Help: Pool is green after using ascorbic acid

[rickygrant]

Last Saturday, June 19th, I treated stains in my pool with ascorbic acid. I then made the mistake of shocking the pool. It is now green. I have added metal free, algaecide, and a clarifier. Nothing is getting the water to go back to clear.

Any suggestions about what to do next? Do I need to drain and start over? Would Hyper-Shocking help?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Sounds like a few things need to be addressed first:
- How are you testing your water? Which test kit specifically?
- An AA treatment only removes the staining, so the iron is still in the water. Shocking, or elevating the FC level exceptionally high, only causes the iron to react.
- We almost never recommend floc or clarifier. They can mess-up your filter media.
- Algaecides do nothing for iron
- Metal Free will only handle x-amount of iron, and a high FC level can lessen its effectiveness.
- If you are filling from a well, the iron will just come back unless you have a way to filter it out (i.e. polyfill).

If the green is clear and only related to the reaction between iron and chlorine, you could let the FC fall a bit and see if the green goes away. Also adjust the pH to 7.5 or slightly lower. If the green is tied to algae, then you 'll need to perform a SLAM Process to remove algae. Removing algae must always done first before treating for metals.

 

[rickygrant]

Welcome to TFP! Sounds like a few things need to be addressed first:
- How are you testing your water? Which test kit specifically?
- An AA treatment only removes the staining, so the iron is still in the water. Shocking, or elevating the FC level exceptionally high, only causes the iron to react.
- We almost never recommend floc or clarifier. They can mess-up your filter media.
- Algaecides do nothing for iron
- Metal Free will only handle x-amount of iron, and a high FC level can lessen its effectiveness.
- If you are filling from a well, the iron will just come back unless you have a way to filter it out (i.e. polyfill).

If the green is clear and only related to the reaction between iron and chlorine, you could let the FC fall a bit and see if the green goes away. Also adjust the pH to 7.5 or slightly lower. If the green is tied to algae, then you 'll need to perform a SLAM Process to remove algae. Removing algae must always done first before treating for metals.

Thank you for your response. FC has been at zero for a few days now. Green has not gone away...iron tested at .3 ppm today.

should I slam the pool?

Should I drain it?

 

[Texas Splash]

You have a couple choices to make:
- Ideally, draining and exchanging the water with non-iron water is most ideal. If that's not possible, start filtering pool water now with polyfill; either with poly in the skimmer or through a separate bucket filled with polyfill.
- If you elect to keep the same water, lower the pH to 7.2, confirm the current CYA, then increase teh FC to the proper SLAM level noted on the FC/CYA Levels to begin the SLAM Process. Maintain that elevated FC level until you pass all 3 SLAM criteria. Follow the SLAM link and you'll do well. Once you pass the SLAM, if the water is still discolored from iron, we can address it at that time.