clear well water turned Iced Tea

[Smurfy]

this forum has been an incredible education! thank you!

Installing my first pool...going well...CLEAR well water filling up nicely...added 1/2 gal of 8.25% bleach to 13,500 gals and it turned into iced tea within 45 minutes. Added 20oz of scale and metal bright. pump and filter are hooked up and running.

aside from adding sugar, buying straws and inviting the whole town over, what do I do next?

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

It's iron. Get a bunch polyfill pillow stuffing or some good quality paper towels and stuff them in the skimmer basket and it should filter it out. You can also rig up a pump and a 5 gallon bucket full of popyfill to speed it up.

More about iron here, Pool School - Pool Stains

 

[Smurfy]

Sweet action! thanks for the tip and the link. I'll get some polyfill in the morning and go put some paper towels in the skimmer now.

 

[AftonJeeper]

One thing that helps me with the iron in my well water is putting a cheap 10" whole house water filter on the end of my hose. You'll need an adapter or two to get from the Hose thread to the female pipe thread. I've used both carbon and spiral bound filters. Hope that helps.

 

[Smurfy]

good word. I did a similar thing on both hoses when I filled however once I ran out of "softened" water the filter's weren't adequate. hopefully I won't brew tea each time I top off the water if I use softened water and a hose filter too.

I'm gaining on the tea. the polyfill really catches quite a bit it seems.

 

[pooldv]

Check the polyfill and change it when it gets too brown and dirty. Nice progress.

 

[Smurfy]

pooldv is it worth adding more "metal out/stain remover" stuff or do I just wait for the polyfill and filter to do it's thing? thanks for the wisdom

 

[pooldv]

Right now you do not want to add a sequestrant because it will take the iron out of suspension in the water as a particulate which will make you less able to filter it out with the polyfill. Once the water is cleared up and you are finished filtering with the polyfill then adding a sequestrant will be helpful. Proteam Metal Magic is beginning to be the fan favorite on the forum after quite a bit of feedback from folks dealing with iron.

 

[Smurfy]

thank you

 

[jjwalker]

put the polyfill in a small laundry netted bag with a zipper...the kind a spouse may use to wash her unmentionables in the washing machine

it will keep it out of your plumbing, pump and filter

 

[Smurfy]

Good idea. Thank you. The pressure gauge on my filter hasn't gone up. Does that mean I don't need to clean it or should I?

 

[rkeller62]

Good idea. Thank you. The pressure gauge on my filter hasn't gone up. Does that mean I don't need to clean it or should I?

Don't need to worry about cleaning or backwash until pressure rises 20-25% above clean pressure.

 

[Smurfy]

not sure if I should start a new thread or not. I'm guessing yes. I got my first test results and will post elsewhere.

my iron is still visible but appears to be clearing. it's taking a long time though. the pump has been on the last 24 hours straight with the polyfill.

 

[CaveDiver86]

My well water has iron in it. Takes 3 weeks to show in toilet bowl. Hoping it doesn't turn into tea when I start filling. This thread has helped me a lot.

 

[Smurfy]

glad it's helped someone else too...someone way smarter than me will likely chime in...if one knows they have iron ahead of time will a sequestrant keep the FC from oxidizing the iron and making tea?

- - - Updated - - -

here's the current progress of my water. I can see the bottom pretty easily looking straight down.

 

[pooldv]

Awesome pic! That's what we're here for!

So, with most questions about metal the answer is, it depends. Metal is a pain the ear and the reaction is not consistent from pool to pool. In my opinion, if you can get your water to turn brown and filter out the iron then that is the best outcome. Then use a filter when you top up and some Metal Magic going forward to keep it sequestered.

 

[Smurfy]

polyfill continues cleaning up the water