Iron stains return after refilling pool with tap water.

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dody

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Jun 27, 2015
41
jenks, ok
hey all. last year, i fought with iron stains coming and going, because my husband wasn't willing to drain and refill the pool. so. this year upon opening, i added the ascorbic acid, got the stain lifted, and drained the pool until there was but 5 inches of water left in the bottom. we filled it with 100% city water, and it was beautiful! sparkly! crystal clear even! had no trouble getting her up and running.

i've used only clorox bleach (8.25%), borax, and Home Depot stabilizer in the pool.

the stain is back. so flippin frustrated. is there a chance that's there's enough iron in our city water to cause this? there must be something i'm missing.

my ta is high, but i didn't think that could cause the stain.... my husband is pretty po'd right now, and as i'm the pool girl, i'm supposed to have the answer as to why this happened, and i can't explain it.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

FC- 6
CC- 0
TA- 170
PH- 7.5
CYA- 50
 
We have had some reports of city water having iron high enough to cause stains. Tap a sample of tap water to the pool store and ask if they can test for metals. You drained after the AA treatment, correct?
 
ok, just back from the pool store. they used a strip test, and she said there was 0 copper, and yes, there was some iron, she showed me so fast, i didn't really get a chance to see what the reading was, but it was the 2nd color up as far a recognizing the iron in the water. not really sure if it's enough to create a problem, but i did top off the pool yesterday, and the stains showed up this morning.....

so, i've been seeing somethings about Jack's as a sequestering agent and using polyfill to help pull the metal out. so... off to explore and research!
 
Hi Dody. We'll get you sorted pronto here ;)

The second maker on the test strip they'd have used will be .3 ppm I suspect, which is right on the staining cusp.

I'm optimistic Metal Magic will both lift the stain, since its fresh, AND sequester it. Its a cheaper date in general, avail for $15-ish at http://poolgeek.com .

You can do the Metal Magic sponge test here link below), but I predict a startup dose should work fine in your situation with a fresh fill in th .3 range. You will need to continue to make monthly additions, and avoid slamming as same wears down sequestrant, and aim to keep your ph on the low side, eg 7.2-7.4 ish. BUT MM is easy in that it needs ph to be 7.6ish when you add.

One caveat... Sometimes MM clouds up a bit as it binds to the iron faster than you can filter it...usually takes a few days to clear when this happens. Second note is that despite the instructions that suggest lowering chlorine to use, I've had no problem using successfully at TFP spec FC levels.

Here's a link to the test, but order enough for a startup dose. And tell hubby to chill because its not YOUR fault the municipality has old infrastructure that's leaching into your pool for heaven sake - you did all the right things and should be getting "atta girls" not grief ;)

http://www.proteampoolcare.com/images/uploads/MetalMagicSpongeTest.pdf
 
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