This is our second year filling the pool with well water. Last year we had a smaller pool 12'x36" and when we filled it the water was perfectly clear, but this year it has been raining non stop for almost a month and the water from the well turned a little yellow. Well it stopped raining and the water cleared back up and we got another pool this week 15'x48" started to fill it and now the water is coming out yellow again which is making the water look green completely clear just green. We have been filling it on and off all week and it is just over half full but now I can see little bugs swimming in it. So what I want to know is can I add any chemicals in it without being able to run the pump/filter because the water level is still too low and it may be a few more days before it is completely full.
Yellow well water?
- Thread starter kmd0826
- Start date
I am wondering why it is taking you so long to fill the pool. When I fill mine, I hook up a 2 way valve to my hydrant and connect 2 hoses, then open the hydrant all the way and let it flow till the pool is full. As for your well water being yellow I would check into some type of filter system for your home. You might even have a reputable well guy come and check your well. If it was mine I would flush the well for awhile. Just open a hydrant and let the water run. Then I would take a water sample to the local extension office and have it tested for bacteria. If it has bacteria, you might have to shock the well system itself. You can search the net for well shocking to find the needed info.
By the way, the government publications I researched recommend using bleach to disinfect the well system!
You are correct all newly dug or drilled wells are "shocked" with bleach allowed to sit for 8-12 hrs then flushed by running the water non stop for several hours to clear the bleach from the system
But it sounds like a new influx of groundwater is getting into the well bringing sediment with it. You might try pre filtering the water as it goes into your pool ( a sock stuffed with batting or a few towels wrapped around the hose end) will remove a bunch of the sediment and discoloration from high iron content in the water
But it sounds like a new influx of groundwater is getting into the well bringing sediment with it. You might try pre filtering the water as it goes into your pool ( a sock stuffed with batting or a few towels wrapped around the hose end) will remove a bunch of the sediment and discoloration from high iron content in the water
I actually never thought of a two way valve. My husband only wants to run it for a few hours per day, he thinks the well will go dry or the pump will burn out or anything else that could go wrong will go wrong. We do have an older house so having the hose on outside affects the water pressure inside the house. After tropical storm Andrea a few weeks back and then bad storms everyday for like 2 weeks the water had a tinge to it. It hasn't rained in a few days but the ground is still very wet the water ususally stays colored until everything drys out. I made a homemade filter but it wasn't until after there was maybe foot and a half of water in the pool and now it is all just green. I am hoping that once I am able to turn on the pump/filter it will clear up I have about 4 inches to go and my husband is out of town until tomorrow so I am hoping to get it done before he comes back and I am stuck with 2/3 hours a day.
Sounds like you have iron in your water. Common problem with wells. There is an article in pool school dealing with metals.
Also it sounds like you already have algae. After you get the pool filled you need to start the shocking process to get it cleared up. Hold off on worrying about if you have iron in the water till your done shocking and then see how it looks. 
Incorrect.
OP lives somewhere fairly near me and I can tell you from personal experience you can run wells dry quite easily. Additionally, the outcome is not good....ever.
No real need to go into the details why but, kmd0826, you should heed the advice from your husband about exceeding the capacity of your well. Neither of you will be very happy if that occurs.
If there was iron in the water wouldn't show up in the filter I put over the hose which is a large jug stuffed with batting and holes drilled in the bottom? So far the batting is just a little yellow no where near the orange I have seen around the internet of iron filtering. And if there is iron wouldn't shocking do more harm? Can someone tell me how to post pictures?
Did you ever have your well water tested for metals? That is what I would do it your case. So the water turned orange before you added chlorine? In that case it might not be iron. That usually requires chlorine to oxidize (is that the right word?) it. I'll let one of the experts help you more.
kyser
0
I would fill a white five gallon bucket with well water, add .5 tsp of 8.25% bleach, stir, and give it about 30 minutes. This should give you about 10ppm and show you what will happen in your pool when you shock.
Duraleigh, 
Just wondering why do wells run out of water so easily in NC? A friend of mine lives out near Raleigh and he told me, he filled his 24' AGP in about 2 days without any problem from the well. Do you have a shallow well with a jet pump? I have 265" deep well with a submersible pump. It is rare for them to run dry and if they do, they recharge quickly.
Just wondering why do wells run out of water so easily in NC? A friend of mine lives out near Raleigh and he told me, he filled his 24' AGP in about 2 days without any problem from the well. Do you have a shallow well with a jet pump? I have 265" deep well with a submersible pump. It is rare for them to run dry and if they do, they recharge quickly.We have lived here for just over 7 yrs and the well was dug I am assuming in 1978 when the house was built and hasn't run dry to my knowledge we had to replace the pump about 4 yrs ago other than that we have done nothing to it as far as maintenance/testing. I am like 85% sure the coloring is due to rainwater because it only randomly happens after heavy rain and the water does stand in a few places in our front yard where the well is.
@JohnN I haven't added anything at all to the water and it is light yellow and in a blue pool the water looks green but clear. It is finally full and now I have the pump running with the cartridge filter and another container/batting filter at the end of the return? hose.
@JohnN I haven't added anything at all to the water and it is light yellow and in a blue pool the water looks green but clear. It is finally full and now I have the pump running with the cartridge filter and another container/batting filter at the end of the return? hose.
"green" water top corner is a cloud reflection
Bottled water on the left ^and the well water on right -->before the bucket with bleach test
Bottled water on the left ^ and well water on the right --> after the bucket with bleach test
So should I go ahead and add cholrine or shock? I only have the colored test strip things and as the pool stands now every thing is at very low and total cholrine doesn't even register.
kyser
0
Wow! What a difference. Did anything settle out to the bottom of the bucket? The reason we ask is if it had been iron making the water yellow then it would have been oxidized and precipitated leaving a layer on the bottom of the bucket. Much better to have that happen in the bucket rather than the pool.
If not, then I would go ahead and shock.
If not, then I would go ahead and shock.
Also you will hear this numerous times but "shock" is a proccess not a product only use liquid chlorine "bleach" not granular "shock" that the pool store will sell you
No nothing settled at the bottom. Is there a special type of pool bleach or just regular last year I used the tabs in the filter. How much should I add to start?