CLOUDY citric acid MEGADOSE

[Green3305]

I have a 20,000 gal gunite pool with a DE filter. Last week I ordered 50lbs of citric acid to clean the walls of my pool from heavy copper staining. I now realize that was a mega overdose. Btw, My husband usually takes care of the pool and I should’ve known better but was tired of the cooper stains. After the citric acid, the pool was clear until 2-3 days later when we used the metal out sequestrant. It’s now super cloudy and won’t hold any chlorine! We’ve backwashed several times, and cleaned the filters. Nothing is working! Help!!

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Citric acid clears iron stains.

Sulfamic acid clears copper stains.

Can you post pictures of the labels of what you have added to the pool?

I think your chlorine consumption is because chlorine reacts with citric acid and can form chloroform and other nastier chlorinated organics. They’ll offgas and go away but it could cause eye/skin irritation until it does. Ascorbic acid is much safer.

Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Green3305]

I first used the citric acid and scrubbed a lot of the walls and steps and also put a culator in each skimmer, a couple days later I added 2 quarts of the Metal Out as a sequestering agent.

 

[ajw22]

If your pool surfaces are clean you should dump the water with metal in it and refill the pool with metal free water.

Otherwise it will just be a matter of time before the metals redeposit on the pool surfaces.

Read Draining - Further Reading for the ways to safely drain your pool.

 

[Green3305]

I will also add that my husband shocked the pool last night, we added two gallons of acid today and it also rained a good bit today. We went this evening and had our water tested again. These were todays results even after the acid.

 

[ajw22]

Your copper level is high and the only way to get rid of the copper is draining the pool and refilling with metal free water.

 

[Green3305]

Thanks for your response. Three days after the citric acid we tested for copper and it was .8 ppm, when we tested again it was back at 0.0 ppm. We did drain the pool down to skimmer and refilled but it’s also been raining all day and now copper is back up to .6 ppm. We’re using a 2 culator packs to remove the copper. The main issue we are having is that the water will not clear and we are getting low levels of free chlorine. UPDATE: We used 15 bags of shock last night in our 20k gallon pool. Still cloudy and no chlorine.

 

[Green3305]

Edit..no FREE chlorine. Total chlorine is increasing.

 

[ajw22]

It is questionable if CULater really does much.

Edit..no FREE chlorine. Total chlorine is increasing.

Everything points to you using Sulfamic acid to clear off copper stains.

Acid - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

You can wait and see if your water clears but I think draining and refilling is the only way things will clear.

 

[Green3305]

Thank you for your insight. We’ve been trying to avoid draining as our water here is pretty costly but it may just come down to that. We are going to try lots of nonchlorine oxidizing shock as our next step and if it doesn’t work we drain.

 

[ajw22]

We are going to try lots of nonchlorine oxidizing shock as our next step and if it doesn’t work we drain.

I would try lots of liquid chlorine.

 

[JamesW]

We are going to try lots of nonchlorine oxidizing shock as our next step and if it doesn’t work we drain.

That's a bad idea.

It adds lots of sulfates and the copper and other metal stains will probably just come right back.

What is the cost to drain and refill?

What is the cost for nonchlorine shock?

How much nonchlorine shock do you think it will take?

Note that draining can cause a pool to pop out of the ground and other problems, so consult a local professional to advise you how to do it safely.

 

[reggiehammond]

Thank you for your insight. We’ve been trying to avoid draining as our water here is pretty costly but it may just come down to that. We are going to try lots of nonchlorine oxidizing shock as our next step and if it doesn’t work we drain.

To be honest, you're approaching the problem in all the wrong ways. The advice you're getting is the best advice - continuing to dump magic potions in will only serve to lighten your wallet. Right now, you have cloudy water, not enough sanitizer (chlorine) and copper stains.

The pool store is leading you astray. I'd recommend embracing the TroubleFreePool Methods - read up in pool school, ask questions. Pool care is actually very simple if: 1) you have your own proper test kit and 2) you follow the trouble free methods.

No one here is trying to sell you anything or make the issue magically go away. It'll take some work, but I can guarantee you'll love the results.