Discolored steps

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B

bob22

Well-known member
Sep 1, 2008
89
Philadelphia
Just opened our 7-year old vinyl liner pool.
The (I assume acrylic) plastic steps have some discoloration/staining on them.
steps (1077 x 808).jpg
The stain does not brush away nor does my pressure washer do anything.
There did not appear to be anything like leaves etc on the steps when I took off the cover 2 weeks ago.
Any suggestions for getting them white (or less brown) again?
pH and chlorine levels are now in normal range.
Thanks,
Bob
 
If you have a puck, put it on top of one of the stains for a few minutes. If it disappears, it's organic. Otherwise, buy some vitamin C tablets, crush them up, and wrap them in an old sock/nylon and lay it on the stain. If it disappears then, it's metals.

Can you also post a full set of test results?
 
Testing with vit C tablets prove it is iron or similar staining; steps were white again around the tabs. Chlorine hockey puck did nothing.
I've ordered 5 pounds of ascorbic acid powder and will follow info at: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/2129-Ascorbic-Treatment-to-rid-Pool-of-metal-stains
So which sequesterant to use after the vit c?
Blue Stuff from magic Jacks'? Stuff seems awfully expensive.

Any thoughts on:
Periodic Products CUL-1MO Culator/Metal Eliminator and Stain Preventer for Swimming Pools
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846

Current ph is 7.1-7.2.
Chlorine is 0.5
Thanks!
 
I can't advise you on which sequesterant to use but I believe Jacks gets the thumbs up around here. I do know that it's recommended to be used weekly. Do you fill on a well? Just wondering where the iron came from? :)
 
No; city water and I don't think it has high iron.
I do get ground water behind my liner and I think that it gets into the pool over winter. That water is likely high in iron due to galvanized panels behind liner. Only thing I can think of.
Another of the many joys of pool ownership! The gift that keeps on giving.
 
Ok, update.
The ascorbic acid did wonders! About 1 day later the water was crystal clear; pool looked brand new.
I ran the DE filter for 3 days; pulled out filter finger part of filter, washed it out, and recharged with fresh DE.
I then put in some stuff my local pool place recommended.
All was good til Wednesday of this week: I'm back to greenish/brown water as of 3 days ago; seemed to happen after adding my bleach (read 0 Cl on test kit).

Pool place tested water this morning:
Free chlorine: 4.07 ppm
Total chlorine: 4.67 ppm
Combined chlorine: 0.6 ppm
pH: 6.4
Hardness: 20 ppm
Alkalinity (w/stabilizer correction): 22 ppm
Cyanuric acid: 17 ppm
Copper: 0.3 ppm (recommended range: 0-0.2 ppm)
Iron: 0.1 ppm (recommended range: 0-0.3 ppm)

I added in 1 qt of their "Stain and Scale Control" which is a "special product of polymer chemistry". All was fine.
I kept checking chlorine level and would add in about 1/2 bottle of bleach every other day but couldn't get Cl level to go up.
Added 1 bottle after a day off. Still nothing. Added 1/2 bottle and now brown water and Cl level high.

I added in another bottle today of the "Stain and Scale Control" and haven't seen any change after about 8 hours.

I'm guessing I'm seeing copper in the water (I've used copper-based algaecide in past) as it looks brownish not green.
Their stuff is supposed to "cope with extreme problems due to minerals (calcium, manganese, iron, and copper).

Any suggestions?
Purple stuff? Blue stuff? Magenta stuff?
Fill it in?
Be patient and let stuff work?

Thanks!
 

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