Newbie with Issues!!!!!

[aylad]

If the problem is metals, then you'll need a sequestrant to hold the metals in solution. They wont be removed, but will at least stay in suspension. Can you get a sample to the pool store and ask them to check for metals?

Janet

[AndreaA]

I think you may be right. I do not have a good kit yet but I've added enough bleach to the water (per this website) that I believe my water is staying at shock level between 12 and 15. With the FC level staying so high the water is even more cloudy. But I also have a sand like dust on the bottom of the pool and when swept it throws a big dirty cloud but I have not wasted in several days therefore it might just be dirty cause we live in GA and everything is blooming here. Does it matter if my FC levels are high when I add the metal sequestrant? Also my steps are an orange color does that mean a certain type of metal? And if I do add this how much should I use? Thank you so much for all your help :-)

[aylad]

I'm thinking the orange will indicate iron. I am not the metals expert on the forum, but if you'll go to the metals forum, there are many posts by Marie (mbar), who is probably the most experienced metals person on the forum, next to Ben. You should be able to get most of your questions answered by reading those posts, but if not, come back and post them. In the meantime, Marie should be stopping by soon and I'm sure can help you out, if that is indeed the problem.

Get the water tested if you can, and repost your results here--that will really help us zero in on what you need to do.....and just out of curiousity, take a trichlor tab and rub in on the orange on the steps, and let us know if it lifts the stain.

Janet

[AndreaA]

I had the pool tested 3 times before and they all said no metals but I can see sparkles floating in the water. Had the water tested again for metals two days ago and still nothing. Also my local pool store called me this morning to see if my water was still green (nice of them) and said they were going to send a tech out here for free just to look at everything (again nice of them). Well the guy showed up around lunch. He noticed all the little crap that's been floating around my pool and decided to but some DE powder in my skimmer (for free) and he was going to leave me 1/4 of a bag (huge bag) but when he did ALL of the powder came shooting out of my jets and my pressure never went up. I had said something to them before about my pressure being low and they said that all pools very so I was no longer concerned about it. Well he advised us to change out the sand, run filter, vacuum on waste again, NOT to add the spring water again, and if I wanted to I could flock (sp?) the pool and then waste the next morning. He also said that my water would remain green till I added the metal stuff BUT to wait until the water reaches 60 degrees??? My stuff is orange!!! :-( Also I tried to rub the tab on steps and it's not doing a great job.. Kinda just grating the tablet... Maybe I need more elbow grease?? :-) Oh.. should I post on Metals part too? Thanks again for all your help Janet!!!

[aylad]

Hmmm, sounds like more than just a water issue. If the DE just game back through your jets, then you also have a filter issue. I would replace the sand, also checking for cracks or breaks in the laterals, and see if the filtrationimproves. If not, you can try adding the DE again, but only enough to raise your pressure by 1 psi. It is still possible that you have metals in the water--the way I understand it, if the pool service was using sequestrant, the metals wouldnt show on tests because they are in suspension. Do you have orange staining in your shower or toilet tank? I would also try putting the trichlor tab on top of a layer of cotton balls, and pour some of your water over the tab to see if and orange "drops out". On the cotton.

For now, don't duplicate post in the metals forum because it makes it hard to stay organzed, but I'm going to shoot Marie an email and ask her i put on your situation. If t turns out that metal is the problem, we can always move the thread.

Janet

[AndreaA]

Hi. Just wanted to give an update. Our water is still green but it's looking better. We changed out the sand a checked all parts to make sure everything was in working order. I also got my Taylor test kit and we've figured out how to do all test needed.

So right now. I have not added anything but bleach since we last talked.

1: Ok so I know I have some type of metal issue-- since my steps are orange and my pool turned green once we added chlorine. I haven't added anything for that. I've had it tested but all test are negative but I just know since I dumped spring water with gold flakes in the water.

Here is my reading from this afternoon

FC: 4
CC:0
PH: 7.0
Alk: 50
CYA: 20
Water Temp: 60 degrees

2: Should I adjust the PH and Alk? Also my pool is still green but some what clear now (it's cloudy) but I can see the bottom of the pool in the deep end :-D So that's a plus!!!! Anyhow thank you all for helping and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, we do have orange spots and stains in showers and sinks from water.

[aylad]

Sounds like you have iron in your water. Since you already have staining, and there is a way to get rid of it (see the sticky in the metals forum), I would go ahead and just keep shocking the pool (back up to 20 ppm!) until the water completely clears up and you're not losing chlorine overnight Once that's done, then you can go through the process to remove the metals stains. You'll have to make a decision, though--you'll either need to add metal sequestrant to the pool to keep the metals from falling out of suspension again, or you need to try to remove it from the water--and the only way I know to do that is to run it through a high chlorine source and immediately through a filter of some sort.

Janet