Iron Stain

I have a 27,000 gallon pool with iron staining.

I have had conflicting information about how to remove the iron and keep it from returning. The pool maintenance company would like to drain and acid wash the pool, then refill it with filtered water. The pool store wants to sell me stain remover. The maintenance people say that the stains will return as soon as I shock my pool if I use the chemical from the pool store.

I would greatly appreciate any help! Thanks.

1. Usually iron comes from your fill water. If that's true at your pool, draining and refilling is pretty useless.

2. Acid washing makes your pool look all sparkly clean -- at the cost of stripping the top layer of your finish, and leaving it rougher and more porous (= susceptible to stains!).

3. Almost all stain removers simply move the metal (stain) from your pool surface, BACK to your pool water. These products do NOT remove the metals from your pool; they just shuffle it from one place (the pool surface) to another (the pool water). While this can be useful, the effect is temporary.

4. Your maintenance guys are correct . . . but aren't offering you any help with the stains.

5. I'm going to give you different advice, but first you need to know that my 'metal removal process' is good, only in the sense of being better than everyone else's: it's still a pain in the rump (and wallet). If there's a genuinely GOOD way to deal with metals in pools, I haven't seen it.

I can tell you, that if you work at it, you can probably work out a way to MANAGE the metals fairly painlessly -- but you'll experience some pain getting there. Sorry about that!

OK.

+ Keep your pH and chlorine low. This will help avoid further staining.

+ For now, start using polyquat algaecide. This both helps make up for the low chlorine and is an effective filter aid, helping to remove any metal particles that may form. http://pool9.net/polyquat/

+ Get a K2006 testkit. Accurate testing is always important, but it's essential when you are trying manage metals. http://pool9.net/tk/

+ Complete the pool info form. It's easier to help you, if I know exactly what gear you've got. http://pool9.net/pf-pool-chart/

+ Assuming you fill your pool with the water you use in your house, check your house water: (a) take a look at the INSIDE of your toilet tank, and tell us what it looks like, and (b) do a metal bucket test on your fill water. http://pool9.net/bucket-metal/

+ If your pool water is different than your house water, try to do a bucket test in the water that goes into your pool.

Good luck, and keep us posted.