Newbie - Stain removal via ascorbic acid

[aylad]

Trichlor tabs are - I think - available almost everywhere in the country. Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart and Sams proabably all have them near you. .

Be careful--all those places carry trichlor tabs, but the ones at most WalMarts are labeled "dual action", meaning they contain copper--which is a whole other ballgame when dealing with removing metals. You don't want to add copper to your pool, especially when you already have metal staining problems. Just check the ingredients on the trichlor pucks you buy, and make sure that copper is not listed as one of the ingredients.

Janet

[herb396]

Janet,
thanks and yes I noticed thta today thta they have asmall % of copper in them,,,can I just ues bleach to pump up the chlorine?

[aylad]

yes, in a 25K gallon pool, each 6 cups of 6% bleach will raise your chlorine by approximately 1 ppm.

Janet

[herb396]

So here's my update:
I added two quarts of muriatic acid last night, filter is on 24/7. As of this morning the pool went from crystal clear to now cloudy white (can't see the bottom). And my current readings are:

FAC: 0
TAC: 0
pH: 7.2
Alk: 110

In hind-sight prior after a full 24 hrs. of my initial 5 lbs. of the ascorbic acid, the over all stain was reduced by about 50%...meaning not as dark. I'm wondering if I should have just did another ascorbic acid treatment?

[Watermom]

You need to get some chlorine in there or its gonna be cloudy AND green!

[herb396]

I've added 182 oz of bleach over the last 24 hours but still showing 0 on my chlorine. I also put in some a little polyquat 60.

Right now I wanna get balanced and clear ,,,then I think I'll do another 5 lbs. of the ascorbic acid treatment.

What a tangled circle this all is.

[Watermom]

Please go back and re-read Ben's post above and follow his directions carefully. He knows what he is talking about and by following his advice to the letter, you'll have the best chance at getting this problem taken care of successfully.

Per Ben's directions above, you need to be chlorinating with trichlor pucks which will help the iron to fall out into your filter. If the ones you bought are the dual-action ones with copper, don't use them. Go and buy some plain trichlor pucks. (Bleach will add chlorine but will not cause the iron to fall out into your filter.)

Good luck and keep us posted how it is progressing.