Done with iron

[bls2019]

The first half of my season was near perfection with crystal clear water and no chemistry issues. I’m not sure if the city flushed the water system but for the past two months I’ve been battling iron in the water. My pH keeps creeping up And alk keeps creeping down. CC has NEVER been above .2ppm and never had algae, thanks to TFP. Iron keeps settling to the bottom no matter what I do. In South MS and we haven’t had rain in almost two weeks so I’m forced to fill with more city water. I e blocked the aerator on my intex return so it keeps pH somewhat in check but it still goes up. I only add borax, bleach, non-metal chlorine tabs, dry acid, baking soda to balance. I’ve tried the poly fill bucket, in the skimmer, DE in the filter, sequestrant but all to no avail. Vacuum to waste works for a little bit but again I have to refill with city water.

What can I do that will work besides having water trucked in? It’s late enough in the season that it’s not an option. I’m to the point of desperation. My husband got back from deployment a month ago and has only been in the pool twice because I can’t keep the metal from precipitating. Does the culator actually work? And why would my alk and pH keep being crazy? I know low alk can cause pH to go nuts but nothing I do keeps them in check. First two months I had no issues whatsoever until the metal showed up. Now it’s planet of the apes and I can’t keep it clean and balanced. Would iron do that?

 

[Texas Splash]

Iron is frustrating. No doubt. But do your best to keep certain things in check like:
- PH must be controlled. Once it creeps over 7.6 you run the risk of iron precipitation. The pH will rise when the TA gets elevated or if there is significant aeration. Fill water can contribute to the challenge, especially if the fill water's TA is elevated. So keep muriatic acid on-hand (better than dry acid) and try to keep the pH at 7.5 or slightly below. The TA can fall as well as long as it doens't go below 50. If it does, increase it just a little with baking soda.
- FC control: We always want the FC/CYA to be balanced to prevent algae (see FC/CYA Levels). But watch to ensure the FC doesn't get too high which can also aggrevate the iron.
- Filtering new (fill) water is often used, but you may not see the iron captured as much as you would like if the iron isn't in a solid form.
- Consider using a good sequestrant. Sequestrant is a chemical that binds to the iron in the water so that it can't form stains or turn brown. Sequestrant breaks down slowly, so you need to add more regularly. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic the Pink Stuff (regular), the Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and the Purple Stuff (SWG) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find other brands with similar products, some of which are noticeably less expensive. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective.

Finally, there's iron content. If too much gets in the water over time, it's simply very difficult to manage. If it does start precipitating-out, that's the time to add towels or similar products to the skimmer to try and capture it. Just be careful not to block good water flow to the pump.

 

[bls2019]

Ive been using polyester quilt batting folded into about 8 layers in the basket with a chlorine tab in there and usually don’t have to add bleach at all since I keep FC at minimum. I need to have the PPM of iron tested in the water. I keep my pH around 7.1 and once it hits 7.3-7.4 I start to see significant precipitate. pH is 7.4 right now, hence the desperation. I did add a HEDP sequestrant about a month ago but still saw minimum film of precipitate after two quarts. I’m thinking I need to have the spigot water tested for ppm so I know what I’m looking at in the fill water. Thinking next year I am having water trucked in but still confused why the first two months of the season there were no problems at all with iron and my FC was 4 minimum and pH was steady at 7.4. I only added bleach and tabs the first two months. All other levels stayed steady.