Recurring Metal Stains... worse than ever...
- Thread starter carlos31820
- Start date
It's been 5 days of filtering after the Metal Magic treatment. The water is almost completely clear. I'm thinking that it will be there by tomorrow.
So far, the pool is still stain free. I plan on adding a maintenance dose of 12 oz of Metal Magic tomorrow.
Cleaned the cartridge filter this morning and there was a lot of white flakes/crystals in the filter element and in the water inside the filter housing.
So far, the pool is still stain free. I plan on adding a maintenance dose of 12 oz of Metal Magic tomorrow.
Cleaned the cartridge filter this morning and there was a lot of white flakes/crystals in the filter element and in the water inside the filter housing.
I'm afraid I may have messed up.
Pool was about 95% there in terms of water clarity. I added a maintenance dose of Metal sequestrant and I think I went wrong by adding 5 oz of clarifier. I know clarifier is frowned upon here but it can help get that bit of polish back in the water.
Unfortunately, this morning, the water is looking much more cloudier than yesterday. Pump has been running 24/7 since Memorial Day and it seems like the water doesn't want to quite get there. Now I need to just trust that the cartridge filter will eventually do its thing. I've never had the filter take this long to clear my water before so my impatience got the best of me.
My other levels look fine although my CYA may be a bit on the high side (between 80 and 90). FC has been around 6-7 ppm, pH 7.2, TA 80, CH 130.
Wondering if it may benefit me to partially drain to lower the CYA. Live and learn, I guess...
Pool was about 95% there in terms of water clarity. I added a maintenance dose of Metal sequestrant and I think I went wrong by adding 5 oz of clarifier. I know clarifier is frowned upon here but it can help get that bit of polish back in the water.
Unfortunately, this morning, the water is looking much more cloudier than yesterday. Pump has been running 24/7 since Memorial Day and it seems like the water doesn't want to quite get there. Now I need to just trust that the cartridge filter will eventually do its thing. I've never had the filter take this long to clear my water before so my impatience got the best of me.
My other levels look fine although my CYA may be a bit on the high side (between 80 and 90). FC has been around 6-7 ppm, pH 7.2, TA 80, CH 130.
Wondering if it may benefit me to partially drain to lower the CYA. Live and learn, I guess...
Well, it's only been 3 days since the Metal Magic treatment but so far, so good. I'm hoping that using a weekly dose of Metal Magic alone will keep the stains at bay.
Looks like I can buy it on Amazon Prime for $15 per bottle so even if I have to use half a bottle or a bottle a week, the expense is manageable. I also love that it can lift the staining without affecting the FC the way ascorbic acid does.
Could you post a link to Metal Magic? I can't find it for that price.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,699
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
DOH!!!
You NEVER use metal sequestrant (negatively charged anion) and a clarifier (positively charged cation) or else they attract, bond and make a HUGE cloudy mess.....
Just keep filtering....it's all you can do now.
You NEVER use metal sequestrant (negatively charged anion) and a clarifier (positively charged cation) or else they attract, bond and make a HUGE cloudy mess.....
Just keep filtering....it's all you can do now.
Could you post a link to Metal Magic? I can't find it for that price.
The good price is on Amazon when fulfilled by PoolGeek. Oddly enough, their price on Amazon is cheaper than on the poolgeek.com website.
That being said, it looks like they're out of stock right now so the poolgeek choice is not coming up on Amazon.
Here's a screen shot of my latest purchase from Amazon. You have to buy 4 or more for the better price.
DOH!!!
You NEVER use metal sequestrant (negatively charged anion) and a clarifier (positively charged cation) or else they attract, bond and make a HUGE cloudy mess.....
Just keep filtering....it's all you can do now.
Well, that explains it. Like I said, live and learn.
I need some encouragement. We had heavy rains today... came home and the pool is still very cloudy. Wasn't able to take a photo due to the rain. I noticed that the pool pump had some air in it and the cartridge pressure had gone up some some yesterday. I went ahead and swapped the cartridge with a clean cartridge and resumed filtering. The pump no longer has air in the basket.
The water just seems like it's making very little progress if any. It feels like I may be running the pump 24/7 for weeks at this rate.
Before you ask, here's the latest water test:
FC= 5.0 CC=0 PH=7.2 CH=120 TA=80 CYA=70
The water just seems like it's making very little progress if any. It feels like I may be running the pump 24/7 for weeks at this rate.
Before you ask, here's the latest water test:
FC= 5.0 CC=0 PH=7.2 CH=120 TA=80 CYA=70
- May 23, 2015
- 25,699
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It is making very little progress because the cloudiness caused by clarifier/sequestrant reaction is very fine particulates, probably too fine for your filter. You may have to raise your FC to shock levels and slam the pool in order to breakdown the chemicals. This will certainly cause the metal stains to return so you will then need to retreat the pool.
Sorry, it's a bad situation to be in for sure.
Would it help to do a partial drain and refill before the nuclear option of a SLAM and starting over?
- May 23, 2015
- 25,699
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Hmmmmm...dunno. It will certainly dilute the cloudiness but you'll still have some cloudiness around. If it's easier to do that then it might be worth a shot.
^Matt, do you think hydrogen peroxide would break it down without staining? I actually once tried an experiment through smallpooldad a few years back using hydrogen peroxide and I don't recall any staining.
Used Hydrogen Peroxide for Removing Metal Stains - Results
Used Hydrogen Peroxide for Removing Metal Stains - Results
Well, the water appears to be slightly (and I emphasize slightly) improved from yesterday. We'll see what it looks like this evening.
Swung by the house just now to get a daylight comparison photo from this morning since it will be dark when I get home for the day. It doesn't look like the water is any clearer than this morning. FC=5.5, CC=0, pH=7.3
I have ordered a pair of replacement cartridge filters to replace the two I have currently in service (filter only uses 1 cartridge but I like to have a clean backup). I have lightly inspected the current filters and haven't seen any obvious issues. I also didn't inspect each pleat so I guess it's possible there's a tear or two somewhere. These cartridge elements are about 3 years old.
I have ordered a pair of replacement cartridge filters to replace the two I have currently in service (filter only uses 1 cartridge but I like to have a clean backup). I have lightly inspected the current filters and haven't seen any obvious issues. I also didn't inspect each pleat so I guess it's possible there's a tear or two somewhere. These cartridge elements are about 3 years old.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,699
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Swung by the house just now to get a daylight comparison photo from this morning since it will be dark when I get home for the day. It doesn't look like the water is any clearer than this morning. FC=5.5, CC=0, pH=7.3
I have ordered a pair of replacement cartridge filters to replace the two I have currently in service (filter only uses 1 cartridge but I like to have a clean backup). I have lightly inspected the current filters and haven't seen any obvious issues. I also didn't inspect each pleat so I guess it's possible there's a tear or two somewhere. These cartridge elements are about 3 years old.
Interested to see if that works for you. Let us know how it turns out.
Very little progress being made with the water haziness. The new filter cartridge came in this afternoon so I immediately put a new cartridge in the filter. I have also reduced the water flow into the filter. I have a valve between the pump and filter so I've partly closed it and reduced the filter pressure from 20 to 10psi. Hopefully the slower speed may improve the filtering. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Here's a photo of the water before replacing the filter cartridge.
Here's a photo of the water before replacing the filter cartridge.
Hey Carlos I was reading through the thread and saw the build picture. Your pool is similar to mine in being wood construction except mine is decking instead of stone surround. You mentioned a liner bead issue as well. I'm wondering how the bead channel was attached to the upper edge of the wood, mine was nailed but finally the nail heads rusted off and a section of the track dropped. I ended up replacing all the fasteners with SS screws.
just a thought that it could be the source of your iron although more likely it's accumulated over time from fill water
just a thought that it could be the source of your iron although more likely it's accumulated over time from fill water
Mine were screwed with SS screws to begin with but it looks like they used regular screws in one section and those particular screws corroded.
Looks like the combination of new filter cartridge and reduced water pressure/flow into the filter are making a difference although quite slowly. At least I'm seeing progress now. I'm guessing that it may be a few more days before the haziness is completely gone.
The better news is that the metal staining is still completely gone. I'm doing a weekly maintenance dose of 12 ounces of Metal Magic for now.
Here are photos from this afternoon...
The better news is that the metal staining is still completely gone. I'm doing a weekly maintenance dose of 12 ounces of Metal Magic for now.
Here are photos from this afternoon...
Excellent news....slow flow is the way to go The organic clarifier will also be breaking down from the FC so I bet you get there sooner rather than later.
I am happy to hear that maintenance levels of MM are working for you. I am actually thinking I should call their tech and offer up my pool as a swg experiment for them since I'm in their city. Except my iron is presently completely sequestered and reading zero, and my source water is now down to .347 ppm (softener and Pentek filter). I kinda missed my chance to do a clean experiment of MM in swg when I'd ad fresh water trucked last year
The organic clarifier will also be breaking down from the FC so I bet you get there sooner rather than later.I am happy to hear that maintenance levels of MM are working for you. I am actually thinking I should call their tech and offer up my pool as a swg experiment for them since I'm in their city. Except my iron is presently completely sequestered and reading zero, and my source water is now down to .347 ppm (softener and Pentek filter). I kinda missed my chance to do a clean experiment of MM in swg when I'd ad fresh water trucked last year