Copper and Iron

[prasadkm0204]

Hi,

My pool was re-plastered on Feb 19th. I also converted into swg (introduced salt after 30 days).
But I noticed something thats a little troubling.

On Mar 7th, my copper level was 0 and Iron was at 0.1, but on Mar 24th, the copper level has gone up to 0.2.
I have used the only liquid chlorine from Home depot, Muriatic acid from Leslie ( since home depot acid is not strong). The salt was from leslie's as well since their purity was slightly higher than home depot.

There was no other chemicals introduced by me. The numbers Iron (0.1) and Copper (0.2) is confirmed from 2 different sources ( Leslie and Waterguru lab test).
I am curious where the copper has come from and if I should be worried.

-Prasad

 

[ajw22]

What model gas heater do you have?

How old is your heater?

The copper can be coming from corrosion or erosion of your heaters heat exchanger.

 

[prasadkm0204]

What model gas heater do you have?

How old is your heater?

The copper can be coming from corrosion or erosion of your heaters heat exchanger.

pentair mastertemp 400. it is 2.5 years old. i did a strip test and found no issue. The strips are old but stored in good condition. see attached pic.

 

[ajw22]

Strips in general are unreliable and old strip tests more so.

Your pH ever get below 7?

They do any acid treatments on your new plaster?

 

[prasadkm0204]

no acid treatment. the lowest it had been is 7.3.

 

[prasadkm0204]

another puzzling thing that i noticed is my phosphate levels are going up from 1000 to 1200. not sure if that’s expected on a brand new plaster.

 

[ajw22]

Ignore your phosphate levels. They are meaningless.

 

[prasadkm0204]

Ignore your phosphate levels. They are meaningless.

yes. i have been doing that since 2015 now. but i thought the levels should be very low on a brand new plaster.

is there a reliable way to test for copper.

 

[mknauss]

is there a reliable way to test for copper.

The Taylor K-1264 kit will test for copper and iron. You can order the kit direct from Taylor. It costs a bit under $200.

I doubt you need to, however.

 

[prasadkm0204]

thanks @mknauss

I doubt you need to, however.

as in i don't have copper issues or because the number 0.2 is correct ?

 

[mknauss]

I doubt the 0.2 is correct. With a fresh fill, you would have had to have used a large amount of copper algaecide or had vinegar water in your pool to leach that much copper out of the heater in that short of a time. Or the fill water was loaded with copper, which would be unlikely.