thanks to everyone for their help this year as we completed our new 28,000 gal gunite/plaster pool. as some of you know, i have some metal staining that i have now been able to identify using the jack's magic stain id kit. the kit suggests that i use their #2 solution, which requires the heater to be bypassed since it will take the ph down to 6+. so, jack's magic suggests that i add 3 qts of jack's magic blue before closing and then add another 3 qts when opening followed by weekly additions of approximately 1 qt in order to maintain 20ppm. i have been using another metal sequestrant from a local pool store, but it doesn't seem to remove the stain (large area surrounding my drains - spot treatment would be extremely tedious.) at this point, i'm trying to decide whether i should just close her up and then deal with this in the spring or if i would be better off trying to address now since i could keep things running for another few weeks.
treat metal stain before closing or on opening in spring?
- Thread starter smuggs
- Start date
I would wait till the spring. If you are using stain #2, then you have a copper stain. Do you know how copper got into the pool water? I have not dealt with copper stain treatments, so I really can't advise - but I would wait till next season, because if don't keep the sequestering up, and you have to shock on opening, you may end up with stain again. I would really like to see what your numbers are like, and what they have been, and what you have been using in your water to help you see where the copper is coming from.
Mbar
Here's my latest numbers
FC 1.5
TC 2
CC .5
TA 80
Ph 7.4
Ch 230
Cya 45-50
When we filled the pool from our well, the water was green. We knew we had iron, but never actually tested for copper. We added 7-8 qts of metal sequestrant at start up in early Sept. We have since added 3 bottles over the course of time since then. I have used the heater 3-4 times since 2 weeks after opening. Jacks #1 and vit c yield a small black mark that eventually goes away...yellowish color stays. Mark is only really noticeable in shade or clouds. I have been using bleach and trichlor tabs for chlorine. I have not added any algecide, but its possible the PB did on start-up. Thanks for your help.
Here's my latest numbers
FC 1.5
TC 2
CC .5
TA 80
Ph 7.4
Ch 230
Cya 45-50
When we filled the pool from our well, the water was green. We knew we had iron, but never actually tested for copper. We added 7-8 qts of metal sequestrant at start up in early Sept. We have since added 3 bottles over the course of time since then. I have used the heater 3-4 times since 2 weeks after opening. Jacks #1 and vit c yield a small black mark that eventually goes away...yellowish color stays. Mark is only really noticeable in shade or clouds. I have been using bleach and trichlor tabs for chlorine. I have not added any algecide, but its possible the PB did on start-up. Thanks for your help.
Check the trichlor tablets - sometimes they have copper added. Your numbers look ok, expcept the chlorine is too low. You need to keep a minimum of 3 to 4ppms of chlorine with a cya of 50, and the high of 6 - 7. Your shock would be 15 to 20 ppms. I'm not sure if you need to shock with a .5 combined chorine. Sometimes when testing you need to put one more drop of tirrant in the test and then check for cc, and anything under 1 is kind of suspect. If you are going to close anyway, you do need to get the chlorine up to shock levels, and make sure it holds overnight before you close for the season. I would be curious to see if the stains disappear over the winter. I know my iron stains always did. For now I would just make sure there is no algae growing in the pool before you close, and see what you open to in the spring. There is no use doing the treatment now, if you have a mesh cover, becuase the water will change it's chemistry over the winter anyway. If you have a solid cover, I would add the Jack's Magic purple stuff after you are sure the chlorine holds overnight, and close. This way it will be in the water over the winter to lighten the stains while the water is just sitting there. Sorry I have no experiene with copper staiining, I will try to research it, and if I find out anything I will post. 
Mbar, thanks. I will have a mesh cover, so it sounds like it won't make sense to add the jacks. I guess I'm concerned about shocking right now since I just added the other sequestrant about a day ago. No signs of algae and water temp is now about 68. As long as the staining won't be permanent, I won't waste my money on the jacks this fall.
mbar - i did a little more research last night. it is also possible that this is manganese based on the coloring (again, due to well water) just walked out there this morning, and the staining does seem a little lighter since putting in the 1.5 quarts of metal sequestrant on Friday.
That sounds right! I would let it go for a couple of days if you have time, then add the bleach, because the bleach will break some of the sequestering agent down. Make sure the ph is low - 7 - 7.2 so the sequestering agent will work better. When you are ready to close, add the chlorine till you get up to shock, and make sure it holds before covering - otherwise the chlorine will get eaten up fast, and there won't be any to work during the warmer weather. But on the other hand, even if the pool turns green, and the stains stay, there is always next spring - it all cleans up in the end This past spring I opened up to a swamp - and got stains form all the shocking. After getting rid of the algae, and doing an ascorbic acid treatment, I had the best season ever 
So, don't drive yourself crazy - It may take a little longer in the spring, but you won't have to deal with it now and perhaps later too. This is just my opinion, and you can do what is best for you 8)
This past spring I opened up to a swamp - and got stains form all the shocking. After getting rid of the algae, and doing an ascorbic acid treatment, I had the best season ever So, don't drive yourself crazy - It may take a little longer in the spring, but you won't have to deal with it now and perhaps later too. This is just my opinion, and you can do what is best for you 8)