Well water caused SERIOUS rust staining and brown water

[ashann04]

3 weeks ago, we unknowingly, made a move that would be detrimental to our pool. New pool owners, we've only been in our house 11 months and much of the time here required little maintenance due to it being off-season. So, our water was low, it had been quite some time since we had a rain and my nephews were splashing around. We thought we could throw our hose in, then test water and readjust chemicals, boy were we WRONG. Apparently we have some of the hardest water on the planet because within hours the water was turning and rust was settling on the bottom and sides. I immediately googled and learned to no add anymore chemicals ans to begin vacuuming, brushing, running filter, cleaning filter numerous times a day and add sequestering agents. So for nearly 3 weeks I have been doing just that. I have tried 3 different brands and I tried ascorbic acid to help remove the rust from the walls as every inch is stained now, no luck at all. No end in sight, not even a dent in the problem, in fact it seems worse. It is approx 13,000 gallons and I normally take VERY good care of it. I taught myself with google and youtube videos as it is much easier and cheaper if I just do it rather than hire someone and allow them access to our backyard on their time chancing that our dogs are outside at that moment and letting them out.

Please please please, any help and adivce, I am a sponge for! Thank you
Also, side note, we just got some pillow stuffing as I saw some folks have success with that, but they had above ground pools, and our is in-ground but figured I would give it a whirl anyway.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

The problem you are having is with your source water, so we may need some basics to find a solution..........nevertheless, it can be fixed.

1. Stop putting ANYTHING in your pool until we find out why this is happening now and wasn't happening before.

What was your refill water prior to this incident? My assumption is you saw no signs of staining, etc. in the pool prior to this one incident, right? How were you keeping the pool full prior to this incident?

 

[ashann04]

Thank you! We have never seen staining, but we have never had to fill it. Just chemical maintenance and cleaning. I would assume the investor who bought the house and fixed it up, before selling to us, called out a water hauling company. He did use a pool guy too, he passed him onto us, but I haven't needed him for a while.

 

[three4rd]

I sympathize totally. Here is my story - When I had my pool filled after it was built, I used a local fire company to bring the water. They got the water from the hydrants in town. It was at night, during pouring rain, and so it was hard to see the condition of the water, but the next day when we went out and saw the pool, the water looked like it came from the river. It left a ring around the deep end every place that one of the six loads ended, while the fire truck went back into town for the next load. It was heartbreaking really. The best part is that the pool company called me the next day and said, "by the way, don't forget that when you fill your pool be sure to add a chemical called "pool magnet" that binds up metals thereby preventing any stains on the new plaster.". Great. The damage was done and I looked at those iron-stain rings for close to 25 years.

My best suggestion is to try a stain removal chemical. I had no luck trying to remove my stains, but it's worth a shot and probably would not do any additional harm. I can't help but wonder how your tap water is in the house? It seems odd that only one line would have so much rust. Do you have any sediment / rust filters installed anywhere in the plumbing? We have a well and have a filter right when the water comes in from the pump, before it gets into the house system.

I am SO sorry to hear about the staining and hope you can find something that will help!!