Talk to me about Polyfill…

[BodeFamily]

Long story short - we were away for 2.5 weeks and my pool sitter missed a day or so, which happened to be when we lost power so the SWG wasn’t running. Even running hot wasn’t a match for no power + big storms washing junk into pool. Ended up with slightly cloudy water, so I had her start a SLAM before I got back. Chlorine demand is coming down, but didn’t quite pass OCLT last night. But it’s close, so I think I’m at the tail end of that. (And yeah - I pulled the light and the ladder and scrubbed everything. )

Since I know I have iron issues, I took the opportunity of having high FC to throw some Polyfill in the skimmers and see what I can catch. But 2 days in and the Polyfill is just as bright white as it was when I put it in: the only thing it seems to be catching is bugs. Is all the iron on the liner already? Or do I need to do something else to get it to catch? Just be patient? I’ve tried it before, but never been able to catch anything.

The pool is a lovely clear green, and you can see the iron stains pretty clearly all over the liner. The pics show my robot at the bottom of the 9ft deep end, for reference.

 

[duraleigh]

That clear green is precipitated iron in the water and not on your walls. (Yeah, it really IS kinda' pretty) You don't appear to have much of it but about your only hope of removal is the polyfill. You could do an AA treatment which is a bit detailed or you could simply lower your ph down around 7.0 and keep it down and the green should disappear.

 

[BodeFamily]

That clear green is precipitated iron in the water and not on your walls. (Yeah, it really IS kinda' pretty) You don't appear to have much of it but about your only hope of removal is the polyfill. You could do an AA treatment which is a bit detailed or you could simply lower your ph down around 7.0 and keep it down and the green should disappear.

Thanks. I've done AA treatments before, and have some stuff ordered for when the chlorine gets down and I can do that. I was just hoping maybe in the meantime the polyfill would grab some of the iron. But since it isn't changing color at all in the skimmers, I worried that maybe I was missing a step somewhere. I'll just continue to be patient!

 

[Texas Splash]

Once you finish the SLAM and the FC falls, it may help. But yes, patience.

 

[Mdragger88]

What do your filters look like?

 

[BodeFamily]

What do your filters look like?

Good question. I just put clean cartridges in before we left almost 3 weeks ago because I didn’t want my pool sitter to have to mess with them. I haven’t opened it up to check them - pressure hasn’t gone up at all, so didn’t think of it. It’s about to storm, so I’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow. You thinking the cartridges are catching iron?

 

[Mdragger88]

?? I am curious to see.

 

[BodeFamily]

?? I am curious to see.

I’ll bust it open tomorrow and send you pictures. I’m the meantime, I’ll just pretend like I’m much younger at a frat party and the pool is full of Jello.

 

[Mdragger88]

So you know you have an iron problem…
It is from your fill water? Are you on a well?
Are you taking steps to minimize its entry into the pool when you replenish water?

 

[BodeFamily]

So you know you have an iron problem…
It is from your fill water? Are you on a well?
Are you taking steps to minimize its entry into the pool when you replenish water?

I don’t actually know. We’re not on a well; it’s city water. I’ve never had a pool store test or iron test strips show any iron, however reliable those are. But I live in Pittsburgh, home of steel mills and lots of old iron pipes and old mines…so who knows?

It’s also a pool that was built in 1980, and there were some holes in the liner when we moved in. I patched them and am hoping to do a new liner next year. But there is a rust spot on the liner, and some
On the skimmers. So maybe it’s coming from the walls behind the liner? That feels like a stretch to me, but it’s a working theory.

 

[Mdragger88]

That seems like a lot of green for a couple rust spots but I’m unsure how much it really takes.
I have some iron staining myself & I suspect my city water to be the culprit.
As soon as I find myself a clean white bucket I am going to do this to help solve the mystery.

Post in thread 'Metals in pool'
Metals in pool

 

[BodeFamily]

That seems like a lot of green for a couple rust spots but I’m unsure how much it really takes.
I have some iron staining myself & I suspect my city water to be the culprit.
As soon as I find myself a clean white bucket I am going to do this to help solve the mystery.

Post in thread 'Metals in pool'
Metals in pool

Ooh…that could be fun and educational!. How mad do you think my kids will be if I repurpose their sidewalk chalk bucket?

 

[Newdude]

How mad do you think my kids will be if I repurpose their sidewalk chalk bucket?

The home depot 5 gallon bucket is $4.48 and the lid is $2.28. Drill all the holes in the lid and keep the bucket after.

 

[Mdragger88]

The home depot 5 gallon bucket is $4.48 and the lid is $2.28. Drill all the holes in the lid and keep the bucket after.

View attachment 511206

For the “test” I linked you need a white bucket (to accurately see the water color change) - I think I have one from boric acid in the she shed.

 

[Stang Guy]

That clear green is precipitated iron in the water and not on your walls. (Yeah, it really IS kinda' pretty) You don't appear to have much of it but about your only hope of removal is the polyfill. You could do an AA treatment which is a bit detailed or you could simply lower your ph down around 7.0 and keep it down and the green should disappear.

What does lowering the ph do for a pool with green tinted iron water, thanks?

 

[duraleigh]

What does lowering the ph do for a pool with green tinted iron water, thanks?

Green pools from iron are a combination of yellow/brownish visible iron particles and blue water......blue + yellow = green.

When you drop the pH, the visible iron "redisolves" in the pool water leaving only the blue.

btw - the iron is still in your pool, you just can't see it anymore.