SWG and Copper

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D

Dave224

Member
Sep 12, 2020
24
Fargo, ND
This is our first year using a SWG. New phenomenon is green tinged hair for my daughter. A copper test at the pool store showed the level to be quite low, at .15 if I remember right. I got some metal stuff and put it in, but it hasn’t helped very much. My PB was here today to adjust the pool cover and he said it is probably caused by the SWG and too high a chlorine level. ??? I have called the company who makes the algaecide he poured in this spring to check for copper, Utikem by Qualco, and they said it is not copper based. This guy said I should try to keep the pool PH and TA on the low side and that would help keep the green away. I don’t know where the copper has come from and have never heard of anything relating it to a SWG. Thoughts?
fc 5.0
cc 0
PH 7.6
TA 110
CH 210
CYA 60
Salt 3400
Temp. 86
 
It's not from the SWG. Unless you have copper plumbing to the pool, or your heater has a copper core that has eroded, copper is introduced by pool store products. Algaecides or products labeled as "Blue". Copper needs to be removed from the pool via water exchange. The more you can do the better without compromising the stability of your pool shell or liner.
 
Did the pool builder put the tablets in the skimmer? It would be surprising to get that much copper out of the heater from that, but those with green hair may just be very susceptible to it.
 
No, nothing has been put in the skimmers. I put some Metal Shield in the deep end. My gut feeling is the copper level in the water is the same as last year. It is just showing up some this year, and the only difference is the salt system. The PH has been higher though, because I have not used the pucks.
 
City water. No other products. I am now wondering about the thermal regulator in the Pentair heater. When the pool was opened this year, it was stuck and gave me a HLS light. I took it out and was able to squeeze it with some pliers until it broke loose. Tested good and has worked fine. Maybe it is leaching out copper though. Why else would it stick?
 
Dave224 said:
The PB used bags of Aquasalt this spring to start the SWG. But no copper in that, right?
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None in that.
The copper came from either products added that had copper (algaecide, shock, tablets) or from a very low pH water being pumped through the heater. If tablets were used in the past, that is a very real possibility.
 

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Thanks for the help. Yes, she’s blonde. We did use the tablets most of last year, but I am careful to test often, and the PH has never been below 7.3, and the CSI has mostly been spot on at zero. Nothing put in with copper that I know of. The last algaecide was put in by the PB during opening this spring. I don’t use it. This situation is not really the end of the world. We have no staining in the pool and the daughter thinks it’s getting better. I will clean the filters again and maybe put in a new thermal regulator.
 
So blonde hair is incredibly sensitive to metal contamination. The hair strands will pickup metals dissolved in solution from any source (pools, public showers, municipal water supplies, etc). The proteins that make up hair will actually hold these metals and then exposure to chlorinated water will cause the metals to oxidize and turn colors. Both iron and copper are capable of turning blonde hair greenish colors.

Your best bet is to immediately wash your kiddos hair with shampoo on exiting the pool. There are ones that have metal chelators in them that are designed to protect hair against metal staining but most good shampoos will do that on their own.
 
If you have an autocover, the chlorine can go sky high very easily since you don't have any sunlight to reduce it.

It's quite possible that the level was high enough that the heat exchanger was damaged.

What test kit do you have?
 
Thanks for the hair info. I will relay to the daughter. I had the fc at 28 right after opening doing a slam to clear the winter haze. The cya was 70 then and it took a few days. I tested every day this spring. Now every other day.
 
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JamesW said:
You can't be sure what algaecide they added unless you have the empty bottle.

In any case, it's best not to allow anyone to add anything to your pool without your permission.

If the copper test gets any detectable amount, it can cause stains.
Click to expand...

I 2nd this. PBs are cheap. And copper free algaecides are more expensive than the copper based ones. I would be VERY surprised if he opted for the more expensive algaecide. I'd be interested to see what your copper test shows.
 
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