My water is blue!

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Lol, I wouldn't call that a definitive test, Kim, but the taste of iron is fairly distinct ;) Doesn't mean its the ONLY metl in the pool either.

Pabeader, what does the water look like now that you've partially drained and started slamming? Is it still "blue" or does it look more line normal water? Is the cloudiness clearing? Is there any staining on the surface, and if so what color?

I just reviewed some of your photos again. That tan color on the steps does look like iron. Previously you also reported black, which, if a metal, is often copper (as is blue and green.)

Are you on a well or is the house/pool new to you? When you opened the swamp, were the TA and ph super low? Do you have a heater?

I'm just trying to work out where the metals came from, since you're allergic and since you now are in a good position to have a "trouble free" pool maintenance life -- it would be good to know if the weird metal combo and blue water were from an unusual one time event (eg swamp conversion) or if there's an ongoing metal source you will need to account for in your maintenance ;)
 
Pool is new to me. Was unkempt by previous tenants for a few years. Was a swamp when I took the cover off.
Right now water has a tint of BLUE. The pool itself is a medium tan color. Combined they make the water look green but if you hold something white in the pool it looks blue so water itself is blue.
I've stopped the SLAM because the pool is getting more and more tan. It is slightly cloudy. I attribute that to turbidity from the dissolved metals. I can make it crystal clear if I do the AA or CA treatment. I know that if I do the AA treatment I will get clear BLUE water and a white pool.

Originally, the ring around the pool was a very dark color I call black. It might have been any combination of colors to get there. I know that crushed "c" immediately made it disappear. So I got 5 lbs of Citric acid (couldn't afford 'c') Put about 4lbs in the pool. Next day, no ring, no tan, BLUE water. Crystal clear.

We have city water.

Heater was bypassed when I got to it. Going to stay that way!! I found out the heat exchanger was toast when I tried to enable it and rust chunks started flowing into pool!!

So now I have slightly BLUE water. Slightly cloudy. Light tan color pool.

I was thinking of doing the AA treatment for real this time. Wife says she doesn't mind the BLUE water, as long as the pool is white. :O

My recent numbers are:
FC 12 (have added no bleach in two days SWG was keeping it up)
CC <.5
TC 12.5
pH 7.6 (not really valid)
TA 120
CH 350
CYA 70

SWG has stopped working cuz I need to add salt back in after drain and fill. (No money til payday on Monday)
Trying to let FC drop down to normal levels and see what happens.


Any suggestions would be graciously accepted.
 
Hi again, Pabeader. Thanks for the info. I will try to help you sort your options. The increasing tan color will be from slamming if you have a high enough iron level. It sounds like your metals are likely from the heater, which now you're bypassing.

Option 1. Okay, so 5,000 gallons is truly a smaller volume to simply replace if you're willing to consider just getting rid of the metals in the water period. May be cheaper in the long run to do a few more partial drains and then a startup, but using metal sequestrant at start up just in case a bit remains ;)

Option 2 - First do the overnight chlorine loss test two nights in a row to confirm whether or not you actually need to SLAM. If you lose 1 ppm or more from after sunset to before dawn, it means that there ARE organics in the pool and you need to slam.

If you need to Slam, then slam properly and don't worry about stains til after your water is crystal clear (although possibly tinted) and you pass all the slam criteria (review article in my signature links.)

Option/Step 3 -- either after slam, or possibly now if you pass OCL test twice:

Since you're swg, which usually means ph rides higher, I might suggest that you specifically try Metal Magic as your sequestrant this time, (needs ph above 7.5 to work effectively) and perform the sponge test on the stain: http://www.proteampoolcare.com/images/uploads/MetalMagicSpongeTest.pdf

-- My reasoning is that since you're getting staining you still need a sequestrant anyway. By doing the sponge test first, you can decide if you want to simply use MORE of the MM to also treadt the stain instead of doing the AA treatment. Ths method as worked relably for me, but ymmv.

Alternately you could do another, this time very controlled, AA treatment, then sequester. AA is sure fire, which is why its recommended here, but it does/can create a struggle to get FC back up.

Another note in general is that with metal, keeping your ph around 7.2 (except when doing the mm treatment) tends to help reduce staining. Maintaining proper FC for your CYA level is also important because you want to avoid the need to slam.

Hope that helps you sort it out.
Keep us posted!
 
Haven't posted in a while. Have been in a holding pattern. Let CL drop to 5. Using SWG to maintain that. Slight cloudiness but am letting family swim.
CC has never been over .5 Water is less and less BLUE and sides are getting more and more tan.
This morning the pool is clear, i would say sparkly but it wasn't daylight enough out to be sure. The water only barely BLUE. Have to look closely at handrail to see the color. Wife wants BLUE water and white pool so; yesterday I ordered a pound of AA from Duda. Probably be here Tuesday.
Going to be a balancing act to keep both her and the pool, happy.
 
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