Metals in Well Water

[MRQ75]

My wife and I just got done renovating our 40000 gallon Anthony Sylvan pool that came with the foreclosed home we purchased six years ago. The whole experience has been one of the most trying projects we've undertaken.

The pool has been painted and the plumbing had been clogged with all types of debris. The pool is from the early 70's and just trying to find information and parts has been a challenge. I still have not located some of the parts.

I wish that someone had the knowledge to inform us of the difficulties of well water and having it tested before treating it but nobody that I know who is a pool owner had done it. Everyone seems to get into the process and test when they don't get positive results.

I shocked the pool and it has turned brown and is depositing sediment all over the pool. My research online leads me to believe that I have iron in my water and the chlorine has reacted with it and is causing the mess that I now have. I've seen plenty of posts where people are dealing with this and some even achieved results in trying to remedy the situation.

I have not seen someone dealing with it that has a pool of my size, running my type of filtration. I have a Hayward Perflex DE filter EC75A. The manual states that this filter is designed to avoid the whole back washing process as far as operation goes. Everyone I see is using cartridge, or sand filters and is using back washing or Ferritabs as part of the process to correct and these are not options I have available running my setup.

My wife and I have so much labor and money invested into this pool and now I feel like we've hit a wall and I fear what type of damage is possibly being done while I'm unable to find a solution to this. Does anyone have any positive insight to this issue, as it would be greatly appreciated?

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. Iron in your water is problematic. As long as you fill with an iron laden resource (your well) you will always have to deal with it.

Have you tested the iron content and if so, what was it?

Do you have any other resource to fill your pool?

Do you have a whole house water softener?

 

[Bama Rambler]

I assume you've read the thread where the owner used paper towels to filter out as much of the iron as they could by stuffing them in the skimmer basket. Since it appears to be dropping out of solution you may be able to filter some of it out. Whatever happens you'll most likely have to maintain a level of sequestrant as long as you use your well water to fill the pool.

 

[MRQ75]

duraleigh, I have not yet had the water tested. I should be able to do so in the next day or so. I looked into having water trucked in before using my well, just in the interest of saving time because our season is coming to a close here in NEPA. The cost was high.....hundreds of dollars. Funny because the path I've chosen may very well put me right back in that ball park. I have a whole house filter but no softener. The problem has prompted me into looking into a couple different filtration methods for the house since the well will be the source for topping off or anything pool related.

Bama Rambler, I did not see the post about the paper towels but I have seen a few posts and videos elsewhere where people are using 5 gallon containers of all sorts stuffed with polyfiber stuffing and drilled holes. This home made filter is attached to the waste side of your pool filter and discharged back to the pool. The thing is that most have been using this rig on pools with less than half my volume of water. I've chalked the hopes of any use this season to a loss but I still want to try and remedy this before closing.

 

[Isaac-1]

I also have a Hayward EC75 (actually my second one due to roofer's destroying the first one, long story of people thinking they knew what they were doing trying to cover up the mess they made), The key thing to remember about these Perflex filters is they do not take abuse well, It is important to not let them rise above the "red line" or else the fingers can get over pressurized and damaged. Also from time to time you need to open them up and acid wash the finger bundle to clear them of build up (calcium, etc.), how often depends on how hard your water is, etc. My water is very soft and I find I can go at least 2 years or more, some people with very hard water have reported needing to do this as often as every 6 months. The process I use is fairly simple, I fill a large trash can about half full with water and some acid (about a quart of muriatic acid), disconnect the outlet pipe (I have a screw together union fitting), then unscrew all those nuts and bolts around the top, lift top off and set the whole thing in the trash can with the acid / water solution. I then agitate every once in a while by spinning it back and forth with the bump handle, once fingers are mostly clean / white I dump the water, rinse with more water , then reinstall. Sometimes I have also used a detergent cleaner cycle, with something like TSP.

Ike

Ike

 

[DorsalSpine]

I also have a Hayward EC75 (actually my second one due to roofer's destroying the first one, long story of people thinking they knew what they were doing trying to cover up the mess they made), The key thing to remember about these Perflex filters is they do not take abuse well, It is important to not let them rise above the "red line" or else the fingers can get over pressurized and damaged. Also from time to time you need to open them up and acid wash the finger bundle to clear them of build up (calcium, etc.), how often depends on how hard your water is, etc. My water is very soft and I find I can go at least 2 years or more, some people with very hard water have reported needing to do this as often as every 6 months. The process I use is fairly simple, I fill a large trash can about half full with water and some acid (about a quart of muriatic acid), disconnect the outlet pipe (I have a screw together union fitting), then unscrew all those nuts and bolts around the top, lift top off and set the whole thing in the trash can with the acid / water solution. I then agitate every once in a while by spinning it back and forth with the bump handle, once fingers are mostly clean / white I dump the water, rinse with more water , then reinstall. Sometimes I have also used a detergent cleaner cycle, with something like TSP.

Ike

Ike

+1 I have a similar system and hard water. I figure on acid washing the fingers once a season even with city water. My well water is high in iron and other minerals. It cost about $550 for the water to have it trucked in from the city. I have a water softener for the house. I only use well water if the rain doesn't keep the pool topped up.

 

[Kat13]

I can feel your pain, MRQ75.
Just moved into a house with an older ig pool, year unknown. Bought a new filter & pump. Had 30,000 gal. of very expensive water trucked in, only to lose almost 10,000 to various leaks. ( skimmer, returns & the pool cracking due to the weight of the water ) Plumbing was not hooked up correctly & through trial & error figured out what was wrong. Started replacing the water with well water. Pool turned pale green, crystal clear but pale green. Bought Natural Chemistry Metal Free and it helped just a little. Came here to TFP & read not to use that product. Followed the experts advice & bought Jack's Magic Pink Stuff, put the whole bottle in today ( 32oz. ) In less than 12 hours the pool is a beautiful blue again! I have not backwashed yet, but will do it tomorrow.
Find which Jack's Magic is right for you and give it a try. I never thought it would solve my problem so fast.

 

[MRQ75]

Thanks for the Perflex tip Ike. I haven't had the filter opened since the first year or two in the home since we really did not make a serious effort to get the pool operating untill this year.

Kat as far as the Jack's Magic and similar products, I was under the impression that they could not do much for my situation. I've been reading that it has to be filtered out at this point, which seems daunting when my pool looks like 40,000 gallons of coffee (grounds included). The iron looks solid like coffe grounds but when you reach down into it and cup it up in your hands, there is no texture and just smears into a tiny stain on your finger tips. I'm now also having issues with the plumbing, so the filtering process is hindered. I'm feeling pretty defeated at this point.

 

[techguy]

I have the smaller Perflex filter and I tend to take it apart each time I change my media. I have used both DE and cellulose with almost equal success. I simply take the head off and hose off the fingers until they are clean . I use a spray cleaner if the zebra lines are dark and stubborn. My filter gets zebra lines in the fingers near what look like springs inside the tube fingers.