Metals and staining

[Drewjill]

I have had some issues for the past few years with metals, staining and keeping balanced. Got a TF100 kit this year and want to quit the pool store after wasting so much $ and still having issues! With TFP I think I’m on track. Water appears to be balanced after almost a week of fluctuating FC and I am now holding stable.
FC 5
CC .5
PH 7.5
CH 350
CYA 40

Have been adding only bleach 8.25% for 4 days. I did add 1 qt of Iron Out II on Sunday as recommended. Water is now clear, no major pressure rise in the filter has stayed around 18psi. I did add a CuLater to the pump basket to try to capture metals. My last metal test from 6/29/19 done at pool store was .5 copper and 0 iron. Prior to that test I had 4.0 copper and 1.4 iron. Got that down with Iron Out II recommended by the company that installed the pool. I have done AA treatments in the past with immediate good results that fade fast after the metals release back into the water and when chlorine is added back in (I was probably doing it too quickly). Want to do AA treatment again as the pool looks terrible and no one wants to use it! Looking for advice on the best way to treat the stains the TFP way. Thank you all for your help and guidance through this process. I have learned so much!

 

[Texas Splash]

Congrats on finding your way to TFP. Now that you are in control, you should be able to manage the metal situation much better. A good place to start is our Stains in Your Pool - Trouble Free Pool page. You're on town water, but perhaps their supply has some iron in it. It happens. Pre-filtering may also help you in the future. For the copper, that's generally introduced from pool store chamicals or a corroded heater element. If your pH was ever low in the past, you may want to inspect that heater really well to see if it's the culprit of your copper. If not, then it may have been old pool store snake oils that will take time to remove unless you do a partial water exchange. Whenever those metal reading get over 0.3 we tend to see more staining, so anything you can do to keep those low is good. As you have learned, keeping the FC on the low side helps, and so does a lower pH, but with the pH be careful of the errosion factor to equipment. But read that link and let us know if you have more questions.

 

[Drewjill]

Thank you so much for your response. I’ve done this treatment before and have had some challenges certainly due to being impatient! Placing a big amazon order!
Here is my plan.
Current FC 2.5, CC .5- pool looks great other than stains!

Just added Muriatic acid as directed on pool math to lower PH to 7

Add Kem tech polyquat 60 as directed in bottle - this is the one I could get the quickest. If I have to I could get a different brand from pool store upon recommendation

Add AA as needed 1/2 pound at a time til stains lift. Ordering 5lbs through Amazon

Add pool mate 1-2550-04 sequesterant as directed- this one was the most economical as I know I will need to use it regularly. Don’t want to cheap out if there is a better recommendation

Raise PH back to 7.2 using soda ash per pool math calculation

SLOWLY add chlorine back in up to 3ppm

Turn back in SWG and set to 50% I will have to have my salt and metal tested at the pool store

I will need to determine maintenance doses of the sequesterant to keep metals suspended. Any recommendations?

I think this sounds like the right plan after HOURS of reading about metals etc. looking for any tweaks / recommendations

One question- when should I try to raise my CYA for a SWG? I’ve been at 40 since I’ve been doing my own testing with the TF100 kit. Pool stores have always said far lower or 0! Any recommendations on brands or solid vs liquid?

Thanks for helping to get me out of the pool store!

 

[Texas Splash]

For sequestrants, you can shop around. 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.

For the CYA, we recommend the higher end of 70-80 to help the SWG work more productively and retain FC as it's slowly produced during run times. Once you transition from the AA treatment back to regular maintenance, I would increase it at that time. Good luck!

 

[Drewjill]

Thanks! One last question do I turn off my SWG while doing this process?

 

[Texas Splash]

One last question do I turn off my SWG while doing this process?

I would for now. You need the calculated precision of manual bleach additions and ability to monitor FC increasing once you transition from AA to monitor for stains that may try to reappear as you slowly increase the FC 1 ppm at a time. Once everything has settled and you are comfortable with the results, then resume normal SWG operations.

Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains

Here are the directions to use Ascorbic acid to rid your pool of metal stains: Here is the ascorbic treatment: Take your chlorine down to 0 and PH down to 7.2, if there is chlorine in the water it won't hurt, it will just eat up the ascorbic acid, so you will need more to get rid of the...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Drewjill]

Added the Polyquot 60 on Saturday night, 4.4 pounds Ascorbic acid Sunday morning, 2 quarts metal out Sunday afternoon. The pool looks perfect! Strange thing my ph didn’t drop very much at all. Maybe .1 (somewhat hard to decipher) was 7.2 before I started and probably 7.1 now. My TA went down to 140 from 220 so that’s good. Think I’m ready to start adding bleach. I know I need to do it slowly, but not sure how slow is slow?

 

[Texas Splash]

I know I need to do it slowly, but not sure how slow is slow?

Don't quote me on this, but about 1 ppm per hour I believe. I'm not at my normal desk right now. Watch carefully. If you see staining trying to reappear, add sequestrant to lift them right away.

 

[Drewjill]

Have been adding bleach SLOWLY over the past week never to more than 3.5 ppm. Have been going through a fair amount - I think due to the AA consuming it. Super hot /sunny weekend here and enjoyed the pool for the first time in over a year thanks to TFP’s help! Lost 1ppm overnight and holding at
FC 2
CC .5 (although maybe lower test showed the faintest if pink and 1 drop cleared it up)
Ph 7.5 (started at 7.2 and has risen)
TA 120
CH 300
CYA 40

The pool looks gorgeous! Want to keep it that way! I know I need to add metal sequester to keep the metals in check- used pool mate Metal Out during AA treatment and it seemed to work. Followed the instructions on the bottle. The bottle recommends 1 quart per 20000 gallons to make up for backwashing / splashing once per month. Haven’t turned back on the SWG or added anything but bleach for over a week. Am I on the right track? Looking to find out what I should do from here to keep it beautiful! Should I test for metals? Salt? My last salt reading was 2800 from the pool store about 2 weeks ago which was ok for my SWG.
Thank you!!!