Iron, or possibly something else?

[LoriWilfer]

Hello everyone - I am hoping for some good direction with my pool issue.

We did refill about a week ago (we fill from well water, no other option for us). When we were filling, we had hose attachment filters on 2 hoses and cotton socks (turned brown quickly) on the 3rd. As we filled I did add chlorine in the pool. I am attaching a photo that shows the pool color after the fill was complete. I added stabilizer in a sock to the return and pretty much had the pool at SLAM level. It cleared crystal in a day.

My issue now is I have crystal clear water (no tint of any color), but I am getting some sort of sediment on the bottom of the pool that just dissipates in a cloud when I brush or try and touch it. I lose no chlorine at night, but after days and days of brushing this up and even deep cleaning a nasty rusty/red colored water out of the sand filter (took over an hour) I brought the pool back to SLAM level last night. This morning I have even more "sediment" on the bottom and now there are stains on the liner of the pool. With tips from this wonderful site in other threads, I used some Vit C tablets on the stains and instantly were removed. So, I'm assuming this is iron. So could the black/brownish sediment on the bottom be iron since I added more chlorine last night, or not since the pool remains crystal clear when I let the FC level drift back to target ranges?
I am at wits end, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

I know someone will ask so here are my last test numbers before raising my FC to 14 last night:
FC 5
CC 0
pH 7.6 (holding steady for 4 days)
TA 175
CYA 35

I am also attaching 2 photos that show the light green tint of the water right after refill (excuse the fishing pole - my husband left me to deal with the pool so he could go fishing) and another from how it looks now with the sediment on the bottom. I also was able to find the last water quality report online for the community well we are on, but I don't understand the abbreviations if someone else has experience with that I can attach that if requested.

Thanks in advance!
Frustrated pool owner.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! It does sound as though your pool still has enough iron content in it to precipitate out and cause some of the issues you are seeing. Have you added a sequestrant yet? Your best and most reliable method of metals management (other than having fresh water delivered) is to add sequestrant to the water and replenish it periodically. 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.

 

[LoriWilfer]

Thank u Tx! So even though my water doesnt get a color tint, I'm still looking at iron? In my mind, I knew that would be the answer, but was hoping not lol.

Thanks again!

 

[Texas Splash]

So even though my water doesn't get a color tint, I'm still looking at iron? In my mind, I knew that would be the answer, but was hoping not lol.

While you made some effort to pre-filter the iron before it got in, I'm sure some iron still got in which is why the vitamin c tabs had such an immediate effect. Now the cloudiness could still be the onset of an algae issue, or at least the water is struggling a bit during the day. To confirm or rule-out an algae issue, you might consider doing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. It's possible you have a couple things going on at once, but if you can pass the OCLT that would be great so you can focus solely on the iron issue.

 

[LoriWilfer]

Thank u Tx. I have passed the OCLT test every night that Ive had the pool at SLAM levels. The pool was only the cloudy green tint color the day after filling. The pool has been sparkling clear ever since and I also have not had any CC testing over .5ppm.
Another question about the sequestriant. If I put some in to bind from the iron, does that only bind to prevent water color changes, or will it also keep the sediment off the pool floor?

 

[Texas Splash]

If I put some in to bind from the iron, does that only bind to prevent water color changes, or will it also keep the sediment off the pool floor?

It should help with the color changes and any potential staining. If the sediment is actually iron and causing some staining, that may still need to be vacuumed as soon as you can until the majority of the iron is removed and all you are left with is chemical treatment.