How do I know if I have a rust or any metal problems and how do I treat them? My water looked brown for a week now looking rusty after shocking for 3 days. Backwash looks clear for a few seconds then very rusty color, then rinse is clear.
Rusty colored water
- Thread starter xxreddoor24xx
- Start date
You should post a full set of water test results and also tell us if you have performed an overnight FC loss test recently.
No loss overnight, here are my numbers from 5pm Sorry not exact as I'm using strips, will get better testing supplies asap
TH.. 100
FC.. 10+
PH.. 7.8
TA.. 80
CYA.. 30-50
TH.. 100
FC.. 10+
PH.. 7.8
TA.. 80
CYA.. 30-50
Pool was left unattended for 2 years by previous tenents, lots of leaves and debris I cleaned out and emptied water to about 6-12 inches and refilled.. added algaecide and a purifier, now keeping shock levels, cleared up murkiness now rusty for a few days now, running pump and filter constantly...
It sounds like you are making very good progress. One thing to try is to add a little DE to the sand filter, see this article at Pool School. If that doesn't help significantly you could try an enzyme treatment (like Pool Perfect).
It is important to get all of the solid debris out of the pool. I believe you have done that already, but do be sure you got everything.
It is important to get all of the solid debris out of the pool. I believe you have done that already, but do be sure you got everything.
I think it may be a metal issue, rusty colored foamy scum this morning. Could a sequestrant hurt if thats not the problem?
Sparkmaster
In The Industry
Sequestrant won't hurt, but it doesn't sound like a metal problem to me. Iron in the water tends to turn the water yellow or green Even though it can stain the surface brown, it won't normally turn the water brown. The only way iron will turn the water brown is when it is not dissolved. Iron particles can be brown. Particles will filter out (thus the DE suggestion), and sequestrant won't help because they are not dissolved.
To me it actually sounds most likely to be tannins, organic chemicals that cause brown stains and brown water. Chlorine will break down tannins, but only slowly. An enzyme treatment will break them down much more quickly. The DE trick is easier to try, so I suggested trying that first. But my best guess is tannins.
Sequestrant won't hurt anything, other than the expense.
To me it actually sounds most likely to be tannins, organic chemicals that cause brown stains and brown water. Chlorine will break down tannins, but only slowly. An enzyme treatment will break them down much more quickly. The DE trick is easier to try, so I suggested trying that first. But my best guess is tannins.
Sequestrant won't hurt anything, other than the expense.
Whats an enzyme treatment? I'll try whatever, but the truth is I'm on a VERY limited budget and already wasted alot on the wrong stuff like clarifiers, tablets,and powder shock which was weak, before the water was even clear, wish I found this site 2 weeks ago.. I've spent close to 300 dollars and no real results til starting the bleach.. and should I try enzyme or DE first?
BTW water looks clear in a white bucket or clear glass.. and another question.. Should I stay at shock level until this rusty color clears?
You can try either one first. They are both fairly likely though even both together is not sure to work.
An enzyme treatment is a chemical that helps break down things, like oil, that chlorine will only break down slowly. If you have tannins in the water, chlorine alone will break them down eventually, possibly as long as a couple of weeks, but adding some enzyme treatment can break them down in somewhere between hours and days.
You don't need to keep shocking if the CC level is 0.5 or lower and overnight FC loss is 1.0 or lower.
An enzyme treatment is a chemical that helps break down things, like oil, that chlorine will only break down slowly. If you have tannins in the water, chlorine alone will break them down eventually, possibly as long as a couple of weeks, but adding some enzyme treatment can break them down in somewhere between hours and days.
You don't need to keep shocking if the CC level is 0.5 or lower and overnight FC loss is 1.0 or lower.
my test strips dont include CC, i have only Total Hardness, Free Chlorine, PH, Total
Alkalinity, and CYA. What is CC ?
Alkalinity, and CYA. What is CC ?
BTW water is clearing up slowly but surely. I can see like 3/4 of the way down . And the color has lightened some, especially around the edges. The color now resembles the water in a lake, but its still an improvement. We just got some rain, I know it affects something, is there something I should do considering its still in bad shape. I did go scrub the walls afterwards and rakeleafed. And I did add 4 bottles of 6% bleach this morning and scrubbed the sides of pool but also had to add some water in the a.m. from the hose, due to backwashing.
I just checked my numbers , here they are.
TH- 100
FC- 10
PH- 7.8
TA- 90
CYA- 20-40
I just checked my numbers , here they are.
TH- 100
FC- 10
PH- 7.8
TA- 90
CYA- 20-40
If the color is fading, you should just keep doing what you have been doing, ie continue shocking, and don't do the DE or enzyme thing unless the color stops going away.
My TA and PH have increased slightly last couple days, TA from 80 to 100, and PH from 7.5 to 8.0. Slight decrease in CYA too. It has rained two nights in a row for a couple hours each and I am still shocking too. Do these things fluctuate during rain or shocking?
BTW rusty color is lightening up nicely, looks kinda yellowish near the sides, probably some to due with the blue vinyl i suppose, at lot less sediment flowing into skimmer too, almost none at all, dont miss the orange specks at all.
Now that i can see almost to the bottom Im ready to vacuum, should I shut pump off for a while first to let anything settle or no? Here are todays #s
TH 100
FC 10+
PH 8.0
TA 100
CYA 20-40
BTW rusty color is lightening up nicely, looks kinda yellowish near the sides, probably some to due with the blue vinyl i suppose, at lot less sediment flowing into skimmer too, almost none at all, dont miss the orange specks at all.
Now that i can see almost to the bottom Im ready to vacuum, should I shut pump off for a while first to let anything settle or no? Here are todays #s
TH 100
FC 10+
PH 8.0
TA 100
CYA 20-40
You should ignore the PH level when FC is 10 or higher.
I'd vacuum without any special pump off period. Later when things are closer to finished you can try the turn the pump off trick.
I'd vacuum without any special pump off period. Later when things are closer to finished you can try the turn the pump off trick.
It is only worth vacuuming to waste if there is a lot of debris that is clogging up the filter quickly, or if you are doing a floc treatment. If you are vacuuming up a lot of algae it is often a good idea to backwash/clean the filter after vacuuming, but it doesn't sound like that is the case here.