Starting up, curious about filter dirtiness?

[t.alexsmith]

Hey guys, so I've had my pool up and running for 3 days now. Chlorine, Ph, CYA; etc is still looking good, but one thing I am curious about...

I have been cleaning the filter at the end of the day every day so far before turning in for the night. I am just curious if its pretty normal for the filter (pleated cartridge style) to be really orangey brown when cleaning? Pool is sparkling blue (see picture below) so the filter must be doing its job. I just don't know what all the gunk could be? Maybe one of you guys could give me some insight? Pollen? Algae? Flesh Eating Bacteria? haha jk. Please help!


Thanks in advance!
Alex

 

[Texas Splash]

Iron perhaps? Where does your water come from? The CO river, a well, other? You might consider taking a non-pool chlorinated sample to the pool store just to see if they show any elevated metals. It would also help us if you posted a full set of water results. We recommend a TF-100 (link below) or Taylor K-2006C. Test Kits Compared Look it over and let us know what you find out. Welcome to the forum.

 

[woodyp]

I'm betting iron too. Keep your ph at the low end until you can test for sure.

 

[t.alexsmith]

Iron perhaps? Where does your water come from? The CO river, a well, other?

Thanks for the response Pat. I just checked our city page and our water is supplied by 13 wells. The city posted a chart of a water test for metals and other substances...and sure enough there are recordings of iron presence in the water. So where should I go from here. Is there a thread on removing & controlling iron in water?

 

[Texas Splash]

Checkout this page: Stains in Your Pool - Trouble Free Pool . Good place to start. As Woody noted above, watch the pH. An elevated pH aggrevates iron, so does a really high FC level. Accurate testing with a proper test kit will be key. Filtering may slowly remove some iron, but more than likely you'll need to use a sequestrant regularly to keep the iron from precipitating. Much of that is discussed on the link. If things get really out of hand, you might have to look into having fresh water trucked-in and exchange water to lower the iron content.