New liner / water refill / metals

[C3Cl3N3O3]

So I have a new liner going on in a week or two, weather permitting.

Any recommendations on the refill process? I've struggled mightily with metals in my city water here. I've not been able to identify what it is, possibly iron and/or copper. The old liner looks like heck from the brown staining. I've use a metal trap filter when topping off with limited success. I do not use algaecides.

So if and when I get a truck out here to refill the pool, is it possible to get an extremely low metal content to start with? Is it a luck of the draw or can I control the outcome?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Look at your town/county's water report online. They are required to publish them for review every 6months to a year. See if they list metals. Do you see brown stains in your sink or toilet in the house? That is tell tail for iron.

So are you asking if a truck of water is going to be better than just your house water? If so, the answer is... not always.

There is a trick you can do to capture the iron in water to remove it- you let the iron precipitate (turn the water orange) then using polyfil in the skimmers you capture the iron as it passes thru the material. It can take up to a week but we've seen good results doing this. Another thing you'll want to do is try to let rain water help top up your pool. Some folks actually redirect their gutters into the pool (putting a filter screen on end to keep roof debris out of the pool).

If it were me, I'd try all the above before resorting to sequestrants. Those work but require frequent re-dosing so to me that's last choice.

Maddie

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

It is probably iron and I do have hard water stains on the toilets.

So luck of the draw then with the truck? You'd think there'd be better options for pool owners, as insidious as that problem is. It's probably the worst thing I've had to deal with on my pool, and I've dealt with a LOT. I've done the ascorbic acids and the sequestrants and the metal free and I've never really had success.

I like the idea of harvesting rain water, but it doesn't seem practical in my case.

If I could start from a good point it should take many many years before I have a problem. But eventually I'll have to deal with it again.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You don't mention having done the polyfil......?

Call around and see where the truck delivery folks get the water? Maybe then check out that counties water report too.

I know nothing about these but perhaps you can look into this product-

METALTRAP Pre-Filter System

Protect your pool & spa from stains caused by iron and copper. Use METALTRAP Pre-Filter System to trap the metals before they reach your pool & spa.

www.hydropuretechnologies.com

I feel for ya...

Maddie

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

I haven't heard of polyfil. If and when I get to that point I'll be sure to consider it, thanks.

The trap I've been using is one of these:

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I did a drain and refill five years ago without using a trap which got me into trouble I think.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

From brown to 😍😍. Thank you polyfil!

We filled our pool from our well. We knew the risks and knew we would have a battle when the water was 12" deep as it looked green from the metals. Our fears were confirmed when we added chlorine and the water turned brown almost immediately. Enter 5 gallon polyfil filter. It worked...

www.troublefreepool.com

If you’ve got iron in your fill water, use Polyfill to remove it

EDIT: Found out this method only works if your iron is oxidized already, meaning it’s got a dull or bright green tint to the water, or a nasty brown tint. If you know you have iron in your fill water, but it isn’t oxidized yet, bring your pool to shock level and it’ll turn the telltale green...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

The water is clear, and the last time I shocked it it remained clear.

Now that the brown liner area is exposed I may try one of those metal test kits on it.

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

I did pull up a 2019 water quality report for my county and it shows 1.3 ppm copper. Iron is not listed. "Hardness" is 32 ppm which could be...?

https://www.yorkcountygov.com/DocumentCenter/View/4655/Eastern-System---No-4620002

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hardness is your calcium.... quite low(soft) at 32. Mine is also soft at 40-45ish.
Your vinyl pools needs no calcium, but if you have a heater the coils may require it.

Maddie

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

So it's probably the copper building up then.

Any amount of metal is going to build up after repeated iterations of topping off and evaporating. I'm surprised this isn't more of any issue for other pool owners.