Newbie - Stain removal via ascorbic acid

[waterbear]

And . . . . be patient. Pool owner IMpatience is the #1 profit maker for sellers of unneeded pool chemicals: they can't fix you up faster, but they can sell you something that claims to do that! They don't have magic wands for pools; they just pretend they do.

Ben

Amen to that!

[herb396]

No I hear both you on that,,I'm not about to go back and start buying their 'snake oil'. I wanted take it there as a cross check to make use my little test kit is accurate. (there's a standing order in our home, "do not buy anything")

Now that were starting to make some progress,(the stain is fading to almost unnoticeable) (just still hard to tell fully with the water being so milky) We now have some renewed confidence so it's much easier to be patient .

Thanks for all the help...I'll keep posting as we progress.

[aylad]

Hang in there--the results will be worth it!!

Janet

[herb396]

Current conditions as noon today: We can now start to see thru the water, shallow area is pretty clear and I can see my Polaris down in the deep end (not clear but can tell what it is). The stains are lifting and I'd say about 90% gone. Residual markings remain around the worst areas, but the ring around the top is pretty much gone and the walls look pretty good. Keep in mind about 50% of these stains lifted after my initial 5lbs. ascorbic acid treatment.

My current readings are:
CYA: 70
Tot. CL : 1
Free CL: 0
pH: 7.4
Tot Alk: 145
Tot. Adj. Alk: 124
Tot. Hardness 250

Having a hard time keeping the pH down. I added another 2qt. of muriatic acid after receiving the test results. I'm keeping two full trichlor tabs in the skimmer to ad in the CL. No backwashing (pressure has gone up about 4-5 lbs)

But were making progress !

[Watermom]

Good to hear there is progress! Thanks for the update.

[herb396]

Ok as of 10:00 am this morning it looks like we are stain free. Some light areas that seem to go away with some brushing, so a good bruising all around will be today's task. Water is clearing up, can now see the drain in the deep end, but it's not crystal clear (yet).

CL is about 1.5 -(I say "about" because the little test kit w/drops & you match the colors. It matches the 1-2 mark) But I've been able to hold that level most of the week.

pH is about 7.0 - I added another two quarts of muriatic acid after taking that reading.

Been laying off the polyquat because prior to all this we doused the pool with about three bottles of the hTh algaecide (thinking the stain might have been algae). The water still has an odor to it and it foams up a bit when splashed around.

So what's my next move? Do I start thinking about bringing my levels back up & chlorinating using calcium hypochlorite granular chlorine? Or should I hold these levels for a while longer?

herb

[aylad]

Definitely don't add any more of the HTH algaecide--the chlorine you use will eventually break down whatever's causing the smell and the foaming. Remember that algaecides are much better at preventing an algae outbreak than they are at killing an active one--and even then you only want to use Polyquat 60 because of the same problems that you mentioned.

I'll let one of the stain experts advise you on whether it's time to start raising your levels again, but I just wanted to warn you that when you do, do it slowly so that if you start to see browning of your water you can get some sequestrant in there before you end up with staining again. High chlorine and high pH levels are what bring the metals out of solution, so just have that in mind when you start raising your levels.

Janet