Brown stains on fiberglass pool

[Lois]

Hi. I’ve been reading a couple of other questions people asked about this problem. No one seems to have an answer (other than guesses) or a solution. So I’ll try again and maybe get an answer…

Fiberglass pool. I’ve had it and maintained it myself since 1988, but I’ve never had this problem before. About a month ago I noticed brown staining just below the water line, and only on the deep end wall, nowhere else. Scrubbing does nothing. I’ve tried SequaSol thinking it is a metal stain. No change. Now today I noticed it is creeping further down the pool, onto the side walls.

Help! What is this? What is going on? The only thing that has changed is we had a pool heater installed by the reputable pool service company….but that was 4 years ago! Otherwise nothing has changed in my maintenance or equipment.

 

[ajw22]

Sounds like iron staining.

SequaSol is a sequestering agent that will hold metals in solution. It does not lift metals that have deposited on pool surfaces.

Crush up some vitamin C and put it in a sock and rub it on the stains and see if the lighten or lift.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Lois]

OK, I will try the crushed-up-ascorbic-acid-in-a-sock test and see if it is iron. I'm out of the pool for today, and since it is September I'm not sure how many more "pool days" I've got in the season to mess around with this. (I'm way up north in Washington State and fall comes fast here after Labor Day.) Thanks for the tip on the acid! I printed out the "Stain in Your Pool" link that you posted.

Puzzling that suddenly I've got iron in my water (if it turns out to be that). I've got the same municipal water source in there that I've had for 38 years! Any ideas where it suddenly might have come from? I've had staining occasionally on the walls in years past, but the SequaSol always took care of it, so I'm a little bewildered by this sudden new problem.

Thanks again, Allen. I'll get back with you in a few days to let you know what's up.

 

[ajw22]

Any ideas where it suddenly might have come from?

I know nothing about the Spokane WA water supply.

 

[revitup]

OK, I will try the crushed-up-ascorbic-acid-in-a-sock test and see if it is iron. I'm out of the pool for today, and since it is September I'm not sure how many more "pool days" I've got in the season to mess around with this. (I'm way up north in Washington State and fall comes fast here after Labor Day.) Thanks for the tip on the acid! I printed out the "Stain in Your Pool" link that you posted.

Puzzling that suddenly I've got iron in my water (if it turns out to be that). I've got the same municipal water source in there that I've had for 38 years! Any ideas where it suddenly might have come from? I've had staining occasionally on the walls in years past, but the SequaSol always took care of it, so I'm a little bewildered by this sudden new problem.

Thanks again, Allen. I'll get back with you in a few days to let you know what's up.

By process of elimination I’ve narrowed it down to the salt I used. My fill water tests .03 for iron from a dept of public health test and 0.0 from my own test. I use nothing else that would contain any significant amount of iron. I’ve capitulated and started using Aquasalt for any salt additions.

 

[avspin]

What type of salt were you using? I've been using Morton's solar salt (blue bag) for 20 years and never had any issues with staining.

 

[revitup]

Anything I found at HD, Lowes, Ace, etc, except Chlorox brand.