Hi, I’m a relatively new pool owner (1yr) looking for some advice on what went wrong with my two attempted Iron stain treatments and how to fix the now strange chlorine levels. Sorry for the lengthy post but it’s a complex tale....
I have a 10,000 gal salt pool with SWG that had iron stains when I moved in last March 2019. I made the Iron ID with a Jack’s test kit. In Sept 2019 I went into a Jacks #2 treatment (OA) and it worked wonders, turning the pool bright white. My big dilemma was that I didn’t have a good feel for how slowly to add chlorine and ended up adding a about 1 gal 12.5% liquid per day for a few days and could not register FC. By the time I was able to get FC to register, I had used about 4 gal. I had the water tested at a local pool outfit that said I was at 30ppm CC and around 1 ppm FC. Their balance SW recommended adding a whole lot more chlorine to break the CC, but I was extremely hesitant to do so and instead waited it out.
I have read that OA consumes chlorine, but was not expecting it to show up with such a huge CC level . The rep at Jacks said it was due to the nitrogen from the OA and said I should treat the CC level as if it was the FC level. This I found was too hard to stomach since I have no idea what the mix is of sanitizing effective chlorine vs. spent harmful chloramines.
Here is the dilemma of inconsistent chlorine readings I was faced with:
1. Pool store A test 20-30 ppm CC, 1-3 ppm FC
2. Different pool store B did an OTO test and said 0 CC, 3ppm FC
3. Home Test strip shows 3 ppm TC, 0ppm FC
4. DPD1 home test was 3ppm FC
With no noticeable chlorine odor and clear water, I went with #2 and #4 from the list above thinking the OA was somehow interfering with Store A test method and that my strips were similarly not compatible with the post OA treatment state of the water. We swam for months without irritation and I used DPD1 tests alone to keep FC levels good with the SWG. The iron stains reappeared within a couple weeks of OA treatment which I chalked up to me not adding the chlorine in slow enough.
Fast forward to Feb 2020, the stains are annoying me so I try again. This time I was very careful about using right amount of Purple stuff sequestrant, putting a CuLator in to hopefully capture the metal, and very slowly adding the chlorine and get back to the point where I have 3ppm FC again on my DPD1 test. Within 3 weeks Stains reappeared but even worse than before... like a coffee cup.
I finally ordered a Taylor DPD-FAS test to see if I could independently measure the CC and see where I stood.
My readings now are:
1. Home strip: 3 ppm TC, 0 ppm FC
2. DPD1 tablet home test: 3 ppm FC
3. Taylor DPD FAS test: 10 ppm FC, CC out of 20 ppm range!
Im super confused and frustrated with the after effects of the OA on the chlorine levels and test results. Also very frustrated that the stains reappeared so quickly which I assume is related to the very high chlorine levels.
Before I started this whole OA debacle last Sept, chlorine was spot on...CC was near 0 and FC at 3ppm per a Pool store A report. Staining was not pretty but at least lacked the high contrast tan waterline mark I now have formed in the past couple months.
Any ideas on how to explain the chlorine readings and how to bring CC to 0 and FC in range? Also Id love to be rid of the stain, but not sure how since both attempts ended in a more prominent restain.
I have a 10,000 gal salt pool with SWG that had iron stains when I moved in last March 2019. I made the Iron ID with a Jack’s test kit. In Sept 2019 I went into a Jacks #2 treatment (OA) and it worked wonders, turning the pool bright white. My big dilemma was that I didn’t have a good feel for how slowly to add chlorine and ended up adding a about 1 gal 12.5% liquid per day for a few days and could not register FC. By the time I was able to get FC to register, I had used about 4 gal. I had the water tested at a local pool outfit that said I was at 30ppm CC and around 1 ppm FC. Their balance SW recommended adding a whole lot more chlorine to break the CC, but I was extremely hesitant to do so and instead waited it out.
I have read that OA consumes chlorine, but was not expecting it to show up with such a huge CC level . The rep at Jacks said it was due to the nitrogen from the OA and said I should treat the CC level as if it was the FC level. This I found was too hard to stomach since I have no idea what the mix is of sanitizing effective chlorine vs. spent harmful chloramines.
Here is the dilemma of inconsistent chlorine readings I was faced with:
1. Pool store A test 20-30 ppm CC, 1-3 ppm FC
2. Different pool store B did an OTO test and said 0 CC, 3ppm FC
3. Home Test strip shows 3 ppm TC, 0ppm FC
4. DPD1 home test was 3ppm FC
With no noticeable chlorine odor and clear water, I went with #2 and #4 from the list above thinking the OA was somehow interfering with Store A test method and that my strips were similarly not compatible with the post OA treatment state of the water. We swam for months without irritation and I used DPD1 tests alone to keep FC levels good with the SWG. The iron stains reappeared within a couple weeks of OA treatment which I chalked up to me not adding the chlorine in slow enough.
Fast forward to Feb 2020, the stains are annoying me so I try again. This time I was very careful about using right amount of Purple stuff sequestrant, putting a CuLator in to hopefully capture the metal, and very slowly adding the chlorine and get back to the point where I have 3ppm FC again on my DPD1 test. Within 3 weeks Stains reappeared but even worse than before... like a coffee cup.
I finally ordered a Taylor DPD-FAS test to see if I could independently measure the CC and see where I stood.
My readings now are:
1. Home strip: 3 ppm TC, 0 ppm FC
2. DPD1 tablet home test: 3 ppm FC
3. Taylor DPD FAS test: 10 ppm FC, CC out of 20 ppm range!
Im super confused and frustrated with the after effects of the OA on the chlorine levels and test results. Also very frustrated that the stains reappeared so quickly which I assume is related to the very high chlorine levels.
Before I started this whole OA debacle last Sept, chlorine was spot on...CC was near 0 and FC at 3ppm per a Pool store A report. Staining was not pretty but at least lacked the high contrast tan waterline mark I now have formed in the past couple months.
Any ideas on how to explain the chlorine readings and how to bring CC to 0 and FC in range? Also Id love to be rid of the stain, but not sure how since both attempts ended in a more prominent restain.
