Iron in carriage filters

[Bwdonohues58]

I have a Hayward Swim Clear filter and a Hayward 400k BTU heater. The heater has a safety feature where it won’t heat the water unless sufficient flow is in the system. For me, that’s 2250 rpm. Today the heater wouldn’t come on. This happened before and I called Hayward and they said my filter was plugged so the pump needed to be turned up. Sure enough the pressure was high. I turned it to 2650 today and it came on. A few hours later I cleaned the filters and found excessive iron buildup on the pleats. See photo. I put in brand new cartridges. I cleaned the old ones as best I could with a filter flosser but they definitely did not come clean . I set them to soak in TSP solution but I really don’t think that will do anything. Any ideas on how to get rid of the iron? Ascorbic acid? What concentration? These filters are about 1-½ years old and should last longer than that, no?

 

[Texas Splash]

Ascorbic acid should do the trick, but the iron will probably just return if the concentration is high enough in the pool and/or you don't find and eliminate the source of iron. Are you on a well? Are there any signs of iron staining anywhere else? Would you care to share some updated water test results with your TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit? That could also give us more info to go on.

 

[Bwdonohues58]

Thanks Splash, I had open heart Sutton pNovember

 

[Bwdonohues58]

Thanks Splash. I had open heart surgery on November 29 and this staining occurred while I was in hospital. It was a triple bypass and now I feel pretty good. I feel like I got a new pump! Anyway, yes, there’s iron staining in places, photos. My numbers today are FC 1.6, PH 7.30, TA 75, CH 200, which are all pretty normal for this pool. I am on city water and they don’t test for iron but I usually get this kind of thing every once in a while. It’s been zero and below for a couple of weeks with 5 ft. of snow. I try to keep FC between 1 and 2 ppm and the PH between 7.2 and 7.4.I lower PH with Muriatic Acid, 20 baume. Adding 8 ounces on Monday keeps it in that ballpark. I have the filters soaking in TSP right now (photo) but I have tried that before and it’s not effective. I hear what you’re saying about the sources of iron, but I really don’t think there is any other than the fill water. I think I’ll dump out the TSP tomorrow and refill the trash can with ascorbic acid and water to see if that helps. Might be that when the reservoir freezex

 

[Bwdonohues58]

Thanks Splash. I had open heart surgery on November 29 and this staining occurred while I was in hospital. It was a triple bypass and now I feel pretty good. I feel like I got a new pump! Anyway, yes, there’s iron staining in places, photos. My numbers today are FC 1.6, PH 7.30, TA 75, CH 200, which are all pretty normal for this pool. I am on city water and they don’t test for iron but I usually get this kind of thing every once in a while. It’s been zero and below for a couple of weeks with 5 ft. of snow. I try to keep FC between 1 and 2 ppm and the PH between 7.2 and 7.4.I lower PH with Muriatic Acid, 20 baume. Adding 8 ounces on Monday keeps it in that ballpark. I have the filters soaking in TSP right now (photo) but I have tried that before and it’s not effective.

 

[Bwdonohues58]

Hey Splash, I just dumped out the water in the trash can and refilled with all my supply of ascorbic acid, around 3 pounds plus hot tap water. After just a few minutes, here’s what I’ve got! One picture is worth 10,000 words. The last time these filters looked like this, they still had the cellophane in them . Thanks for your help !!

 

[Texas Splash]

Great! I figured the AA would do the trick. Glad to hear you are doing better from surgery. My son is down here visiting from his assignment there at Anchorage (JBER). Small world. As for the iron source itself, some municipalities do have elevated iron. Either that or perhaps old (eroding) plumbing? No doubt it's there though based on the filter results. So with accurate testing, ensure the FC and pH don't get too high. Even though you have an indoor pool, it's advisable to keep about 20 ppm worth of stabilizer (CYA) in the water to help buffer the strength of the chlorine.

 

[Bwdonohues58]

My younger daughter was Air Force and they paid her full tuition for dental school. She spent 3-4 years at JBER. Now she has her own dental practice in Anchorage. She and her sister grew up in Anchorage. I lived there for 35 years and then moved to Homer in 2007. I tried the retirement thing but there’s only a limited number of cruises I could stand. Now I take care of the therapy pool and I like it a lot. I never thought about rust in the pipes but that might be a factor. My building is new but it could be rust in the pipes in the street. Seems like it fluctuates quite a bit. I just ordered a 1 gallon pail of AA from Amazon for $50.00. I still can’t believe how fast that stuff worked. Those filters will last many years if I swap them Back and forth every month or so. When I dumped all my water April 1 and refilled with tap water from a hose, the water was a bit brownish but after I balanced the chemicals, it got crystal clear after 2-3 days. I think I’ll drain and refill in an annual basis. Water here is cheap. To drain and refill the 10,300 gallons it cost me $325.00. Thanks again.

 

[Texas Splash]

Next time you see brown water you might try polyfill. Without a doubt capturing it is the best concept when you don't have iron-free water. Below are a couple examples of what some others have done. Hope that helps.

From brown to 😍😍. Thank you polyfil!

We filled our pool from our well. We knew the risks and knew we would have a battle when the water was 12" deep as it looked green from the metals. Our fears were confirmed when we added chlorine and the water turned brown almost immediately. Enter 5 gallon polyfil filter. It worked...

www.troublefreepool.com