Brown spots and discoloring liner above water level

[DrinkBeer]

This is the strangest thing yet... My Salt water pool has been flawless for 5 years now.. I open it to crystal clear water vaccum it out and shock it.. and off to the summer. This year i'm seeing some strange brown spotting and its not coming off with any sort of scrubbing.. Its brown along the seems in a straight line.. and some random spots.. Water test strips seem to show (OK) for all levels.. the FC goes low but i hit SuperChlorinate on the digitals.. and boom goes up after 24hrs..

Its been REALLY warm for weeks now... and recently its sitting at 90 degrees i do use a solar cover nightly.. here is what i noticed.. my pool ladder has a PVC pipe rail and its turning greenish above the water line... this never happened in 5 years. the liner itself above the waterline is also turning yellowish. Now I have tried to use some powdered chloring in a sock and scrub and it seemed to work a little bit... I also did a half galon shock and that also seemed to get rid of most it.. or atleast lighten it up...

here is my issue.. do i really need to blast shock in the salt pool?... i have family that is super sensitive and in past years always admired the fact that my salt pool didnt do to them what the Chlorinated (or over chlorinated) pools did.. Itchy eyes.. dry skin.. Shocking my pool just isnt what i want to do...

and if i do.. how long will it take for my pool to get back to the salt pool benefits..

 

[Newdude]

i have family that is super sensitive and in past years always admired the fact that my salt pool didnt do to them what the Chlorinated (or over chlorinated) pools did..

They were underchlorinated pools. *under*. When they overcorrected and eventually put in chlorine, there was extra sanitizing to do, which caused the CCs responsible for said symptoms.

CC - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Your pool is no different than a 'chlorine pool'. The only difference is that the SWG creates it so you don't have to source/ lug/ add jugs.

If you don't raise your targets, you'll be getting some smells / itches and issues of your own.

Maintain target level or above at all times. Preferably above target to fall back into target when the UV burns some FC off and the SWG hasn't caught up yet. Steer free and clear away from minimum to be troublefree.



All that said, the stains are likely from iron. Crush some Vitimin C tabs in a sock and see if the scrub off. If so, it's iron.

 

[DrinkBeer]

They were underchlorinated pools. *under*. When they overcorrected and eventually put in chlorine, there was extra sanitizing to do, which caused the CCs responsible for said symptoms.

CC - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Your pool is no different than a 'chlorine pool'. The only difference is that the SWG creates it so you don't have to source/ lug/ add jugs.

If you don't raise your targets, you'll be getting some smells / itches and issues of your own.

Maintain target level or above at all times. Preferably above target to fall back into target when the UV burns some FC off and the SWG hasn't caught up yet. Steer free and clear away from minimum to be troublefree.

View attachment 516656

All that said, the stains are likely from iron. Crush some Vitimin C tabs in a sock and see if the scrub off. If so, it's iron

Thank you I'll definitely try that. I'm also going to have my water tested at the local pool store. it's been spot on for years so that's why I'm confused.

Question: Will the vitiman C tabs crushed into sock sort of instantly start working?... or will take a little doing?

 

[Newdude]

Will the vitiman C tabs crushed into sock sort of instantly start working?... or will take a little doing?

Usually works real quick.

it's been spot on for years

It hasn't been by your own say so.

the FC goes low but i hit SuperChlorinate on the digitals.

I'm also going to have my water tested at the local pool store

They can do metals tests but unfortunately it's about at accurate as the rest of their tests. In this case its a necessary evil because home metals tests are spendy for a one time thing. I'd go to 3 stores and throw out the odd one that doesn't agree with the other 2.

 

[wireform]

I'd go to 3 stores and throw out the odd one that doesn't agree with the other 2.

Just get on the line three times and .....

 

[Newdude]

Just get on the line three times and ...

My way has 2 of the 3 probably match. All bets are off if you use the same store.

 

[DrinkBeer]

Usually works real quick.

It hasn't been by your own say so.



They can do metals tests but unfortunately, it's about at accurate as the rest of their tests. In this case its a necessary evil because home metals tests are spendy for a one time thing. I'd go to 3 stores and throw out the odd one that doesn't agree with the other 2.

Well for the last 5 years until this year I never had to add anything. Water has never been cloudy and never had any algae or anything. What i meant by low FC its usually still in the <ok>... but it's when the pool has been uncovered in full sun and in heavy use (by kids) i always hit the super chlorinate to get levels slightly above normal. I do appreciate the responses and after reading a bit more i found that heavy rains can also create a low CYA in the pool by way of dilution. we've had a really heavy rain season. I'm thinking that's the cause of my situation this year. past years we've been in almost drought conditions...

as for the accuracy thing... I do have other pool stores in the area. I'll take the advice and hit at least two places.

I'll jump in with some vitamin C today hopefully and test the iron theory out.

 

[DrinkBeer]

just to add.... the pool is still "sparkly" shiny! clear as day... that makes looking at these spots super easy and hard to ignore!...

Just goes to show no matter how clear and clean testing is most important.

 

[Newdude]

Sorry for the lecture above. You are free to dance the minimum line as close as you wish. The closer you dance it, the more you need to watch it like a hawk, lest you get bit. I'm just looking out.

 

[Mdragger88]

I can’t emphasize enough how important regular accurate home testing is. The strips & pool stores can easily lead you astray with their broad ranges or bad recommendations as well as inconsistencies.
You need a good test kit to care for your investment.
Test Kits Compared
Clear water doesn’t automatically = sanitary water.
Also much easier to prevent a problem than to cure one which is what accurate home testing allows.

 

[JamesW]

Pictures?

 

[JamesW]

2024 Annual Donation Campaign

Hi all, Thanks to the fervent support of the TFP community, we have met our $10,000 goal! We appreciate all the users in this thread hyping the campaign and sharing warm and fuzzy TFP anecdotes. Completion of this campaign reminds us that TFP is a resource that people can trust with their pool...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[DrinkBeer]

I can’t emphasize enough how important regular accurate home testing is. The strips & pool stores can easily lead you astray with their broad ranges or bad recommendations as well as inconsistencies.
You need a good test kit to care for your investment.
Test Kits Compared
Clear water doesn’t automatically = sanitary water.
Also much easier to prevent a problem than to cure one which is what accurate home testing allows.

absolutely... between high water temps and heavy rain it ran away from me pretty quick. not to mention i have been away much of July so far...

@newgdude lectures lead to knowledge I take no offense. I also don't take anything personally I'm a do it kind of guy not lazy... but when things don't make "sense", or stray from normal, I also big enough of a guy to ask/confirm questions. i go by the mentatility (This has happened and was fixed by others... so ask"

 

[DrinkBeer]

Riddle me this... so had the water tested at two stores.. same results at both.. my levels were all in the middle of <ok> with CYA a little below avg... So I added nothing to the water.. I did however try the vitamin C theory out, and though it instantly removed the green staining on the PVC rail for my steps, it did NOTHING on the brown spotting on the bottom of the pool liner...
here's where the riddling comes in.

I use a solar cover "RELIGOUSLY" and cover every night, the water has been in the high 80's to low 90's steady. We're expecting a major heat advisory today so i decided to leave the cover off last night to cool the water (90's is too hot for me. the wife likes it though ) it cooled down to about 87 right now so this morning before my filter turned on and the water was calm I went out to test the water... and the spots are GONE.. like GONE GONE... no trace at all.. Not 15 hours before i was in there scrubbing with a sock filled of Vitamin C tabs crushed up... before anyone says the tabs worked... I only scrubbed one small spot to test when it didn't work I called it and got back to my beer that was getting warm on the deck.

I just don't know at this point. could the cover be the issue?... FWIW... The pool gets direct sunlight basically ALL day I mean ALL day from an hour after sunrise to basically sunset. Could that in anyway be creating an environment thing?

thanks for the responses here... i'm good at this point.. Brown spots gone, and the pool is actually refreshing at this point for me anyway

 

[Mdragger88]

With test results we can attempt to determine what happened- without them it’s all just a guess.
Have you added any sequestrant?
Raised the fc level, lowered it ?
Has the ph changed?

 

[DrinkBeer]

With test results we can attempt to determine what happened- without them it’s all just a guess.
Have you added any sequestrant?
Raised the fc level, lowered it ?
Has the ph changed?

I didnt add anything and the levels according to my strip tests are same as always... I did put 5 Vitiman C tabs in a sock.. thats it..

I was shocked this morning!.. IDK.. only difference right now is temp and cover was off for full 24hrs

Update: So i went out to do a quick vac.. the staining is there barely visible, but GONE GONE... levels all mid range I'm going away again soon i may just slam it before i go and see if it completely goes away.. at a loss..