Metals that won't' go away

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D

dinman

0
Mar 31, 2011
14
Hi.
I've got an 18x36 IG pool with a SWG. About 26k gallons. Liner ripped this past winter and had to be replaced, which was done in the beginning of July. Two of the three truckloads of water came from a local pond and when finished was brown as brown can be.

Balanced and shocked but wasn't getting better. Checked for metals and iron was 1.3. Treated with a Culator Ultra Power Pak that went in the skimmer basket, some PhosFree and a liter of Metal Free initially. Then kept treating with Metal Free.


In about a month, I'm not making all that much headway. The iron slowly came down and eventually was zero. Turned on my SWG and water became dark green again. And over the month I did try shocking a couple of times when I thought the metal levels were decreasing. As soon as I add chlorine and see the water going bad again, I turn off the generator and treat for metals.

Today is August 11th and I've lost count on the Metal Free that I've added. I would easily guess about 12 liters, plus a gallon of some Iron Out that I bought at a local department store (pool store is about 1/2 hour away and VERY expensive). This morning I turned the SWG back on and after an hour or two water started turning green again.

I know my Iron is zero and the last check of copper was WNL. My pool guy said there might be some metal that he can't test for but was confident the Metal Free would take it out.

Question is...am I chasing down the wrong thing? Or is this process going to just take the rest of the summer?

Thanks
 
Well, regardless of what local tests seem to be producing, if the water is reacting as quick as you describe to chlorine by turning green shortly after increasing the FC, you have metals - either iron (from wells or local supply) or copper (from pool store algaecides). I suspect it's iron. We find that a reasonable limit of 0.3 is about as much iron as you want to see to effectively manage it with sequestrants. Once it gets over 0.3 (which isn't much at all) it becomes much more difficult to manage.

You didn't mention your pH level, but an elevated pH level can also cause the iron to flare-up. If your pH is in the high 7s, I would lower it to about 7.2 and see if that helps. If not, then while the green is showing itself continue filtering as much of it as you can. If you have towels or polyfill products in the skimmer, watch for color changes to show it's capturing iron. As always, watch to keep the FC & CYA balanced as noted on the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] to avoid algae. Once you get algae, all bets are off for controlling iron and you have to remove the algae first before treating the iron with a sequestrant.
 
I think your pool guy might be confused. Metal Free is a sequesterant, it sequesters metals so that they can't stain. It does not remove metals, they are all still in your pool. If your iron was 1.3 and nothing removed it then your iron level is still 1.3...
 
Thanks so much for the reply! Just tested with a hth test strip and here’s where I’m at:

FC: 0
pH: 7.8
TA: 240
TH: 125
CYA: 30-50

First of all, I haven’t added CYA.
Next, l’ll lower pH
Then, I know there’s algae in there, the liner is slimy. So... do I shock it? Or add algecide?

Thanks again
David
 
Donldson said:
I think your pool guy might be confused. Metal Free is a sequesterant, it sequesters metals so that they can't stain. It does not remove metals, they are all still in your pool. If your iron was 1.3 and nothing removed it then your iron level is still 1.3...
Click to expand...

I concur with above. Those products basically gift wrap the metals for a while.

When raising ph - are you using bicarb or PH up product?
I find metals far more manageable when I use bicarb to raise ph. It may be a superstition of mine- hopefully @joyfulnoise drops by.
 
It’s a sodium bisulphate product to lower pH.

As far as the iron goes, I might have to side with my pool guy, but don’t want to lose your input. The level was 1.3, next reading was 0.3, and then 0.0. I add the Metal Free and then backwash about every 24 hours. Since doing that, the pool has improved, but I just can’t get over the hump. The shallow end is almost perfect; clear, with just a tinge of blue/green color to it. The deep end is about the same around the edges, but the middle of the deep end is cloudy and green.
 
dinman said:
It’s a sodium bisulphate product to lower pH.

As far as the iron goes, I might have to side with my pool guy, but don’t want to lose your input. The level was 1.3, next reading was 0.3, and then 0.0. I add the Metal Free and then backwash about every 24 hours. Since doing that, the pool has improved, but I just can’t get over the hump. The shallow end is almost perfect; clear, with just a tinge of blue/green color to it. The deep end is about the same around the edges, but the middle of the deep end is cloudy and green.
Click to expand...

I agree with your pool tech. He is managing the metals without water exchange.

Who trucks water from a pond? That’s bizarre, hauler must not be interested in his tanks holding potable water certificates. Potable water to facilities, communities, and industrial applications is a lucrative biz.
 
Donldson said:
I think your pool guy might be confused. Metal Free is a sequesterant, it sequesters metals so that they can't stain. It does not remove metals, they are all still in your pool. If your iron was 1.3 and nothing removed it then your iron level is still 1.3...
Click to expand...

If that is the case, then what removes iron and other metals?

- - - Updated - - -

PoolguyinCT said:
I agree with your pool tech. He is managing the metals without water exchange.

Who trucks water from a pond? That’s bizarre, hauler must not be interested in his tanks holding potable water certificates. Potable water to facilities, communities, and industrial applications is a lucrative biz.
Click to expand...

I’m in central Maine, have to take what we can get.
 
If that is the case, then what removes iron and other metals?
Click to expand...
Nothing that is very effective. Once the iron precipitates, it can be mechanically removed by filtration.....but painfully slow and can gum up your cartridge filter. In it's soluble form, iron is not removable unless you employ reverse osmosis (about the same as a water softener) and that will cost you a lot of money.
 
Hydropure & culater make excellent filters for fill or recirculating.
The Culater system ran me about $600.00 but I am very pleased.

A particular neighborhood was having iron issues this spring. So I googled iron mining in USA & Michigan popped up.

I reached out to a pool builder in Michigan & he turned me onto the products.
 
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Update:

The day that I was talking to all of you, I was also on the phone with my pool guy. He came out and put a DE filter temporarily on the deck and treated for mustard algae (no charge). That did nothing, so we drained the pool down to the deep end and re-filled with better water (again, no charge except for the loss of chemicals and salt). The water guy was on vacation back when we had it filled and was very apologetic for his stand-in using pond water.

Water is getting back to where it should be, but now a pump problem. That will be a new post.
 
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