Pool Stained After Adding Borax

[gevensen]

I used borax last year and the pool has developed some nasty stains, I never had any staining before

It almost looks like rust brown/yellow staining

I read about the ascorbic acid treatment

Will this work here?

I also found citric acid in quantity which I used to use on stains on dishwashers when I used to service them

Which is more effective, I see citric acid is much less expensive?

I have a 16x32 vinyl pool approx 22k gallons running a de filter

it is a salt pool now and I am using a intellichlor chlorinator, the stains were before I added the pool salt

I see I have to get the chlorine level as low as possible

what dosage of ascorbic or citric acid should I use

thanks for the help...

 

[JasonLion]

You can use citric acid, but you need twice as much as you would of ascorbic acid, even so it is still less expensive.

The first thing to do is to check that the stains respond to citric/ascorbic acid. The simplest way to do that is to get a vitamin C tablet and hold it against a stained area for 30 seconds. If the stain clears up in that area, you should do an ascorbic/citric acid treatment.

There is a good write up on how to do the treatment here.

 

[gevensen]

thanks for the response I have some powder vitamin c i will take a look now

any idea on dosage for a 16x32 pool?

 

[gevensen]

i tried the vitamin c on several spots they all came out

 

[JasonLion]

I'd buy 1.5 lbs of ascorbic acid or 3 lbs of citric acid, but try half that much to start with.

 

[niceguymr]

how / why does Borax cause stains?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Borax doesn't cause stains. High PH and metals present in the water can cause the metals to drop out of suspension and deposit on pool surfaces. Borax raises PH so too much can cause it, or localized application, etc.

 

[gevensen]

Borax doesn't cause stains. High PH and metals present in the water can cause the metals to drop out of suspension and deposit on pool surfaces. Borax raises PH so too much can cause it, or localized application, etc.

its probably my fault I didnt mix it just hrew it in but my ph was VERY low and I ended up using quite a bit

first time in 13 years i made that mistake, never had a liner discoloration before

 

[gevensen]

i found ascorbic acid crystals at trader joes for 9.99 a lb

i used part of 1 bottle the other day to clean the stairs, maybe 3/4 lb then it started raining

i looked out this morning and it was almost clean ( i let it run 2 days )

I just added more, i imagine the liner will be sparkling clean

my water is crystal clear, i have the intelliflo vf pump and at its lowest setting it uses 100w

runs slow but i leave it on 24/7 since i can afford 100w 24/7 :-D and the water stays beautiful and the filter rarely gets too much pressure

im glad i found this forum

 

[gevensen]

added the rest of the ascorbic and the pool is gorgeous again

i did notice however i had to add another 80 lbs of pool salt to get the choline generator working again

Im not sure its because the weather has cooled or the ascorbic reacts with the salt

 

[JasonLion]

There often needs to be a little more salt when the water is colder. AA and salt don't interact.