlorine levels are not a problem, they will drop on their own.

 

[bobmac]

Yes, it's well water... I've never had a problem with iron in our home, but it sounds like you are on to something. How do I confirm that it is iron, and what are my treatment options???

 

[MikeInTN]

If you've got a pool store nearby that offers free testing, take a sample in and have them test it. Mention you might have metals in your water, and could they test for that? Afterwards, when they tell you all the stuff you need to buy from them, and oh by the way your FC is way way high, tell them you'll be back, and post the results here.

If it is iron or copper, your best bet would be to use a sequestrant. If it comes to that, do a search on sequestrant here and I'm sure you'll find a post or three with the recommended kind. In fact, you might want to do that before you take the water in for testing, and buy it then if the store carries it.

 

[Guest]

Yes, it's well water... I've never had a problem with iron in our home, but it sounds like you are on to something. How do I confirm that it is iron, and what are my treatment options???

You just confirmed Iron by saying well water. Copper usually comes from plumbing and is not common in wells but iron and manganese are. However, manganese would have colored your water pink to purple and not yellow (which looks green against the blue liner of your pool).
Get yourself a bottle of metal seqesterand such as Jack's Magic Pink Stuff (or Blue Stuff), Proteam Metal Magic, or GLB SequaSol. Do not get Natural Chemistry's MetalFree (or any other sequesterant based on EDTA or phosphate free). You want to read the ingredients and make sure that it is a phosphonic acid derivative, phosphonate based, or contains HEDP (1-Hydroxy Ethylidene-1,1-Diphosphonic Acid).
Add 1 pt per 10k gallons water. If this does not get the water clear again add another pt. per 10 k gallons the next day.
This does not remove the metal from your water, just deactivates it so you need to add a maintenance dose weekly to monthly. Sunlight and chlorine break the sequestrant down so you will will have to experiment just how often you need to add the maintenance dose. (If you shock and the water colors or you are getting metal stains in the pool then you are not putting the sequestrant in often enough.) It is usually about 6 oz per 10k gallons. Read the label instructions on the bottle and if they differ from my dosage amounts use them instead.

 

[bobmac]

Do not get Natural Chemistry's MetalFree (or any other sequesterant based on EDTA or phosphate free).

Okay, I searched hi and low for Jacks (then went to the website) and discovered that it is not carried in my area. I ordered some online. In the mean time, I did use metal free, and it "sort of" worked. The green/yellow color is reduced, but it is not crystal clear. I'm hoping that Jack's will do the trick.

Also, one pool store had a canister type filter that you attach to the garden hose when filling the pool. Supposedly it takes the iron out and resolves the issue.

Does anybody have any experience with these filters? Do they work?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Those filters do work but I bet you can get the same filter for a lot less at your local big box store. Wally-World might even have them. Just look on the filter package and it'll tell you what all it removes. The setup I have for the RV removes metals as well as chlorine and a bunch of other stuff from the water.

If it's feasible, I'd drain most of the water out of the pool and fill it back up with filtered water. If you can't do that you'll be fighting the iron forever (or until enough water is splashed out or diluted by rain). AT any rate, you should filter any water you put in there from now on.

 

[bobmac]

Bama: Good tip... I'll check out some other stores. I agree about draining and refilling. It would be great to elimnate the problem altogether. I may wait until spring and just deal with the iron for another month.

 

[New2Me]

Could one of those metal filters be plumbed into the pool, maybe with a sump-pump? Do you have a brand name that you recommend? My sisters pool has a similar problem, and the well takes a very looooooong time to re-fill. Good tip, though!

 

[Bama Rambler]

I've never thought about it but I don't see why it couldn't. Since those filters are designed for low flow you'd need to put a bypass in the main discharge line so you could divert some of the flow thru the filter.

Crystal Quest is the brand filter I use and they make an Iron removal filter that fits any standard housing that you'd buy at any local big box store.

It'd take a long time to filter it all out but it'd probably be cheaper than draining and refilling. And you'd have to filter the fill water anyway.

 

[duraleigh]

I do not believe you can remove metals from water by filtering. A water softener will work but few have the capacity to soften the volume a pool requires.