Iron frustrations lingering...Ugh...

[Neworldjef]

Hi All,

I wrote last fall about this issue and did an ascorbic acid treatment then - after reading all about it on TFP. Just before closing, the stains returned and I closed for winter last Sept. Now it is getting hot in NJ (missed the opportunity for an early opening and cool weather which would have helped). Lots of staining which easily comes off with a vitamin C tab. Here is how I handled it and things are worse than ever. Really frustrated here.

• Upon opening (last Fri, 5/20) chlorine was zero and PH 7.0
• Followed this TFP article: Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains
• Added 1.5 lbs ascorbic acid for 33K gallons - 45 minutes and all was clear (*I had filter set to "filter" not "circulate" as article suggests. I have a sand filter and I missed that instruction - not sure if it makes a big difference)
• Added 3 quarts of Pro Team Metal Magic
• Ran filter overnight
• Began Saturday with adding chlorine slowly and kept coming up zero. Sunday added larger amounts to get chlorine reading. Then went pretty high with chlorine as temps were into mid 90's and I feared algae might be the reason for discoloration (this may be my downfall) - chlorine spiked Monday morning (10 ppm) and pool water is very discolored. Walls stained and I easily scraped my initials into the stain with a vitamin C tablet.
• I also added Leslie's Soda Ash as I had some on hand to raise PH back to normal levels (7.4).
• Now chlorine is at 7/8 ppm.
• See pics below - water and stains are worse than ever - even worse than when I closed last Sept.
• I'm so frustrated. Spent a lot on chlorine (73% Calcium Hypochlorite), Ascorbic Acid and sequestrant.
• Did I simply go too high too fast with chlorine?
• Do I need to do this all over again?
• I see products online which claim you add them to your pool water and they will bind to iron and be removed. Is this BS?
• Any help and support appreciated. 20 years and I never ran into anything like this.

Thanks!

• 

 

[Newdude]

Hey Neworldjef !!!
Mguzzy had a similar recurring battle and wrote it up awsome here. Have a read :

What I thought were old iron stains on my cartridge filters, is iron my water!

Hi all Amazingly I found no posts on the forum about this. So I was the victim of the dreaded Iron contaminated Clorox Pool Salt about 3 seasons ago. Apparently it was worse than I thought. There is a nice darker area in my mottled dark plaster in the deep end from salt additions from that...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yes. If the chlorine or pH or both increases too quickly then the iron will precipitate again even if sequestrant is added. You need to keep the pH below 7.5 and only added a minimal amount of chlorine.

Do you know what your iron levels are at all?

My guess is that your iron concentration is simply too high and that you will be constantly fighting this. What are you using for fill water - municipal supply or a well?

 

[cledee]

Is the best way to deal with the metals once you've added AA and lifted the stain to dump some of your water and replace it with fresh non iron water? I still have some iron issues myself and I've kept following the instructions to a tee and still some of the metals re-stained the stairs. I've kept ph at 7.0 and chlorine at the minimum for my CYA.

 

[Neworldjef]

Yes. If the chlorine or pH or both increases too quickly then the iron will precipitate again even if sequestrant is added. You need to keep the pH below 7.5 and only added a minimal amount of chlorine.

Do you know what your iron levels are at all?

My guess is that your iron concentration is simply too high and that you will be constantly fighting this. What are you using for fill water - municipal supply or a well?

I use municipal water. This all started last year when they were working on water pipes in neighborhood. I suspect that may be part of the issue. just a guess. Leslies Pool Store tells me (with their computerized system) I have 0 - .1 iron. I do not trust their results all that much.

 

[cledee]

I use municipal water. This all started last year when they were working on water pipes in neighborhood. I suspect that may be part of the issue. just a guess. Leslies Pool Store tells me (with their computerized system) I have 0 - .1 iron. I do not trust their results all that much.

If the metal has already stained your liner, it will show as 0 on their test.

 

[Neworldjef]

What is the downside of doing another AA treatment while chlorine is high (7 ppm)? Will it simply take more AA and have no other negative effect? Or, will the high chlorine prevent the sequestrant from working at all?

PH is 7.4 should I use chemicals to lower that before doing AA again, or go as is?

I'm planning on going with large amounts of AA (got a 8-lb bucket for about $50) and then an initial sequestrant treatment. How important is it to lower chlorine and PH first. See above for details on my first attempt this season. I'm trying to be cost-effective without being downright stupid! LOL

Thanks for all the help!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The ascorbic acid reacts with chlorine and neutralizes it. But it also cannot lift stains once it reacts with chlorine. So no matter what, your FC will drop to zero by adding AA.

 

[Katodude]

If you want to be cost effective, I would just leave it for now. You really want to do this when the water is cold. That allows you not to worry about algae as much and lets you raise the FC level much more slowly.

Also based on your results I would look towards either doing a water exchange after the AA treatment or some sort of filtering device to remove the iron.

 

[Neworldjef]

If you want to be cost effective, I would just leave it for now. You really want to do this when the water is cold. That allows you not to worry about algae as much and lets you raise the FC level much more slowly.

Also based on your results I would look towards either doing a water exchange after the AA treatment or some sort of filtering device to remove the iron.

Thanks and agreed!

20 years with his pool and never anything like this. No iron issues at all. Work is being done on water pipes in my neighborhood and I wonder if that is the cause. I've been thinking total exchange of water (possibly coordinating with a new liner). And also a filtering device. As is, the pool is so uninviting and dirty-looking.

 

[Katodude]

If water is cheap, you can do an AA treatment then dump the water and refill. You will find out pretty quickly if it is the fill water. Also you can be less worried about algae since you a dumping most of the water anyway.

It looks like you have a liner pool so be careful about how much water to dump.