Sequesterants....

[Themacdadt]

Correct me if I’m wrong but a pool maintained by the tfp way should never need sequesterants. So after years and years of maintaining my pool the tfp way and asumming my waters greenish hue was how it was supposed to be. after using some jacks magic ( long long story of why, iron related. ) my pool turned pretty blue like I always thought pool water should be. But it would only last for a few days and go back to the greenish tint color.
1. So how do I eliminate having to use sequesterants on a regular basis? I never want to use anything but the basics like tfp suggests. I am going to go on a limb and say that I need to use enough sequestering agent to remove all stains on walls and keep the iron in the water, then totally drain and refill.
2. Since I battled the absorbic acid treatment and it worked till the sequesterant got used up and then the stains reappeared I feel like The AA treatment is only a band aid to the real solution since now you have to add a extra chemical ( sequesterant ) very week or so which will be costly as years go by.

Am I on the right track here or what?

 

[JJ_Tex]

I would start by trying to figure out how the metal got there. Check the fill water, equipment, double check the chemicals you use, etc.

 

[ajw22]

Sequestrant - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

The only way to eliminate the iron bound to the sequestrant is by draining the water and filling with clean metal free water.

 

[duraleigh]

As Allen said, you need to verify the source of your iron and eliminate that source if you don't want to use sequestrant.

Do you fill from a well?

 

[borjis]

When it is out of solution (green water) you could try putting a few layers of polyfil in your skimmer
and run the pump for a few days to collect the metal as the water passes through. If it's your fill water causing it. (I have that problem occasionally)

 

[Themacdadt]

I have added not 1 chemical to my pool in 6 years but salt and acid. And of course my city fill water which claims low to almost no iron. Tried the polyfill in the skimmer for 3 days while water had the greenish tint and not a bit of stain on it. A little history I drained a quarter of the pool oh say 2 months ago due to CH being a little high. Ever since then my problem has occurred.

 

[duraleigh]

The iron in your pool is sourced from your fill water unless you have corroding iron pipes in your pool plumbing. What you can do to resolve it is to have a water softener installed.

Of course, the first thing you have to do is confirm you have iron and not algae......but I think you have done that......I haven't followed your story.

If you know it's iron and you know you have no iron pipes in your plumbing, then the iron is being supplied by your municipal water supply. Pretty unusual and normally a result of corroding pipes in their system.

 

[Themacdadt]

All my pipes are pvc, except for the gas pool heater. I do have a water softener but don’t use it to refill water loss due to evaporation. I don’t know if the water softener would handle filling a pool. It would probably have to regenerate quite often ( I assume) and probably take a lot of salt bags to produce 12,500 gallons.

But that is a idea. I will have to look at it’s specs. And take a sample of my city water and get it checked for metals and so forth.

 

[Pool_Medic]

City water supplies are the culprit a lot of times. Manganese is common during drought conditions I’m told.

 

[Texas Splash]

Todd, I haven't seen this mentioned. But if your issue is indeed iron, make sure your pH and FC are controlled very well. With a spa and spillover, the added aeration could cause your pH to rise fairly quickly if used a lot. An elevated pH wil make the iron reaction worse. So try keeping the pH around 7.5 or so if possible. As for the FC, make sure it is balanced well as noted on the FC/CYA Levels and not too high. Good luck and enjoy your weekend.

 

[heikejohn]

I had the same problem a few years ago. Only bleach, Muric acid, Baking soda.... added to the pool for the whole time.
But after reading that salt in a chlorine pool makes the water feel so much nicer, I added about 4 bags of salt one year, and 4 more the next.
I suspect the metal came with the salt. It was not included on the ingredients list.
Since we needed a new liner, and I have not added any salt, no more metal staining!!