Dealing With A Metal Problem

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NullQwerty

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LifeTime Supporter
Apr 23, 2008
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Hey folks,

Started opening the pool this year about 3 weeks ago. Went through a bunch of shocking and got it to start looking pretty good. My Ph was low (6.9) at the end so I added 20 lb of Baking Soda and the next morning my pool was green. Turned out I had copper. Had it tested. All my results were within normal range, copper was at .6 (FC and T Chlorine was .3, PH 7.2, TA 90). I've since done 5 treatments with both Metal Free and HTH Metal Control. Each time the pool looks a little better, but it's still a shade of green. Last I had it tested, Copper was down to .3 (FC and T Chlorine was .2, PH 7.2, TA 90). I've done 2 more treatments since then. Still green though (haven't retested yet). *Much* better than the original, but still green.

It's definitely not algae green. I haven't been adding shock since I started the treatments though because I read that the shock could reduce the effectiveness of the metal treatments. But I'm starting to think maybe I should start shocking the heck out of it to get it clear because the metal treatments don't seem to be doing it. Pump has been running 24x7.

So, what do you think...keep up with the metal treatments or start shocking?

Thanks
 
When you say you are shocking are you using shock bags or Bleach/liquid chlorine?

Do you have a recommended test kit?

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Metal free is not one of the recommended metal treatments. I cannot remember the 2 that are recommended off the top of my head, but someone else will know.
 
Liquid. Going to the pool store for these tests. They're using good ones (i.e. not test strips, some with equipment)

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HTH was one that was listed as recommended here. I've done 2 treatments using even more than the recommended, but it's still not getting rid of it entirely
 
This will help you with the metal info.

Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

We don not recomended pool store testing they are not accurate. You could take the same sample to 3 different pool stores and get 3 different readings.
I would invest in a recomended test kit such as the TF 100 linked in my signature or the K2006.

We don't recommend HTH products except the Stablizer to raise CYA.
 
The pool store uses all Taylor and feel pretty confident in the results (unlike 2 other local pool stores that use test strips or even lie and say they performed the tests but didn't). I've got 2 kids under 2, so doing all the testing myself just isn't possible. HTH for metal is recommended in many posts on tfp including people that have been here from the beginning. It's all that's around here anyway (that and metal free which isn't highly recommended) so unless I place an order and wait a week, I guess I'm stuck with it.

I've read the link. Thanks for posting it, but what I'm really looking to understand is:

1) How many treatments for metal is typical to bring it to 0? Is 3+ treatments not out of the ordinary? 5+?

2) Can I/should I shock every few days during this process to prevent an algae outbreak?

3) If metal treatments don't seem to be removing the green, is there anything else I could try (aside from replacing the water)? Could shock actually help here?

Thanks
 
Pro Team metal magic, and Jack's are the normal ones we prefer to recommend. If the ones you speak of have the same ingredients, then they may work for you.

As for shocking the pool, there isn't a way we can recommend helping you with it if you can't test for the Free Chlorine levels properly. We use a controlled process called SLAM, but you have to test and control some importsnt parameters closely. That cannot be done using a pool store as your source for testing. Even assuming they are 100% accurate, it's simply too impractical to have them do it.
 
I understand having little ones. I have 5 kids. Even though they use the Taylor testing it is not likely they have the one we recommend. It only takes a few minutes to run the tests. You will need to run test often so dragging 2 little ones to the store does not sound appealing to me.

You say you use liquid chlorine to shock. That is good. However, we don't shock here. We SLAM I would say you need to run a full SLAM.

Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

We do not use pool store testing or advice. We use recommend test kits and the pool math calculator to determine how much of what to add.

Without reliable testing it is hard for use to help you.

I apologize in advance if this sounds harsh, but it is what we need you to do so we can help you.

I have not had to use metal treatments so I cannot answer those questions.
 
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