stain help

[jkolacny]

Hello,

I'm helping out a friend with his pool, was planning on slamming tonight and helping him switch to BBB. The problem is light brown stains throughout his whole pool. CH was only 150 so I think this may have been the cause. I'm adding CH up as we speak.
I've tried:

Rubbing a tri-chlor tab
Rubbing Vit C tab
no fading with either of these

I did try with muratic acid at a 2-1 ratio and got a slight fade but not much.

Any advice?

15000 gall gunite with pebbletec plaster
no SWG

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Stains should be addressed after your SLAM has been successful......they are seperate issues although there is some chance the SLAM may reduce them.

 

[jkolacny]

thanks, yes I'm slamming tonight for sure. I was planning on adding borates after, is that ok to do with stains?

And if anyone has info on removing stains after pool is balanced i'd appreciate it.

 

[duraleigh]

I wouldn't rush on the borates...make them last.

Get your pool crystal clear by SLAMming (don't skip ANY of the steps) and then let's work on the stains.

Post a pic of the stains when your water is clear and we can get a good look.

 

[jkolacny]

slam is still in progress... water was clear enough to take pic. There are about 5 blue stains, and the brown stains are throughout the whole pool.

 

[jkolacny]

slam is complete! any idea on these stains? need more pics?

 

[onBalance]

Try using acid in a squirt bottle underwater again. Should remove the brown stains. Watch for any fizzing at surface. And let us know.

 

[jkolacny]

ok I have confirmation that these are copper stains, probably due to nature 2 junk.(has been removed). I called magic jack's and they recommend 6 weeks use of the blue stuff to slowly dissolve stains. Is this what ya'll would recommend? Would no drain acid bath work? I tried acid again straight on stain with no result.

ph: 7.2
Ta: 75
CH: 250
CYA: 50
Borates: 0
FC: 6
water is crystal clear
BBB

 

[onBalance]

I don't know how you confirmed that the stain is copper, but I am doubtful of that, especially if the acid isn't working to remove the stain.
I would try sanding the area for a couple of minutes using 80-grit wet&dry sandpaper on the stained area.

 

[jkolacny]

ok, maybe not absolute confirmation. more of an educated assumption.. like I said vit c didn't react, and calcium level was kept below 250 for the past 2 years. I assumed that ruled out iron and calcium scaling. He also had Nature 2 and he never monitored ph, so I figured copper was leached from heater coils. I also called and sent pics to magic jack and he said he's pretty certain its copper stains. I will try the sandpaper, and also add blue stuff.thanks