brown metal staining all over the pool lining, steps, skimme

[timb9]

Hi, I'm new to the pool world as of this summer- bought a house with lovely in ground pool. The only negative has been the brown metal staining all over the pool lining, steps, skimmer. After reading tons and tons of great advice online, I was able to successfully get rid of the stains using Stain Free and Metal Free, which actually was quite amazing. However, I had very cloudy, milky, bright aqua water for several days after I added PH+ to try and re-balance the water. In hind sight I may have left it alone to see if the ph came up by itself, or raised it more slowly. After about a week after treatment, as directed by all the advice in the forums, I shocked the pool manually with chlorine rather than using the superchlorinator on the salt water generator. It took a few days, but the water finally cleared. I was happy that the water was clear, and balanced almost ideally, but disappointed that the staining re-appeared. I did add another bottle of metal free shortly after the stains re-formed, but it didn't help. I've had our water tested and there is iron or copper in it- not sure how much faith I put in those pool store tests. I am looking for a way to battle this without having to constantly add ascorbic acid and lower the chlorine levels, etc throughout the pool season- the whole process was aggravating and exhausting, not to mention expensive! If I can get rid of the stains one more time and keep a maintenance treatment with Metal Free throughout the summer, I will do that. The questions I have- should I filter the hose water any time I add water? Is the staining going to happen every time the chlorine levels get high from shocking? Should I attempt to remove the stains again before closing out the pool, which is happening quite soon (Nova Scotia), or wait until the spring? Thanks so much- I want next summer to be a lot easier when it comes to pool maintenance!

 

[BoDarville]

Re: brown metal staining all over the pool lining, steps, sk

Welcome to TFP!

The questions I have- should I filter the hose water any time I add water?

I have not tried any of the hose filters, so I cannot comment on their effectiveness. I did find an old post on the Metal Trap that you might find interesting. Another albeit more expensive alternative is to consider looking into a whole-house water filter. Since this is a whole-house system, the higher cost would be compensated by reducing/eliminating any metal staining that could be present elsewhere in the house in addition to the pool.

I am looking for a way to battle this without having to constantly add ascorbic acid and lower the chlorine levels, etc throughout the pool season- the whole process was aggravating and exhausting, not to mention expensive! If I can get rid of the stains one more time and keep a maintenance treatment with Metal Free throughout the summer, I will do that.

Unfortunately, there is no way to remove the metals short of draining and refilling with metal-free water. You will need to add a sequestrant periodically to keep the metals from redepositing as stains. Sequestrants slowly break down in the pool, so you need to add more regularly to maintain the correct level. However, Metal Free is not a product we recommend for this purpose.

Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff (regular), The Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and The Purple Stuff (salt) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find many other brands with similar active ingredients, some of which are noticeably less expensive.

Is the staining going to happen every time the chlorine levels get high from shocking?

It will not always happen, but it is a risk. However, the good news is that if you keep your pool properly chlorinated for your CYA (stabilizer) level (see Chlorine CYA Chart), you should not need to shock (or as we call it, SLAM) your pool. I have not shocked / SLAMmed in over two years.

Should I attempt to remove the stains again before closing out the pool, which is happening quite soon (Nova Scotia), or wait until the spring?

I would wait until the spring. If you tried to remove them now, the stains would likely reappear by spring since sequestrants break down over time. So, no need to go through the effort and expense now for no gain. Once the water temperatures reach 50-60°F (10-15°C), then I would remove the stains using the AA Treatment. By doing the AA treatment at those temperatures, the risk of an algae bloom is minimized vs. at warmer water temperatures. One thing you can try while performing the Ascorbic Acid Treatment is the "paper towel" method which involves putting put some paper towels in a skimmer. The paper towels may capture some of the metals, but there are no guarantees. However, it is a low-impact, low-cost method worth trying. You can read more about this method here: Paper Towel Method. There is a pic towards the bottom of page 1. Even if the paper towel method removes some of the iron, you may still need to continue using a sequestrant but perhaps less of it if the paper towel method was at least somewhat successful in removing some of the metals.

A couple of suggestions to help us help you...

1. Please add the state and nearest city in which you live to your profile. Don’t need specific town, nearest major city is fine. Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time. [/*:m:2fffa9km]
2. Suggest adding information about your pool and related equipment in your signature. By doing this, it will automatically appear in all your posts so you do not have to re-enter it each time. If you have a SWG, please include those letters in your signature so it stands out as the advice for SWG vs. non-SWG is often different. [/*:m:2fffa9km]

Here's how to do both of the above: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.

 

[timb9]

Re: brown metal staining all over the pool lining, steps, sk

Wow, I really appreciate your effort and all the detail in responding to my post. I will take care of the signature, etc when I have a few mins. It's really great advice that I intend on following. I am going to look into a filter for the entire house. Our water is from the municipality and it is known that the water isn't 100% here. Also, part of the problem I've had is every time I clean out the pump filter, I have a very hard time getting it to start flowing again and end up having to prime it with a lot of hose water. I've tried shutting off the intake valve from the skimmer and having a bucket of water there to fill it up, but it won't prime unless I fill lots of hose water into it. The pump is located slightly higher than pool level which is probably why this is happening. I am having the guy who originally installed the pool back here to help me out closing it, so I'm hoping he can give me some pointers on the pump.