Hi everyone. I have a pool that for years gave me no issues. 3 years ago I switched to salt. year 1 no issue, last year water started to get green/brown and could not get rid of it. pool guy said is metal in water. this year I had similar problems, not to the extend of last year but still not clear. dark stains in liner and steps. they suggested to test the water faucet to see if any metal was present. no metal there. I bought a metal collector tool that since i put in skimmer helped a bit. water looks decent but stains are still there. the only thing i can think of is the heater (its 5 years old). pool guy has no solution just says that in NJ he sees many pools with this issue. but water has no metal in it.....i really dont know what to do. replacing heat exchanger for a non copper one is expensive and maybe that is not the problem. any suggestions? thank you
Need second opinion please
- Thread starter paul1971
- Start date
Hello!
Can you give us more details on your pool and pool care? How are you testing? What products have been added? Anything with copper? Can you provide pictures of the pool? Are you on a well and could it be iron staining? Here's a link to some more reading on stains in your pool.
Can you give us more details on your pool and pool care? How are you testing? What products have been added? Anything with copper? Can you provide pictures of the pool? Are you on a well and could it be iron staining? Here's a link to some more reading on stains in your pool.
Hi, thanks for your message. Pool is small, 13k gallons approx. Water tests fine, no metal no issues. Sometimes salt is low so they add (i have a weekly maintenance service). Pool guy says that it test negative to metal because metal is attached to liner now. Water is quite clear just stains in steps and liner. I removed stains before but then water turns. Not on a well, i fill up pool with water from faucet that also tested negative to metal. I post a picture of last year during worst period. Now its obviously not like that but perhaps old pic helps identifying issue. The only thing i can think of is the heater but as i mentioned is an expensive bet to change it if that is not the issue...i will post pictures of what it looks like now later...
Attachments
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Where in NJ are you?
Where does your water district source their water from?
Some NJ water districts source their water from wells. Multiple wells may be used and various wells can be turned on and off to provide water within a water district. So the quality of the water can vary depending on which wells are operating.
I know this because I sat on a NJ Grand Jury that heard a water contamination and fraudulent water test results case for I think it was the Oranges Water District. Based on hearing that case I don trust any municipal water supply quality.
Put a paste from Vitamin C tablets in a sock and rub it on an area. If the stain lifts then it is iron stains.
Where does your water district source their water from?
Some NJ water districts source their water from wells. Multiple wells may be used and various wells can be turned on and off to provide water within a water district. So the quality of the water can vary depending on which wells are operating.
I know this because I sat on a NJ Grand Jury that heard a water contamination and fraudulent water test results case for I think it was the Oranges Water District. Based on hearing that case I don trust any municipal water supply quality.
Put a paste from Vitamin C tablets in a sock and rub it on an area. If the stain lifts then it is iron stains.
i am in bergen county, the water comes from Ridgewood Water. I will do the test you recommend with vitamin C tablet and let you know.
I did the vitamin C test and stains comes off. So i guess it is iron. The problem is now what to do to eliminate and prevent it. I read you can buy a filter for the hose but the company needed to see the iron level in the water to suggest the right filter but the water tests negative for metal now......also to remove iron from pool i read different opinions. I have a cartridge filter. Any suggestions? Here is a pic of pool now...
Attachments
jgofnj
Silver Supporter
- May 28, 2013
- 414
- Pool Size
- 18500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I am from NJ and also having a similar issue although not as bad. Had pool for about 16 years, never had issues with stairs staining until after I got my SWG 2 years ago. I have it under control for now but wonder if the salt used had anything to do with it. I used Clorox and read some people had issues. One other thing I will mentioned, that I know will drive people crazy, but my Phosphates were over 3,700 ppb which I know everyone says is not an issue but this is off the charts. So I used the CR-10000 (???) and reduced my phosphate to under 2000. Added a little ascorbic acid to the stairs and everything seems to be fine now. I also did the latest iron test just posted and no discolor with bucket test.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Clorox salt has known issues with contaminants and should not be used.
Investigation: Clorox Selling Pool Salt Made From Fracking Wastewater
You might be shocked to learn that a Clorox product used to treat swimming pools came from fracking wastewater.Public Herald has discovered that Eureka Resources, a company based in Pennsylvania, has been treating wastewater from shale gas development — a.k.a. “fracking” — and packaging the...
publicherald.org
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Ridgewood water gets water from 52 wells. That is why your water quality can vary widely.
Read their Master Plan for PFAS Treatment of the well water.
Thanks for the tips and responses. really appreciated. i read about the ascorbic acid system but since the chlorine level has to be low when you do it, i wait until i close it or open next year. right now I have put in the skimmer a product I found on line which seems to help. its called culator ultra power pack and apparently catches metals...the weird thing is that I never had any issues when my pool was chlorine. since I switched to salt the problem started. any opinion here? also, does anyone uses a filter for the hose to prevent metal? any recommendation on which one to buy? the guy i talk to said it depends on the level of metal in water but as i mention is currently zero.....
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Test your fill water.
www.troublefreepool.com
I think it is coincidental your switch to salt and your water supplier giving you iron.
What brand salt did you use?
Iron Fill Water Filter - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
I think it is coincidental your switch to salt and your water supplier giving you iron.
What brand salt did you use?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Good luck with CUlater. Some folks say it is a quack device. Some folks think it captured iron in their water. It will not lift iron stains off of surfaces.
Let us know if you see any visible difference.
Let us know if you see any visible difference.
Pls find attached the brand i use for salt.
I did test the fill water from faucet, iron is 0.04 but to your point it depends from which well they took water at that time.
Anyhow right now the water is better than last year...culatelor hopefully helping....thanks
I did test the fill water from faucet, iron is 0.04 but to your point it depends from which well they took water at that time.
Anyhow right now the water is better than last year...culatelor hopefully helping....thanks
Attachments
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
well, glad is not the salt either. then i guess the consensus is the fill water that at some point contains iron. glad is also not copper, which exclude issues coming from the heater. i read your link about filtering the fill water but it seems not that simple to eliminate iron. my pool guy also said that if i remove the stains from steps and liner then iron goes back into the water....unless the culator sucks it in. he does not seem to think culator helps....
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I agree with your Pool Guy about Culator.
If you are not going to drain the pool and hope you get iron free water then you need to periodically use a sequestrant to keep the iron in suspension. Otherwise it will redeposit on the surfaces.
www.troublefreepool.com
If you are not going to drain the pool and hope you get iron free water then you need to periodically use a sequestrant to keep the iron in suspension. Otherwise it will redeposit on the surfaces.
Sequestrant - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Would it be worth to empty pull and refill it using water from a truck? How expensive would that be? But the problem remains if i then have to top it up with fill water….really dont know what to do, i read all links but i dont see any certain solution for it
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,175
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
When I redid my plaster a few years ago I filled the pool from water trucks. I think I paid around $500 per 7,000 gallon truckload.
The truck filled it’s water up in Sparta and brought it to Bergen County.
The truck filled it’s water up in Sparta and brought it to Bergen County.