OH my i need help !! New pool,first fill, well water, etc

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tillys26

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Oct 25, 2007
49
Ok so ive spent endless hours reading this and that on the pools and what to do and what not to and my pool guy im not quite sure if he knows what he is talking about because if you read on you will see , anyways just finished the pool, its IG with wet edge pebble satin , 20x40 , about 30k gallon and its a swg or whatever you call it , salt system , anyways i filled the pool up using my well , and it looked fine coming out of the water but as more got in there it turned green , cloudy and alot of what looked like iron or rust , so my pool builder decides hes going to shock it,well we run the pump and filter the whole day and night and the next day my waters a reddish brown so i call my pool builder who was suppose to come look the next day but conveniently didnt show , so he makes a few calls and says we need to drain it, so i figure ill call the pool company myself and she says that you should never shock well water becauase of the metals in it and i should drain it,so i drain it , clean it , spray it down and brush it with my hose bib that is run thru the whole house filter and water softner and i bring in a water truck who fills it up but it turns brown again ,so either there was alot of Crud stuck in the pebbles or the truck had Crud in it to , anyways we put 4 quards of jacks purple stuff i think its called and ran the filters an pumps all day and night and its still looking the same, i just backwashed my filter (sand) and it was filthy but the pressure hadnt risen to where they say you should backwash it , i just did it anyways . So now im stressing , ive been brushing it constantly and when i do you can see the brown Crud pushing around the bottom , i dont want it to stain my new wetedge, what do i do , here are the numbers the pool lady gave me on my water and she suggested i buy all kinds of chems from her but reading on here and other sites ive found alot of people say to forget what they say, here goes, any and all help would be appreciated thanks
SAT INDX- -1.5
tds-25
CYA -0
TOT CHLORINE - .3
FREE CHLORINE-.3
PH 7.2
TOT ALK-56
TOT HARDNESS-27
COPPER NOT TESTED
IRON - .7
 
Welcome to TFP!

You have some iron in the fill water from the truck, but 0.7 shouldn't be too bad. You have already added some sequestrant, so that should take care of keeping the iron from staining, at least for now.

When you say "turns brown again", did the water look nice and clear for a while and then turn brown, or might it have been brown coming out of the truck? It sounds like there is quite a bit of silt in the water, if so it would have been there right from the truck. Silt can take a couple of days to settle and filter out, annoying but not a big deal. There aren't that many things which will turn the water red/brown, if it wasn't that color coming out of the truck then I am not sure what is happening.

You need to get some CYA (stabilizer) and chlorine into the pool and test the PH frequently. Do you have a good test kit? The best investment in your pool you can make is a good test kit.

I would put a couple of trichlor tablets in the skimmer, keep the pump running 24/7 for now, and test the PH at least daily.
 
TillyS,

Welcome to TFP!

Congrats on your new pool....take a deep breath.....help will be here soon! :)

Sounds crazy, but just try not to panic. Also, the best investment we made was a good water test kit so that you do not get 'pool stored' and you will know what is going on with your water.

Again, welcome.

Joyce
 
Thanks for the fast response, im doing doughnuts around the pool trying to figure out if i need to drain it again or if it will actually clear up eventually. My test kit is what the pool builder gave me which im guessing is nothing special, its a pentair pool and spa test kit, please give me your advice on which kit to buy and ill be more then happy to spend the money on one, right now id do anything to get this thing figured out, im sooo stressed im gonna ruin the finish on my new pool, also the truck came and the first load was a little dirty off the start but the next 8 loads were clean it appeared, so im not sure how much of it was the truck. When i first filled it out of my well like i said it was green an cloudy , then my pool guy shocked it and it turned brown sometime over night, so im not sure what happened, the pool supply place said it was because of the shock and the metal in the water mixing ? So im gonna go buy whatever you guys suggest and get started on fixing it first thing in the morning, any and all info is appreciated, boy this is stressful
 
Tillys26, Look above and see Jason Lion's signature. He has a link to the TFP Water Test Kit. Dave, who sells the kit, will answer any question you may have about it. It is recommended by lots of folks here. Again, your water problem will clear because you will get all the help you need. Try not to worry too much. More help will be on the way......... :)

btw, after we filled our newly plastered pool in March, I added a bottle of bleach and the beautiful water turned green. It actually cleared on its own within about 8 hrs. We had to add some Metal Out stuff. Anyway, don't panic. You will get all the help you need.

Joyce
 
Please relax, you won't damage your pool :) You will however have to use sequestering agent - which is what Jack's Magic Purple stuff is. Anything that says will remove metal or control metal will be ok. Although removeing metals is still open for debate. It is said that when you have metals in the water they can never really be removed - just sequestered. You will learn how to control them in your pool. The first thing to know that high ph along with high chlorine will let metals precipitate out of the water (fall out) and land on the surface of the pool and cause staining. The idea is to get enough sequestering agent in the water to keep the metals suspended in the water. The sequestering agent binds onto the metals to keep them from falling out of solution. Keeping the ph on the low side also helps. If the water is turning colors, you have to add more sequestering agent. You don't have to drain the water - unless you can find water that doesn't have any metals in it for sure, you will just be adding water that has the same problem. Your chlorine is more potent when you don't have any cya in it. Your ph is fine at 7.2. I would suggest you add more sequestering agent, add some cya, and make sure your ph doesn't go any higher than 7.2. Keep your filter running 24/7, backwashing often until your water is clear. When the water is clear, then you have enough sequestering agent in it. If you do get any staining - don't be afraid - it can be taken care of. Keep us informed, and we can help you handle well water with metals 8)
 
Thanks Mbar, how much is to much for backwashing though ? wont i be backwashing the jacks purple stuff out ? i have a hayward s360 sand filter, and the pressure was on 20 which is about what it started at but i backwashed anyways since the filter and pump had been running for 24hrs and it was filthy, so should i do it so many hours because the gauge is not going 8-10lbs higher then when its clean. Also can i buy the cya from home depot or lowes or do i need a specialy pool shop ? and last but not least how much should i put in ? a rough idea at least ? I dont know what i would do if i didnt have this forum to rely on , id be going more crazy then i already am right now lol. Also should i be putting any bleach into the pool ?
 
You will need to backwash as frequently as you can as long as the colored water is coming out. How many gallons of water do you have? I usually suggest two times the amount on the bottle if you have a lot metals in the water. You will be getting rid of some of the sequestering agent when you backwash, but you will also be getting rid of the dirty water too. You will know that you have enough sequestering agent in the water when the water turns clear, and you don't see any stains on the surface of the pool. You can buy the cya at any store - it is all the same. Just don't put as much as they say in - add about 1/2 the amount that the container says. Put it in a sock and tie it in the pool, or put the sock in the skimmer. It will take a while to dissolve, and take a while to test positive. The only trouble is that you don't want to backwash when adding the stabalizer (cya), as you may just backwash some of it out :roll: . So I would suggest doing the sequestering agent first, then after two days add the cya. Don't let your chlorine get any higher than 3ppms for now. Add your chlorine at night, and check it as soon as you can if the sun is really out, If you have any trichlor tablets, it would be a good idea to put one in the skimmer if you have sand or de filter. This way you will be getting a continuous steam of chlorine and some cya at the same time. You cannot do this if you have a cartridge filter. Another good thing about a trichlor puck is that it is acidic and will keep your ph down which is good when dealing with metals. You will also be able to backwash with the the trichlor puck. When your water is clear and you add the cya, you will not get a true reading until about a week later. You want your cya at about 30 - 50 ppms. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have :)
 

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Hi Tillys26,

Just wanted to suggest that you list all your pool information in your signature via the profile so that every time you post a question you will get faster and more accurate help! :wink: you just can't give too much info!

Also sounds like things are calming down for you and your new pool. Good luck. :)

Joyce
 
Thanks, i just tried putting my info in my signature so i will see if it works this time. Unfortuantely the pump and filters been running little over 48hrs now and still not really clearing up that i can tell , i just put two trichlor tablets in each of my two strainers, wondering if i should go get some more sequestering stuff and try that, its still cloudy brown, where you cant see the floor in the either end of the pool. How hard is it to post a pic , id like to take a pic right now and put it on here so people can give me more ideas, thanks
 
ok so im gonna try posting a few pics and see what ya think, also when i brush the pool it makes a huge red cloud like its all just sitting on the bottom, how will i ever get all this stuff out ?
IMG_1724_1_1.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff22 ... 25_1_1.jpg
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff22 ... 26_1_1.jpg
 
Your pool is beautiful!.....except for the water! But, rest assured those that know will be here soon to help you clear the water. You are going to need some POP (pool owner patience), again, even after the build :shock: . btw, where are you located?...or did I miss that?

Take care.

Joyce
 
This might be a good situation for a floc treatment. You have some powder settling on the bottom and obviously there is lots more suspended in the water. By adding a flocculant you could get all of the powder to settle to the bottom and then you could vacuum it up, preferably to waste if your system has that option. This isn't necessary, the filter will deal with it eventually, but it would speed the process up dramatically. And if that is iron instead of silt or construction debris it would be good to get it out of the water right away. A floc treatment costs something for the floc agent, and it requires some careful vacuuming (so you don't push the dust back into suspension), but it can help dramatically in situations like this.
 
Thanks you guys , this is def trying my patience thats for sure :) put two more bottles of jacks purple stuff in today and the trichlor tablets , maybe tomorrow i will go buy the floculant , now when you say to vaccum it am i using my cleaner ? i have the hayward navigator but it hasnt been put in the pool yet , or do you just turn the sand filter to waste and it sucks it out ? Sooo much to learn lol thank god you guys and girls are here for help, id really be going crazy. And by the way im out here in Northern California, little town called Jackson :)
 
Actually, you need to manually vacuum the pool after adding the flocculant. Your pool builder should have given you a vacuum hose, pole, and vacuum head to use for this. When you do vacuum, you need to go very slow and steady as to not stir the settled sediment at the bottom too much. And as Jason said, vaccuum to waste.
 
Is that common for them to give you the vaccum etc, my pb only gave me a pole with the brush - net and a water test kit and a thermometer , guess i will have to go somewhere and buy the vaccumm ? do they have them at say lowes home depot , walmarts etc or do i need to go to a pool store to get em ? Thanks
 
your pool looks awsome (aside from color), but the color looks like the chesapeak bay, we swim and boat in that almost everyday in the summer.

lowes and home depot are idiots when it comes to pools, walmart is where i got my vac head.
 

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