Stained Pool Stairs and lounge ledge

[Robin1]

Have had our pool for 7 years - no problems till this week. The pool is under lanai (no debris) and is very clear - have been using EZ Pool and has an ozonator (sp); with 2 chlorine tabs set at 1 on gauge. The alkalinity did go low for extended period. Put alkalinity up in - also put in shock bag (had not used before).

Had water tested - said metal (copper) might be problem - told to put quart of Metal Clear on steps and lounge ledge and brush well. No change. Next step we will clean filters and told to add 5 more lbs of shock. This seems strange to me because we have never been told to use it before.

Test Results: 18000 gal pool;vinyl, cartridge filter; inground: Free Chlorine - 0.24; Total Chlorine - 2.78; Combined Chlorine 2.54; PH - 7.6;Hardness - 128 ppm; Alkalinity (w/stabilizer correction) 78 ppm; Cyanuric Acid - 45 ppm; Copper - 0.3 ppm; Iron - 0 ppm; Phosphate 0 ppm

After cleaning the filters and adding the shock was told to add 8 more lbs of alkalinity up 4lbs at a time diluted ; and then add 21 lbs Calcium Chloride 7 lbs at a time.

Any thing else I should or should not be doing to get rid of staining.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

Don't bother with the shock. Job 1 is to determine whether the stain is metal (which I suspect given that copper appeared on test results) or organic. To confirm if it is metal, take a Vitamin C tablet and hold/gently rub on the stain. If it fades, then it is metal. If it does not fade, then take a trichlor puck and repeat the same process. If it fades using the puck, then it is organic.

If the stains are confirmed to be metal, first follow the Ascorbic Acid Treatment to remove the stains. Although this will lift the staining, the metals are still suspended in the water. To keep them from redepositing, you will need to use a sequestrant since there is no practical way to remove metals from the water short of replacing the water with new water that doesn't have any metals in it. Sequestrants slowly break down in the pool, so you need to add more regularly to maintain the correct level.

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.

 

[Casey]

To get a little more to the point, it is 100% likely that the ozonator is at fault for your staining. Your chlorine is too low, you've got CC and your pool is just a mess. Sorry for being blunt.

I'd highly recommend you getting rid of the ozonator as will others. You will probably have to do the AA treatment to get rid of the stains. You can read about metal staining here in pool school: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/137-metals-in-the-water-and-metal-stains I would highly suggest you read all of pool school in the next few days and weeks and order a test kit and take control of your pool.