My town is the Copper Capital?

[ultra800_96]

Here's my story, (sorry for the long post)
After a citric acid treatment this spring ridding the pool of stains on my 17 yr agp, (worked very well after some time & too much citric), finally got FC to hold after 3 weeks. I've been working on tuning the SWCG in, supplementing with some bleach, starting out slow to 2 FC, then trying to get to & stay around the 5 level & have been keeping PH around 7.2. Put the solar cover on for a week, to keep the grackles from making a complete mess like they do every year when nesting. Pulled the solar cover off last Friday. Cloudy water. Still 5 FC, 0 CC. I decided enough time had past to take to shock level to clear out the clouding. One day, & the pool was very clear again. I vac'd on Saturday, pool came up to temp & I was in the pool Sunday & Monday. Thought I had it made for the summer. Clear & Sparkly, planning on adding Borates for the first time. Checked FC & PH every morning since.

Checked FC & PH Wednesday morning before heading to work. 5 FC, 0 CC, & 7.2 PH, Clear & Sparkly. Status Quo. Came home Wed nite & the pool was emerald green, still clear but emerald green! Looked like the pool walls were stained again, & with Vit C test, yes they were. Never have I had the emerald green color in my pool.

The only thing available locally here for a decent sequesterant is Iron Myte from Menards. I added the Startup dose, & now, Friday nite it is back to normal with ever so slight staining.

I did some searching on the web for my town's water test results & found an old test (don't know how old) & it listed the Copper level as 1.3 PPM. It had to be a mistake.

My son's friend works for City Hall, so I called her & asked about the latest test results on our municiple water, especially Copper. After telling me I should have received something in the mail this spring, she confirmed the level. 1.2 PPM Copper. I questioned maybe .12, nope 1.2. This is my fill water, no wonder.

Still wondering what triggered the emerald green when I've never, ever had it before, even sometimes under heavy shock load in years past, but something obviously did now. It's like someone put something in my pool that day, although highly unlikely. Obviously, it's something now I'm going to keep a very close eye on.

By the way,
FC 5
PH 7.2
CC 0 (never have tested over .5 this year)
TA 160
CH 360
CYA 70
Salt 3200

Any Ideas?

 

[JasonLion]

If your copper level is really 1.2-1.3, it is a miracle that your staining is not far worse than what you describe.

When the FC level goes up fairly high copper in the water can turn the water a bright transparent emerald green. You don't normally see that when CYA is up at 70 however, as the CYA cuts the active chlorine level significantly.

It is time to work on finding good brands of sequestrant available at good mail order prices. You are going to need quite a bit of it this season.

 

[ultra800_96]

If your copper level is really 1.2-1.3, it is a miracle that your staining is not far worse than what you describe.

I agree totally! After learning what the level is, I was flabbergasted & wanted to panic (but didn't)

When the FC level goes up fairly high copper in the water can turn the water a bright transparent emerald green. You don't normally see that when CYA is up at 70 however, as the CYA cuts the active chlorine level significantly.

Agreed. Re-staining is what I was trying to avoid by slowly bringing up the FC & keeping my PH on the low side, although I did take to shock level 4 days earlier due to the clouding. Just surprised it changed like it did 3-4 days later with no other high chlorine inverventions, or high PH.


It is time to work on finding good brands of sequestrant available at good mail order prices. You are going to need quite a bit of it this season.

On that subject, I searched & found the MSDS on the "Utikem Iron Myte" previous to adding it. Here's the link, http://www.menards.com/msds/101689_001.pdf, listing Citric Acid, 1-hydroxyethane, 1-1-diphosphonic acid. Also the bottle says it contains Organophosphonic Acid derivitives. I did buy a couple extra bottles, as it's a 65 mile round trip to get it. Is this bad to use? I know there's probably better, as at $8 a bottle, you usually get what you pay for? The stuff does work pretty well, by the way.

One other quick question, after searching & finding nothing definitive, would top off refilling through my softner remove the copper? I've read both ways.

 

[duraleigh]

would top off refilling through my softner remove the copper? I've read both ways.

Of course. Softeners REMOVE metals from water so the softened water, over time, will replace your copper laden water and your issues will be over. Do not try to replace all the pool water at once through the softener...it doesn't have nearly enough capacity.

 

[ultra800_96]

I understand. Thanks for responding Dave. I have a twin tank Kinetico, so I'm always on soft water in the house, even during regeneration. Time to get some valves & switch the closest outside faucet to softened water. It'll help with washing the car also!