Managing Iron/Metals the clear, green tint.

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PNWDad

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Apr 14, 2016
68
Portland, OR
We just had our liner replaced and re-filled and salted our pool. Initially, the water looked clear and blue. Once I dialed in the SWC and brought the FC to around 2, a green tint developed, not cloudy, jut a tint as others have mentioned. I know our well has Iron concentration around 3ppm, but find it odd that we did not see this with our previous liner. I suppose it could be the time of year and perhaps the iron concentration is higher. I typically only need to adjust the SWC, add muratic acid, and clean the filters. Curious if what I am seeing could be coming off the new liner, or is it just Iron?

I've read many pages of posts here about HTT, Jacks Magic, ProTeam Magic, and Poly-fil. I'm not sure that I completely understand what happens if I use one of the products to reduce the iron, does the chemical stay in the water or break down? Do I have to keep adding the chemical as part of a regular maintenance? The poly-fil in the skimmer method is appealing as I like the idea of removing the Iron, but I'm not thinking that will work on clear-tint vs. cloudy water.

Looking for recomendations to solve the problem in the most natural way possible. Thank you!
 
I'm not on a well but do get a little bit of iron in my city water. To the point that every other year, when
adding the first chlorine after winter, I get that light green tint.

What I have done in the past is replace about 1/3 of it to get it blue again which doesn't make much
sense, but works.

When it's green like that, you can put poly fill in your skimmer that will collect / remove the iron.
The jack's magic pink stuff, will get it "in solution", so you won't see green but it
is still in the water requiring constant additions to keep it blue.

If you search for poly fill you should find a bunch of posts and photos of what others have done.
It's something you definitely want to stay on top of as staining begins to occur over time.

Right now my liner has a very slight tan/brown stain at the water line, barely noticeable but
annoying to say the least.
 
3ppm iron in your fill water is definitely high enough to scale out of solution and cause stains. Sequestering the metal ion will help keep it from getting oxidized by chlorine but it does not remove the metal and you must keep using a maintenance dose. It’s best of you can filter and remove the iron from the source water. You can either do that by chlorinating the fill water and using a particulate filter to capture the iron (some people make their own DIY iron filters) or you can invest in a whole-home iron filter.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what draining 1/3 of my iron well water and refilling with iron well water would do to improve? Because I've dialed in the salt, I'd rather not dump the water.

When I add the poly-fil to the skimmer, should it be contained in a mesh bag or pillow case? Will strands defeat the basket and get into my impeller?

Has anyone used Iron-out powder?
 
Read a few more posts...called a local pool supply store., perhaps more confused. Pool supply store said I needed to add something to the water to sequester the iron, then my cartridge filters will remove the iron precip? Is the poly-fil/skimmer method to be done with using one the products like HTH, or does it work when the tint is present- Cl is high? Thanks.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
or you can invest in a whole-home iron filter
Click to expand...
That is what I have. One for just iron and one for water softener. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes.

PNWDad said:
Pool supply store said I needed to add something to the water to sequester the iron, then my cartridge filters will remove the iron precip?
Click to expand...
The sequestrant keeps the iron dissolved in the water. While dissolved, it will not stain and it will not turn the water green. But you also can't filter it out either. You will need to be careful with your pH and FC levels. Fluctuations could cause the iron to drop out of solution. That is when you will see green water and rust stains but that is also when polyfill and your filter will be able to catch it. You will likely need to do a little bit of both. Try to filter it out when it does come out of solution and use a sequesterant to help keep it in solution.
 
There are poly-anionic sequestering agents that will capture multiple divalent metal ions (Ca2+, Fe2+, Mg2+, etc) and form a precipitate under the right conditions (follow the label instructions on water balance). So you can slowly filter out metals but it’s not specific to iron. Simply raising your FC levels and adding a clarifying agent will work too but you’ll be cleaning the cartridge filter multiple times per day to keep the filter pressure in check. If you had a multiport valve with a vacuum to waste option, flocculation could be used to drop the iron out. So it’s really a matter of how far you want to go to precipitate the iron and filter it out.
 
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PNWDad said:
Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what draining 1/3 of my iron well water and refilling with iron well water would do to improve?
Click to expand...

Probably not because your iron concentration is so high. I just mentioned it because I do have a minor iron problem.
The concentration is super low though.

I really don't otherwise know why it works, but it does.
 

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I'm not sure that would be as effective wrapping it inside a shirt.
You want the poly fill to be layered inside the skimmer. Then like push it down into the skimmer
to keep it from floating, just make sure the water has to get through it and can't go around it.
 
PNWDad said:
The t-shirt is picking up a rust color, but the poly-fil is not??? Am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...
you're not doing anything wrong, it's just being filtered by the first layer it hits, which is the t-shirt. I've ready posts where people have used paper towels and it works. I did the same as you and stuffed the poly fill in a skimmer sock. Mine is so low and minor though that it didn't catch anything. Keep doing what you're doing. If anything you're using is turning brown, it's working
 
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