copper hydroxide

[blondemarcello]

Our pool turned green - lack of monitoring

My brother-in-law from out of town is convinced we should use copper hydroxide to clear it up. He is a professional crop watcher and has used it to clear up ponds with algea in Michigan.

We put in 5 jugs of chlorine this morning before he showed up with his advice. We went ahead and put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of copper hydroxide in probably about an hour later just to keep him happy. I'm still pretty leary about this idea.

Any negative affects I should know about so I can tell him we're not putting in anymore? Or can I humor him and try it? Looking for an answer before 9 a.m. Friday when he comes back over.

Thanks.

 

[jblizzle]

Never want to add metal to the pool as it can lead to staining ... both the pool and the copper will turn blond hair green.

Also it does not kill algae, really more of an attempt at prevention.

Read the article in Pool School about the proper shock procedure.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[Swampwoman]

I live in Michigan and can confirm that it IS an approach to killing algae and one that my chemist friend wholly supports. HOWEVER same friend admires my bbb pool water (and has since stopped using copper in HIS pool.

Why? Because you can't stain a pond, but you sure's heck can stain a pool! And once you have any metal in the water, it's virtually impossible to get it out, and very expensive to sequester it by adding phosphoric acid every week (eg. Jacks magic). You also risk staining every time your ph rises, so now you also have to watch your ph like a hawk.

While you now can't undo the fact that you did it, you CAN refuse to put any more in, and you CAN instead use sustained shock levels of liquid chlorine/bleach to completely resolve your algae. But to stay ahead of it, be sure to dose high enough to stay at shock level for your cya until your next dose. Measure and monitor as frequently as possible. Once you've lost less than 1 ppm overnight, and have less than .5 cc, and the water is crystal clear, you're done. It will take a few days, so hang in there.

Hopefully, if this is your only addition of copper, your trace amount will be too minute to stain and you won't be stuck with the consequences of letting well-meaning (and not exactly inaccurate) advice influence you

 

[Swampwoman]

Ps you may wish to add some metal magic or Jacks magic now as a prevention to staining. Your shock process may oxidize the copper.
If at any point your water looks emerald green but clear (unlike algae, which is cloudy) that will mean the copper has oxidize and should be sequestered.