New pool owner with green/dark green/blue stain(?)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Why is he still texting you? I suspect you are paying him to do so. I would agree with others and say you either need to go with him or this group.

You can trust him or the people here. Right now you are not doing either. Spend some time looking at other threads that went from green to blue and decide.

I can guarantee that if you want to save money and maintain the pool yourself with little effort overall, this is the place. If you want to just throw money at the problem and hope for the best, good luck to you and your pool guy. Just remember that you went looking for a solution, the forum didn't come knock on your door.
 
Min said:
I wonder if it is metal stain or the stain left by green algae.
the pool guy is still recommending copper.
does green algae usually leave that huge stain on the bottom after shock? Water looks clear.
How do I get rid of this stain?
Click to expand...

It is very likely to be a copper stain and that can get removed by using citric acid and then using a metal sequestrant and then maybe figuring out how to get the copper out of the pool through water dilution or using CuLator. It's not easy nor cheap to fix copper stains which is why we never recommend using copper algaecide or other copper products and most certainly not in the quantities your pool guy used.

If the stain were from algae, it would likely fade from the high chlorine level, BUT you really need to find out your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level to know chlorine's actual strength in the pool. That requires a proper test kit.
 
Min, I have been following this thread for a day or so, but have held my tongue as I did not want you to be overwhelmed by advice here, which has been on point.

Now I am going to be blunt, FIRE THE POOL GUY, just from your last message alone I can tell he has no idea what he is doing, or at least has some major gaps in his knowledge, and was likely the cause of your stains to begin with.

1, Baking Soda raises TA and has little effect on pH, to raise pH you need to use Washing SODA or Borax

2, The common pH test does not read below about 6.8 so either he is using an electronic pH meter that requires frequent calibration to be accurate, or guessing based on an out of range color on the common test, if so your pH may be much lower than 6.8

3, What damaged the plaster, chances are it was not the chlorine, but some other chemical imbalance

4, How does he know all the algae is gone without doing something like an overnight chlorine loss test, you can't just look at the water and declare all the algae is gone.
 
Not to be harsh but you aren't listening. How does he know your chlorine is high? Did he measure your CYA? Does he understand the cya/fc relationship? FC can be safely as high as 30 ppm if the CYA is high. We've already told you that the staining can be addressed but you keep listening to the pool guy whose adding junk and magic potions making your problems worse. You either need to trust in him or trust in the TFP method but you can't do both and it's fruitless for us to advise you when you continue down paths we've advised against.
 
I already ordered TF 100 pool test kit through PoolSupplyWorld for $68 and free shipping.
I made myself clear to PB that I do not want any copper. So no more copper poured into the pool eversince that day.
Like I said before, I already paid PB $200 in advance to clear the pool. At least he is coming every couple days to check the pool and adding bleach. He will also change my DE filter in couple days (for some reason my DE filter pressure gauge does not move and stays in 10 since the green swamp till now).
Until I get my testing kit I am planning on let the PB do his thing since he is adding bleach and brushing the pool.
He seems nice guy and came to my pool so many times for 200 dollars. I have to give him some credit for his hard work.
But he did all he could do (at least water seems very clear) and I believe I have to get this stain removed by myself with your help.

I did vitamin C test yesterday with no good result. However, my wife had some positive result with bunch of vit c tabs.
Maybe too much chlorine negatively affected the test when I tried it yesterday with just one tab? It is Vitamin 1000mg tab but not the chewable one.
I will post the pic as soon as possible.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
If you have Amazon prime and don't mind paying a higher rate for it, buy a 1 lb or 2 lb bag of ascorbic acid. I think my 2 lb order was like 15$ or so. When you get it, take about 2 oz of it and pour it on the highest step in one spot with your pump off. It is not enough to mess up your FC but it will be really obvious within seconds.

If it works, get your numbers straight with your kit first and then follow the AA treatment instructions (linked in my thread above). Only do it after we get you squared away. Down side will be regular sequestrant doses and more stringent PH monitoring in the future (or until you drain). I just made mine blue to prove I could as we are replacing liner after season... so full drain will happen then.
 
That does look like it is likely a bad case of metal staining, It is impressive what Ascrobic Acid can do to clear up stains, even so, don't be surprised if it takes multiple AA treatments before you see significant improvement, and there is a possibility even with the AA treatment some staining may remain.
 
I finally got TF100!!!!
I tested my pool water and the results are:

pH 7.5
Chlorine light orange color

FC 16
CC 0.5
TA 150
CH 675
CYA 100

Why is my CH and CYA so high?
Since CC is not zero, Is the chlorine still killing stuff in my pool?
Water seems so clear I was hoping for 0 CC.
I guess I cannot do the metal stain removal just yet.
So from here what should I do?
I have such high CYA level FC of 16 is not even shockable level according to the chart.
Please help!
 
I'm a noob, so you'll want to hear for more experienced people. But I was told that CC moving between 0 and .5 was common when I had several 0.5 CC readings in a row. That reading has since returned to 0 without any action on my part.

My fear is that your cya is over 100. I have seen people do the test with a 50/50 mix of pool and tap water. Some one actually qualified will be along soon. End of summer Friday is probably delaying the response.
 
CYA is probably high because the previous owner was probably using trichlor pucks. You need to start thinking about a partial drain - this will lower your CYA and CH. But like Jon, I will leave that to the big guns to walk you threw the next steps. Stick with these guys and you will get some great advice.
 
I've got to agree with Jon in Albany when he suggests you repeat the CYA test but this time use half pool water and half tap water, then perform the test using this mixed water and double the results.

Your CH is high but not unmanageable if you keep your pH down near 7.2 to help avoid scaling.
 
I tried to mix the water to test the pool and CYA is still at 100 unless I am reading it wrong.
Can somebody tell me what I need to do first?
I think I should partially drain the water and then fill it up, do AA treatment and then SLAM the pool again. Am I palnning this right?
I am going to do overnight FC loss today to make sure the pool is clean.
 
Again, I'm a noob that's been reading a lot..but if your mixed water CYA test is still over 100, the actual level in your pool is over 200. Could be higher still. I would start coming up with a drain plan. I'm not sure if the CYA test works at a different pool water/tap water ratio (maybe 25/75). Im sure it will be less accurate if it does. Without knowing about how bad the CYA is, you won't know for sure how much you need to drain to bring it to a good level. Right now you know it is at least 200. I suppose it could be 250 or 300 too. If you know the CYA value, pool math can give you an estimate on how much to drain to hit a target CYA.

I've got a vinyl liner so I haven't read much on plaster. I don't know if you can safely drain it all and start fresh or what to do about the stains.

Hopefully our comments knock this back to the top of the thread list and you will get some expert advice quickly.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply