Ascorbic Acid Treatment

[kne]

For the first year ever I have stains on my skimmer and liner. I ordered vitamin C tablets and today tested, you can see the top of the right side of my skimmer basket cleared right up.

Read a bunch of posts here, I decided to do the treatment, (found ascorbic acid on Amazon - 1 lb for $10 or 10 lbs for $20, on special). I went for the 10 even though it is overkill in my small pool. It should be here tomorrow, will report back.

I'm having screws rust out on my skimmer, which may be what happened. The original Hayward screws rusted, so we had bought stainless steel screws at ACE, but they also rusted. Not all of them, but some. Has anyone ever had this issue or know where I should try buying some more?

 

[kne]

I bought WAAAYYYYY too much Vitamin C - I put 1/2 lb in a bucket with pool water, submerged the skimmer basket and door for about 20 seconds and they were bright white. Then I poured the bucket of water and vitamin c in the skimmer, with the skimmer off and within the minute the full skimmer was white and the stain on the liner was gone.... I was worried because my chlorine levels still are over 7 without adding chlorine for a week. water temps are cold and the pool has been covered for 2 weeks, I thought I would be going through the stuff. Now what to do with 9+ lbs of the stuff.... $20 to get rid of that stain, even though I could have got away with $10, was worth every penny.

 

[mguzzy]

Now what.. well.. unless you do something about the iron in your water you will need to do another AA treatment.. or you can can some peaches.

If you have that amount of staining on your basket and liner, its not from the rusty screws.... you have iron in your water. the AA treatment releases the iron from the suface of the vinyl and plastic surfaces and it changes form and goes into solution. Its still in the water. Once the AA effect wears off (chlorine breaks down the chealation that pulled the iron off the surfaces) it will restain.. so you need... I'm going to point you to this post from this morning because I am too lazy to retype it all!

Pool stain in deep end that won't go away (now confirmed iron!)

Update: thanks to @mguzzy I have confirmed the spots are iron stains. What is the best/easiest/cheapest way to get rid of this small area of stain that’s around 6x4’? Will I need to wait to treat until after SLAM is complete? Will the stain come back next time I need to SLAM (I read on here that...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kne]

Now what.. well.. unless you do something about the iron in your water you will need to do another AA treatment.. or you can can some peaches.

If you have that amount of staining on your basket and liner, its not from the rusty screws.... you have iron in your water. the AA treatment releases the iron from the suface of the vinyl and plastic surfaces and it changes form and goes into solution. Its still in the water. Once the AA effect wears off (chlorine breaks down the chealation that pulled the iron off the surfaces) it will restain.. so you need... I'm going to point you to this post from this morning because I am too lazy to retype it all!

I read and read and read last night. which is why I thought I was going to consume all the vit c before it had a chance to work.

Is it weird that the staining is only on the skimmer area though? and only happened when closed for over the winter? I bonded my pool last year with an aqua bug, and added a new SWG, those were the only changes. I probably have that in my head because at the begging of last season there was rust in that area and I took skimmer down and brushed and painted away all I could. Now I might be a bit paranoid. Am going to walk to the fastener place by my house at lunch to see what they have in stainless steel screws, pulled one out above the waterline this morning and it's slight but still rusty.

I do have sequestrant arriving Friday. I thought the treatment would take longer to make the stains disappear.

 

[markayash]

For the first year ever I have stains on my skimmer and liner. I ordered vitamin C tablets and today tested, you can see the top of the right side of my skimmer basket cleared right up.

Read a bunch of posts here, I decided to do the treatment, (found ascorbic acid on Amazon - 1 lb for $10 or 10 lbs for $20, on special). I went for the 10 even though it is overkill in my small pool. It should be here tomorrow, will report back.

I'm having screws rust out on my skimmer, which may be what happened. The original Hayward screws rusted, so we had bought stainless steel screws at ACE, but they also rusted. Not all of them, but some. Has anyone ever had this issue or know where I should try buying some more?

View attachment 327028View attachment 327029

wow the price has dropped on AA.

 

[Texas Splash]

Here's another good example ....

From brown to 😍😍. Thank you polyfil!

We filled our pool from our well. We knew the risks and knew we would have a battle when the water was 12" deep as it looked green from the metals. Our fears were confirmed when we added chlorine and the water turned brown almost immediately. Enter 5 gallon polyfil filter. It worked...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[markayash]

I read and read and read last night. which is why I thought I was going to consume all the vit c before it had a chance to work.

Is it weird that the staining is only on the skimmer area though? and only happened when closed for over the winter? I bonded my pool last year with an aqua bug, and added a new SWG, those were the only changes. I probably have that in my head because at the begging of last season there was rust in that area and I took skimmer down and brushed and painted away all I could. Now I might be a bit paranoid. Am going to walk to the fastener place by my house at lunch to see what they have in stainless steel screws, pulled one out above the waterline this morning and it's slight but still rusty.

I do have sequestrant arriving Friday. I thought the treatment would take longer to make the stains disappear.

Its amazing how fast it is, unless your concerned with algae keep your FC down until the sequestrant gets there.

 

[markayash]

I read and read and read last night. which is why I thought I was going to consume all the vit c before it had a chance to work.

Is it weird that the staining is only on the skimmer area though? and only happened when closed for over the winter? I bonded my pool last year with an aqua bug, and added a new SWG, those were the only changes. I probably have that in my head because at the begging of last season there was rust in that area and I took skimmer down and brushed and painted away all I could. Now I might be a bit paranoid. Am going to walk to the fastener place by my house at lunch to see what they have in stainless steel screws, pulled one out above the waterline this morning and it's slight but still rusty.

I do have sequestrant arriving Friday. I thought the treatment would take longer to make the stains disappear.

Its amazing how fast it is, unless your concerned with algae keep your FC down until the sequestrant gets there.

 

[kne]

wow the price has dropped on AA.

I was worried it was going to be a lot from reading the posts here, that is why I jumped on the 2 5lb bags for the price of 1. Today it looks like it is back to $19.99 for a 5lb bag without the 2nd free

Amazon.com: Pure Vitamin C Powder (5 lb) Eco-Friendly Packaging, Ascorbic Acid, DIY Skin Care, Antioxidant* : Health & Household

Buy Pure Vitamin C Powder (5 lb) Eco-Friendly Packaging, Ascorbic Acid, DIY Skin Care, Antioxidant* on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

www.amazon.com

 

[mguzzy]

I think you probably have iron in your fill water, given that amount of staining.. or you used a lot of Chlorox salt. Oh and its amazing how fast it works. It will chew up or Chlorine, but I don't think the reaction degrades the AA. But yeah its amazing how fast it goes. I bet you had some staining on your vinyl that was taken off it was just even and you didn't notice it.

Which sequestrant did you buy?

 

[kne]

I think you probably have iron in your fill water, given that amount of staining.. or you used a lot of Chlorox salt. Oh and its amazing how fast it works. It will chew up or Chlorine, but I don't think the reaction degrades the AA. But yeah its amazing how fast it goes. I bet you had some staining on your vinyl that was taken off it was just even and you didn't notice it.

Which sequestrant did you buy?

GLB Sequa-Sol.

Here's another good example ....

From brown to 😍😍. Thank you polyfil!

We filled our pool from our well. We knew the risks and knew we would have a battle when the water was 12" deep as it looked green from the metals. Our fears were confirmed when we added chlorine and the water turned brown almost immediately. Enter 5 gallon polyfil filter. It worked...

www.troublefreepool.com

ohhh. I have 2 oz of poly-fil in my cupboard right now. Looks just the size of my skimmer. Is that something I would put in before or after adding the sequestering agent?

Its amazing how fast it is, unless your concerned with algae keep your FC down until the sequestrant gets there.

My water is 65 currently, and a solar cover is blocking the sun so I should be good until Friday.

 

[mknauss]

Is that something I would put in before or after adding the sequestering agent?

Before. Once you sequester the iron, the polyfill will not work.

Also, sequestrant has to be added often for it to maintain its ability to sequester the iron.

 

[kne]

Before. Once you sequester the iron, the polyfill will not work.

Also, sequestrant has to be added often for it to maintain its ability to sequester the iron.

I was reading more into it, and my water is crystal clear, not the brown or green that happens from chlorine. Should I still stuff the poly-fil in the skimmer, would it make a difference?

 

[kne]

Side note - Straight Ascorbic Acid does NOT taste like a chewable orange vitamin c tablet.

 

[markayash]

Side note - Straight Ascorbic Acid does NOT taste like a chewable orange vitamin c tablet.

Have to add sugar

 

[mknauss]

I was reading more into it, and my water is crystal clear, not the brown or green that happens from chlorine. Should I still stuff the poly-fil in the skimmer, would it make a difference?

It might pick some up. It is a great use for cal hypo tablet, if one can be found. You put that on top of the polyfil and the high pH pulls the iron out into the polyfil. But cal hypo tablets are hard to find.

 

[mguzzy]

But cal hypo tablets are hard to find.

Especially if you only want one! Trust me I asked... "Umm can I just buy one out of the bucket of 57 million tabs? I'll give you a buck for it."

Side note - Straight Ascorbic Acid does NOT taste like a chewable orange vitamin c tablet.

I will not admit to doing the exact same thing when I got my 8 pound bucket of Fruit Fresh for fear of ridicule by the whole internet.

 

[markayash]

I bought 5 pds, might do another treatment in the Fall, I think I paid $20 for 2 pds last time

 

[mguzzy]

GLB Sequa-Sol.

So this stuff is only going to hold the Iron in solution. Eventually it will break down and you will have to add more. OR do a water exchange to get it out of your pool. Any idea the source of your Iron?

 

[kne]

So this stuff is only going to hold the Iron in solution. Eventually it will break down and you will have to add more. OR do a water exchange to get it out of your pool. Any idea the source of your Iron?

That is the weird part, I've had a pool up for 7 years now, but never had a stain like this. Not the same pool for all 7 years, this one has been up since July of 2019, so going on 3rd season. I usually fill primarily with well, which is only used for irrigation and it is super hard. Last year I did half well, half house but I have never seen the red stains in the toilets or anything, so I am stumped.

I bought 2 bottles of the solution after reading that I will have to treat regularly.

I have no need for a new liner, but I want one and thinking I will change out the water / liner next year. However we are marching towards a drought, so even though we have a well, water shame might keep me from wasting 7,600 gallons of water on vanity. Time will tell.