Do I have Prestine Blue in my pool?

[Drumr Boy]

Just bought a home with existing pool, no previous experience with pools, and new to forum. So in a nutshell, I'm a "newbie". I have been reading this forum quite a bit and checking out Pool School. Here's my problem, the water is turning my kids hair green. Water is crystal clear but a copper level of 1.4 from pool store analysis. So they sell me chemicals to remove copper and recheck before continuing. Felling that I'm being ripped off I have not added these chemicals yet. Need to know what to do next. Would like to do the BBB method and I'm ordering TF-100 test kit. This pool has not had chemicals added for at least two weeks since I moved here. Here are some numbers for you to chew on. Any help would be appreciated. By the way, great website and forum!

Temp - 78F
FC - 0
pH - 6.3
TA - 56
CH - Don't see CH but Tot. Hardness is 79
CYA - 25

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Chemicals will not remove the copper (and that seems like a lot). They can hold it in suspension to prevent staining, but to remove it you have to replace water. Read this: pool-school/metal%20stains

Obviously your pH and FC are way too low, but you may need to follow the advice in the above link (and the one in it) before raising the FC.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

If your kids look like this, it's probably copper and it was from pristineblue, nature2, or some other revolutionary chlorine free blah blah blah product.
Read the link jblizzle posted.

 

[DKT113]

You can buy shampoo and conditioner that will remove the green from the kiddos hair.

I put up an AGP last year, put the initial dose of Pristine Blue in ~ (bought the pool from a dealer on my Mom's mail route, the lady had Mom convinced it was the be all end all & when I was relearning pool care (had an inground growing up) I stumbled on this site. My daughter's hair went Kermit on me with just the initial doses getting the water set. I then went BBB.

I went to a beauty supply house and bought what they recommended. If you would like I am able to get the bottles out of the cupboard and share the brand, it worked great. I would definitely look into the shampoo, it wasn't pricey and really brought her hair back to healthy. I believe Wal Mart and drug stores carry shampoos that will work, the beauty supply house was just closest to me and I knew I would need larger bottles to get her hair back.

Congrats on the house ~ enjoy it. And if you read this forum that pool will be everything you want it to be and then some, and it won't crush your wallet. Good Luck.

 

[BoDarville]

Drumr Boy:

Welcome to TFP

As I preview, I see Richard320 has expressed himself in grand fashion again! Oh well, since I typed it up, here's my $0.02 which pretty much says what they said.

Copper at 0.3 or higher has the potential for staining, and it is best to replace water to get the copper level down below that. Out of curiosity, what product did the pool store sell you under the claim that it will remove the copper? My guess is that they sold you a sequestrant which will prevent the metals from staining but will not remove the metals from the water.

As far as removing copper, the only product that **might** be able to do that is called cuLator (http://www.culator.com/). I hesitate a little because that product is fairly new and we don't have enough experience to say how effective it is. The one sure way that will definitely remove the copper (and any other metals) is doing a partial drain & refill.

Until you get the copper level down, it is important to keep the PH below 7.4 to minimize the risk of staining. However, your pH of 6.3 is definitely too low. You need to get that up to at least 7. And, oh yeah, I will second (or I guess third) the motion to read the link jblizzle posted.

 

[Drumr Boy]

I don't see any stains that the article mentions. I guess my question is can I start the BBB method with the copper in there. Didn't turn the hair color that bad just want to get the other levels right. Will it hurt anything to leave the copper in there? Will adding water over time minimize the copper levels?

 

[Drumr Boy]

Here's what they sold me...pool magnet plus, sparkle up, kleen it (to clean the filter)

 

[BoDarville]

One thing to confirm: I'm assuming that you are not filling your pool with well water (which has metals in it - especially iron - and would have to be managed with sequestrants).

Here's what they sold me...pool magnet plus, sparkle up, kleen it (to clean the filter)

After doing a few web searches, the only product of the three that claims to remove metals from the water is Sparkle Up.

• 1. Pool Magnet Plus sounds like a sequestrant in that it prevents staining from iron, copper and manganese. Here's another clue...Use monthly in pools that hold metal containing fill water. Sequestrants must be periodically replenished to prevent metals from depositing as stains.
  2. Sparkle Up claims to aid in removing copper and iron, but I would be skeptical.
  3. Kleen It sounds like a cleaner/solvent to remove stains, but not the underlying metals that caused the stains.

Adding water to top off your pool due to evaporation would really do nothing to remove the metals as they would not evaporate with the water. Since you are using a cartridge filter, you are probably not backwashing (which would remove some of the metals along with the water). That leaves splash-out and overflow draining as the only other ways (short of a partial drain & refill) that would remove some of the metals with the water, but that would be a glacially slow process.

Replacing water by doing a partial drain/refill is the surest way to remove metals. Assuming you are not under any water restrictions, I would venture to guess that the cost of water would likely be less than what you paid for those chemicals. And, it would be a 1-time event.

If it were me, I would remove the metals with a partial drain & refill and start fresh (again, assuming you are not using well water). Otherwise, you run the risk of metal stains and would regularly have to add sequestrants and perhaps even perform Ascorbic Acid (AA) treatments periodically. All of that would add to your maintenance costs.

 

[Drumr Boy]

I am not on well water. I will take back the chemicals and do the partial drain. How much do I take out? 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 Should I clean filter with pool store chemical or water hose? or replace filter?

 

[Drumr Boy]

What does the metal stains look like?

 

[Drumr Boy]

My daughter's hair went Kermit on me with just the initial doses getting the water set. I then went BBB.

Did you do a partial drain and refill and then start BBB or was your copper levels low enough? How long was the shampoo used and is your pool free of copper now?

 

[BoDarville]

Determining the amount of water to drain is a bit subjective in this case. I don't know which copper test the pool store used to test for copper, but some of the copper tests are not very precise and they all have a margin of error to varying degrees. So things could be worse, or not as bad, as they seem. Before doing the drain & refill, it might be worth your while to have it tested again by someone else just to get a second opinion.

With all of that said...

How much do I take out?

Since all we have to go on right now is the copper test result of 1.4 and assuming that is an accurate result, you are looking at an 80% drain & refill to get the copper level just below 0.3.

Should I clean filter with pool store chemical or water hose?

If you are not seeing any metal stains in the pool, odds are there's no staining on your filter. However, I would take a look at the cartridge filters before your return the chemicals. If there is no staining on the cartridges, then washing them with a hose is all you need. If there is staining, see if it will come clear just by using the hose and perhaps soaking the cartridges in water, and/or a little bit of elbow grease. If not, then you could try the filter cleaner.

 

[Drumr Boy]

Before doing the drain & refill, it might be worth your while to have it tested again by someone else just to get a second opinion.

I have ordered the TF-100 along with the copper test. Do I do the syphoning trick with hose to get water out or is there another way?

 

[DKT113]

My daughter's hair went Kermit on me with just the initial doses getting the water set. I then went BBB.

Did you do a partial drain and refill and then start BBB or was your copper levels low enough? How long was the shampoo used and is your pool free of copper now?

I didn't want to state my absolute copper level when you mentioned yours because I was unsure. I do believe initially though I had .03 or .3 ~ I would have to pull my testing info that I started when I ordered my testkit (not the pristine blue one, I purchased the tf-100).

I had only used the initial start up stuff, I did not drain the pool, we had splash-out and refilling from that as well as rain water. My level never went through the roof, although even the minimal concerned me. My daughter's hair picked up the green instantly. The shampoo & conditioner worked immediately. I used a sequestering agent last year ~ so with that I used the shampoo for the season.

I do not believe I had staining in the pool, I would have to check notes and check for posts on here. I did notice though in my skimmer "crud" a scum like residue that I attributed to the P.B. This scum was not on the basket, but on the housing. Nobody else picked up any of the green in their hair either.