Removing metal

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Razorhog

Razorhog

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Jun 20, 2013
714
Northeast Arkansas
My pool water seems to have more metal in it this year than ever before. Opened to a green swamp as usual and started the SLAM. Water clear in 48 hours or so but with a green tint and brown stains on the side. My sock of CYA got away from the jet and laid still on the step overnight and the area it was on is stark white.
Just wanted to let the experts see my plan of action and let me know if I need to change anything. Current test results:

FC - 4.5
CC - 0
pH - 7.8
TA - 60
CH - 50
CYA - 30 (planning on adding more to get to 70 when I start running the SWG)
Salt - 4000

So my plan of action is to let the FC drift back down to 1 or 2 and then put in some metal remover. My local pool shop used to carry ProTeam Metal Magic but I think they have switched to Spec Chem Metal Eliminator. Once I add the metal remover, I will put polyfil in the skimmer basket. After a couple days of this I'll backwash and then start the SWG.

Anything I should do differently or anyone know any tips or tricks? Thanks!
 
It was a bit green like that last Friday and I went out of town. When I left, FC was 7. When I got back Sunday evening, FC was 1 and the water was a beautiful blue. Brought FC up to 3 and turned on the SWG. When I woke up this morning it looked like the pic in my last post.
 
No one has any info or advice on this? I've read a lot and still not sure what to do.
Makes me nervous having the FC so low. The Metal Magic says FC of 1 is ideal. I don't have any source of chlorine though. Due to the Pandemic I can only buy one jug at a time. The pool store has 73% cal-hypo in stock, I guess I could use that as my CH levels are low anyway. Don't really understand why I couldn't run my SWG on low for a little while each day to keep FC around 1, but everything I've read says not to run it. I'm going to add another bottle of Metal Magic today - the amount I added yesterday was only about half of what it calls for, and maybe less. The instructions say
"add this product around the perimeter of the pool water at the rate of 1 quart per 10,000 gallons. If staining is heavy or if water is extremely discolored, add 1 quart per 5,000 gallons of water."
I would consider my water "extremely discolored" so I probably need to go closer to the 1 quart per 5000 gals.
I've changed the polyfil in the skimmer twice and it has had some brown/orange staining, so some of the metal is getting removed. Sand filter pressure has not moved from clean pressure.
 
Ok.... first off- have you had the water tested for metals? If not take a sample to a pool store and ask for just that. Which metal does the testing show?

Have you used copper containing products?

Do you fill from a well with known metals or city water?

Are you looking to *remove* the metals or just sequester them? The polyfil idea works faster I believe when you're not sequestering the metals. Raising your FC should help the presumed metals fall out of solution and get captured by the polyfil.

Maddie :flower:
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Ok.... first off- have you had the water tested for metals? If not take a sample to a pool store and ask for just that. Which metal does the testing show?

Have you used copper containing products?

Do you fill from a well with known metals or city water?

Are you looking to *remove* the metals or just sequester them? The polyfil idea works faster I believe when you're not sequestering the metals. Raising your FC should help the presumed metals fall out of solution and get captured by the polyfil.

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! I have not had the water tested but the owner said he's been seeing iron in our city water.
No, haven't used any copper containing products.
As far as removing vs sequestering, I'm not sure. Seems like removing it would be best but I suppose I'd do whichever is easiest. It seems to be very chlorine sensitive. FC at <1 and the water was clear and beautiful blue. Raised the FC back up to 4 and it was very green.
The water is looking a lot better today but still has a light green tint. I just picked up 2 more bottles of Metal Magic and a small bucket of Cal-Hypo.
Really indecisive, but the lack of liquid chlorine pretty much forces my hand. Guess I'll go the sequestering route. Or I could crank up the SWG and get the FC up pretty high to try and filter out the metal. Arrrrgh can't decide.
 

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Added another bottle of Metal Magic a few hours ago. Water continues to improve, a very light green tint to it now. Anyone have advice on keeping the FC up a bit or should I just let it go to 0 while the metal magic does its thing? Maybe the improvement is due to the polyfil?
 
RH, make sure to keep the pH low. I wouldn't let the pH get over 7.4. A higher pH aggravates the iron. As for the FC and Metal Magic, it's a balancing act. If you do get algae, you'll have to SLAM and all bets are off on water color and staining until after the SLAM. But your 3 biggest enemies are iron level/content in the water, a high FC for the CYA, and an elevated pH. You can try filtering, but if the iron is in solution, controlled by sequestrant, there may not be much to filter.
 
Texas Splash said:
RH, make sure to keep the pH low. I wouldn't let the pH get over 7.4. A higher pH aggravates the iron. As for the FC and Metal Magic, it's a balancing act. If you do get algae, you'll have to SLAM and all bets are off on water color and staining until after the SLAM. But your 3 biggest enemies are iron level/content in the water, a high FC for the CYA, and an elevated pH. You can try filtering, but if the iron is in solution, controlled by sequestrant, there may not be much to filter.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply!

I raised FC to 2 yesterday evening. This morning I look out the window to green tinted water. I'm sick of this. I can't have green water all summer.
Should I raise FC up, let the water turn green and try to filter it out?
At this point I'm ready to throw my little bilge pump in the deep end and start replacing the water.
 
Razorhog said:
Should I raise FC up, let the water turn green and try to filter it out?
Click to expand...
Some people do that. They know it will change the water and could potentially cause more stains, but if they can't change the water, it's worth the risk to them. Were you able to lower the pH first though? That's very important. I would lower the pH to about 7.2 right now and see if that helps at all.
 
Texas Splash said:
Some people do that. They know it will change the water and could potentially cause more stains, but if they can't change the water, it's worth the risk to them. Were you able to lower the pH first though? That's very important. I would lower the pH to about 7.2 right now and see if that helps at all.
Click to expand...
I'll test pH and see where it is. 2 Days ago it was 7.5. If keeping the pH low keeps the water from turning green, I could handle that. However I'm still at only about 30 CYA. What happens when I raise it to 60 so I can start the SWG? I'm afraid that the higher FC needed will green things up again.
 
Razorhog said:
What happens when I raise it to 60 so I can start the SWG? I'm afraid that the higher FC needed will green things up again.
Click to expand...
The higher CYA might work to your advantage because unlike a non-salt pool, your FC doesn't have to be as high. But we'll see. :)
 
Water looks pretty good now. I'm going to continue with my plan of adding CYA and running the SWG. If it turns green again, I'll probably drain half the pool.
I've had some light iron staining on the sides before, and it seems to have gotten worse over the years. If my city fill water has a small amount of iron in it, maybe it has accumulated over the years and replacing water would help.
 

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