So it has been about a month and everything was going great, I've kept my cl between 2 and 6 for the most part. I have a bit of a problem with the pH constantly drifting up so I average around 8. my CYA is finally at 80 and I now have to balance the CH which is at 100 and the TA which is at 110 (I have a vinyl liner pool). I was planning on doing that this week however, I needed to add more water to my pool a few days ago (we have well water) and after I did this, my water turned a brownish green. The last time this happened was when I first added chlorine to the pool. I think that something in my well water is reacting to the chlorine in the pool. The last time this happened, my pool chemistry was not yet balanced and the water had been stagnant for 5 days due to the pump not running so I shocked it immediately and the water turning a beautiful blue color as the chlorine levels went to normal. Now it is this green color again and the chlorine levels are 4. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have a bit of iron in the water and I'm not sure about copper. it has been over 24 hours now....thanks!
New pool but pump didn't function for first 5 days..what to do first?
- Thread starter Karen14
- Start date
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,288
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Immediate step is to try bringing your pH down to more like 7.5 and yes it will take regular acid additions because of the upward creep caused by the SWG.
You'll have to go to a pool store and ask for your metals to be tested. We'll ignore their other tests, and you'll need to ignore their advice. I'm sure someone with adequate expertise with metals will come along who can handle your problem better than me.
You'll have to go to a pool store and ask for your metals to be tested. We'll ignore their other tests, and you'll need to ignore their advice. I'm sure someone with adequate expertise with metals will come along who can handle your problem better than me.
Since you have iron in the water you need a sequestrant like Jack's magic or Metal Free Magic to keep the iron in solution so it doesn't oxidize and turn the water brown. As long as you have iron in the water you will need to add sequestrant weekly during pool season.
More here on metals,Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains
It is important to keep PH between 7.2 and 7.8 at all times.
With the low FC it could be algae. FC is set based on the CYA level and the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. It must be kept above minimum at all times to keep the pool safe, sanitary and also algae free. When it drops below minimum bacteria and algae start growing. I would do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Testto make sure there isn't something organic growing in the water.
It is important to keep PH between 7.2 and 7.8 at all times.
With the low FC it could be algae. FC is set based on the CYA level and the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. It must be kept above minimum at all times to keep the pool safe, sanitary and also algae free. When it drops below minimum bacteria and algae start growing. I would do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Testto make sure there isn't something organic growing in the water.
+1 on sequestrant and keeping ph low ish' eg 7.2. Use Jacks or Metal Magic though...metal free i suspect was a typo because it is not HEDP type and IMHO doesn't sequester right (is citric acid). They all sound the same I know 
Only addition for consideration is pre-filtering the well water whenever you add in an attempt to reduce the volume of metal load. Note that it will not eradicate the well metal, just reduce it by roughly 50-75% usually.
There are 3 approaches to prefiltering:
1. Disposable filters you put on a hose -- I've used PreFresh (not bad, will add link) - I haven't used Metal Trap - its green sand and also wears out but has varying, expensive sizes.Amazon.com : Pre Fresh Garden Hose End Water Filter all purpose, pool, spa, hot tub, pets, car wash : Garden Hose Parts : Patio, Lawn Garden
2. Plumb a 10" blue filter housing (eg Pentak, will link) to your pool filling spigot. You will need converter fittings to make pipe thread connect to use thread. Use the 10"x4.5" disposable 1 micron filters. 1 mcron filtration gets a lot of iron, but the filter size helps maintain flow rate. This is cheaper over the long haul because the 1 micron filter replacements are cheap.
Pentek 150469 3/4 Scientific
3. My favorite: plumb your whole house softener if you have one to outdoor pool spigot. Fill with softened water. I use a dual softener so that if it regenerates mid-top up that it just switched tanks.
These days, I do #2 and #3 -- My well at 2 ppm iron will get down to about .5 from softener, then .2ish from big blue filter with 1 mcron. Barely have to top up sequestrant these days, compared to prior
Hope tat helps!
Only addition for consideration is pre-filtering the well water whenever you add in an attempt to reduce the volume of metal load. Note that it will not eradicate the well metal, just reduce it by roughly 50-75% usually.
There are 3 approaches to prefiltering:
1. Disposable filters you put on a hose -- I've used PreFresh (not bad, will add link) - I haven't used Metal Trap - its green sand and also wears out but has varying, expensive sizes.Amazon.com : Pre Fresh Garden Hose End Water Filter all purpose, pool, spa, hot tub, pets, car wash : Garden Hose Parts : Patio, Lawn Garden
2. Plumb a 10" blue filter housing (eg Pentak, will link) to your pool filling spigot. You will need converter fittings to make pipe thread connect to use thread. Use the 10"x4.5" disposable 1 micron filters. 1 mcron filtration gets a lot of iron, but the filter size helps maintain flow rate. This is cheaper over the long haul because the 1 micron filter replacements are cheap.
Pentek 150469 3/4 Scientific
3. My favorite: plumb your whole house softener if you have one to outdoor pool spigot. Fill with softened water. I use a dual softener so that if it regenerates mid-top up that it just switched tanks.
These days, I do #2 and #3 -- My well at 2 ppm iron will get down to about .5 from softener, then .2ish from big blue filter with 1 mcron. Barely have to top up sequestrant these days, compared to prior
Hope tat helps!
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,857
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
One other thought to add to the nice advice you already received ..... take a look at your heater. While your pH always seems to be on the high end which should rule-out corrosion, just inspect it as best as you can to ensure there are no signs of corrosion if you have copper lines. Iron is one thing, and it certainly will tint your water green/brown. But when you mentioned "blue" it just made me think about your heater and if it has copper lines. If you don't see any signs of corrosion or have copper heater lines, then no worries. Just wanted to put that out there.