Metal Control

Well after moving into our new home almost four years ago and inheriting a 26K gal IG concrete pool that was addicted to Baquacil, I have had enough. No, this is not a Baquacil bashing, in fact when it was working, we really enjoyed it, other than the high costs. But finally the 'pink water mold' has taken over. It started about two seasons ago and slowly got worse with no help from the Baquacil dealer, other than his suggested fix which was to shock the pool with Chlorine and convert back to Baquacil. Hmm, what's wrong with this picture....Shock a Baquacil pool with Chlorine, then go back to Baquacil....I don't think so. Anyway, I'm getting off track. Becasue of some other pool housekeeping items, replacing caulking between waterline tile and coping, pool needs to be acid washed, time to replace the seals in the pump and must replace the sand in the filter after using Baquacil, it was evident that this would be a good time to drain the pool and refill once all the housekeeping items were complete and make the switch to Chlorine. Here's my question, finally. We are on well water, which is treated via a Iron removal filter and water softener (two separate units). The water that fills the pool is passed through the Iron removal filter only. When we used Baquacil there is a dry chemical I added once per month, 1.25 LBS, called "Chlorine Free Baquacil Metal Control". It states on the bottle that it 'deactivates Iron, Copper and other trace metals'. Is there an equivalent that I need to add and continue to add to our Chlorine pool? Not sure that it did anything for the Baquacil pool, but it took money out of my wallet. By the way, I did order Ben's test kit last week. Have a great day and thanks in advance.

Scott

Using softened water will definitely help; water softeners remove most metals from water, and not just calcium. However, you may need to 'regenerate' your softener several times during the filling process. Otherwise, the iron can 'break through' and enter the pool.

I need to post a metal removal HOWTO, but I've got to get all the PRE-ORDERS filled first. Short version:

• start with your pH low (7.0 - 7.2)
• do NOT shock when you fill
• do use polyquat for the first week, and keep chlorine low (less than 2.5)
• add a SINGLE dose of a liquid stain/scale product
• run your filter 24/7
• *GRADUALLY* raise your pH to around 7.8, over a week's time
• Then, *GRADUALLY* raise your chlorine to around 10 ppm. Use bleach or cal hypo.
• Make 100% sure that you have no sort of inline feeder. Once you've done that, you can add small doses of bleach or cal hypo via the skimmer ONLY IF the pump is running and the skimmer circulating properly. This can be VERY DANGEROUS if there is any sort of feeder with chlorine in it. Trichlor is NOT compatible with bleach or cal hypo!
• Clean your filter as needed, but not more than that.

If you have a properly functioning filter, this process will cause most of the metals to end up in the 'goo' on your filter. It's especially effective if you can use cal hypo.

It's important that you follow those instructions carefully. The order is important, for the results. And making sure that you have no sort of inline feeder is VERY IMPORTANT for your safety.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

Hi Ben, thanks for the quick responce. Yes, frequent regenerations of the Iron removal filter is on the list while filling. You will have to excuse my ignorance with some of the following questions and the kindergarten logic, but I'm coming over from the 'dark' side and still building my understanding of Chlorine pool terminology. And I agree that getting this correct is really important.

So, if I follow your process as described above it would look like this;

Beginning Week One

• Fill pool with water that has passed through Iron removal filter.
• Maintain the pH low (7.0 - 7.2)
• Do NOT shock when filling.
• Keep Chlorine low (less than 2.5ppm) (I'm assuming this is free Chlorine?)
• Add the required amount of Polyquat (I wasn't sure what this was, searching the Web brought me to your PoolSolutions site. Use the 60% product. Not sure where to purchase, but it looks like something Walmart would carry.)
• Add a SINGLE dose of a liquid stain/scale product. (Not sure what you mean by SINGLE. Is this to mean add the correct amount for a 26K gal pool? Also, do you have any product recommendations? Possibly a product available at Walmart?)
• Run the sand filter 24/7 for the first week.

Beginning Week Two

• Begin to GRADUALLY raise the pH to around 7.8 during week two.
• Then, GRADUALLY raise the Chlorine level to 10 ppm using bleach or Cal Hypo through the skimmer while the pump is running. (Do I wait until the pH is around 7.8 before adding the Cal Hypo or can it be added concurrently as the pH is being increased? Is the 10 ppm a free Chlorine measurement or total Chlorine? Where can I purchase Cal Hypo and it appears that Cal Hypo is a brand name?)
• There is no sort of in-line feeder.
• Ok, now I'm at the part that has me really puzzled. You mention that Trichlor is not compatible with bleach or Cal Hypo. Was that added in one of the previous steps?
• Clean my filter as needed, but not more than that. (Being a sand filter I would backwash it when the pressure increase by 10 psi. )

After the second week, I can begin gradually lowering the pH and Chlorine levels down to the normal operating levels? Once at the normal operating levels I would add the required amount of stabilizer? Have I got ths correct? Thanks again for our help.

Scott

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

...

• Then, *GRADUALLY* raise your chlorine to around 10 ppm. Use bleach or cal hypo.
• Make 100% sure that you have no sort of inline feeder. Once you've done that, you can add small doses of bleach or cal hypo via the skimmer ONLY IF the pump is running and the skimmer circulating properly.

It's especially effective if you can use cal hypo.

---

Ben...

Cal Hypo comes in granules only correct? What's the best way to add it gradually through the skimmer? What about bleach? How does one do that? Thanks.

Hi, well we are off and running. Topped off the pool this morning after starting the fill process on May 16th. Regenerated the Iron removal filter (Green sand filter) and the water softner after four hour intervals of pool filling. Started filtering the water yesterday. Ben's test kit is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so in the meantime I went to Walmart and purchased one of their $12 HTH test kits. I did test the water at different intervals after stirring it up with the pool brush, but only tested for CL and PH. On 5/17 the CL was 0 and PH was 8.2. Added some liquid bleach and dry powder PH down. On 5/18 he CL was in the range of 1 - 2 PPM and PH was at 7.2. Left well enough alone and kept on filling. On 5/19 the CL was less than .5 PPM and PH was 7.3. Yesterday, 5/21, was the first day the pool had enough water to run the filter safely unattended. Before starting I added eight ponds of CYA to two leg nylons (thanks to my wife...) put one each in the skimmers. I started the filter and has been running 24/7 since. After four hours I chcked the chemistry and water temp was 62 degrees, CL was .5 (added four cups of liquid bleach to the skimmer), PH was 7.2 (added nine oz of PH down. Target is 7.0 to 7.2), CYA was 35 PPM, total alkanity was 150, calcium harness was 0 (added 4 lbs of hardness +) added 12 oz of algacide and added one treatment for 26K gallons of liquid stain/scale product.

Today's morning test results were; water temp was 62 degrees, CL was .5 (added four cups of liquid bleach), PH was 7.2 (added nine oz of PH down. Target is 7.0 to 7.2), CYA was 35 PPM, total alkanity was 150, calcium harness was 0 (added another 4 lbs of hardness +).

Today's noon test results were; water temp was 62 degrees, CL was .5 (added another four cups of liquid bleach), PH was 7.2 (added nine oz of PH down.), did not test CYA, total alkanity or calcium hardness (ran out of hardness +).

Today's 4:30 test results were; water temp was 62 degrees, CL was 1 - 2PPM (added two cups of liquid bleach), PH was 7.2, CYA was 35 PPM. Noticed that water was hazy and filter preasure had jumped approximetly 4 PSI.

Filter is running 24/7, trying to keep the Chlorine level less than 2.5. I am all out of the CYA Reagent that came with the test kit and Walmart does not stock the refills. Going to the pool store tomorow to buy CYA Reagent and Calcium Hardnesss increaser. While I'm on the subject of Calcium Hardness. Please check my understanding of the test results. I fill a sample tube with 25ml of pool water, after rinsing, and add 5 drops of hardness indicator. The instructions say, "sample should turn red if hardness is present". Sample never turns red, it remains a dark blue to a dark purple. I'm assuming that the correct hardness has not been reached, in fact the hardmess is very low. Makes since since I filled the pool with soft water. Is that correct? This is why I have added a total of eight pounds of Calcium Hardness increaser. I did notice that the second test, after the first four pounds was added, the color was a much lighter blue, but still dark. So if I'm understanding that correctly, I'm going to keep adding Calcium Hardness increaser until I get the water to turn red and can then add the Hardness Titrant a drop at a time to measure the red turning to blue. How am I doing so far on all the above? Sorry this is so long. One more thing, why would the water turn hazy, and getting hazier by the hour?

26K IG plaster pool, sand filter.

Ok, I'm tired of typing now. Going to check the filter preasure before going to bed. May not be able to wait until morning to backwash, we will see. Thanks in advance for your help.

Scott

I use 3" trichlor tabs in between shocking my pool with bleach. How is this dangerous? Or is it only dangerous if the two come into direct contact full strength?

Also, what do you mean by an 'inline feeder'? Is that something related only to IG pools? (Mine is AG.)

I will also be following your response to the original questions from Sprint54. I just filled my pool with well water this past Saturday which I thought was being conditioned by our water treatment system. Only to find my pool water all reddish-brown after shocking it with bleach. The iron has now been cleared out by my sand filter but the water is now a clear pale green. I'm assuming that could be copper? Or could it just be what's left of the iron?

Thank you,
zamfam

Keep running the filter and it will clear up, ours did that as the iron "waned" and is now crystal clear....did you use any type of sequestering agent?

Today my pool water looks much better; I think I'm on the right track. I stopped adding chlorine. Put a trichlor tab in the skimmer and ran water through the hose there s-l-o-w-l-y.... Then I backwashed once or twice a day; man that backwashed water was UGLY - dark brownish red! Yuk! But it made me feel good to see it leaving.

No, I did not use any sequestering agent. I thought I'd read before that they really don't take the metal out of your water, just bind it up for a while. Then you have to keep adding the stuff regularly. I was afraid to go there. Could someone please "clarify" this for me. (Ha, ha!)

They do "bind" the metals, but the bound material can be carried out and filtered....

We used it with ours (see picture in previous post), the sludge was carried out, filtered and we do not add it anymore, unless we top off the evaporated or backwashed water loss from the well.....