Experiment: Homemade Sump Pump Filter to get rid of brown water

[cans25]

Ok, got it regarding the use of bleach! Same as Chlorine but more dilute and cheaper

Our Chlorine levels from the initial shock I did were right where they should be as of last Saturday (have not tested since because I don't want to add anything until the water starts to clear up). Hoping the viz is a little better when I get home tonight!

So I should not be adding anything at this point, right? Just let it filter for a bit and then retest and see where we're at?

Gosh I hope this works. It's going to be 98 tomorrow. I know having it ready for tomorrow won't happen, but it sure is heating up FAST here so the sooner the better!

Thanks again!

[cans25]

38 hours into using our makeshift pump and I can actually see the bottom of the pool! It's still pretty brown but not nearly so opaque! I nearly squealed with delight this morning! Progress!

[CarlD]

Bravo! Keep it up!

Carl

[cans25]

Just a quick update in case anyone else out there is starring at their dark brown opaque pool ready to cry... there is hope.

Our filter has been running for three days (lost several hours yesterday due to Tstorms, however!) and this evening I am happy to say that we have gone from dark brown completely opaque water to light iced tea which is completely and 100% transparent. We can see clear to the bottom and across the pool.

Amazing. A homemade contraption, no chemicals, and my water WILL be free of metals!

Just to be clear - we have HORRIBLE water and a cheap crappy intex pump that came with the pool and other than some shock and some clarifier from Walmart have not treated the water. The clearing is 100% thanks to this homemade pump! No sequestrants, no iron out, nothing.

Next I need to start looking into getting rid of the brown staining. Hoping we will be swimming by Sunday.... This forum is awesome! I never would have gotten this from the pool store!

[CarlD]

All we did was give you an idea to try that worked for someone else.

You did all the rest! You are to be congratulated!

You may STILL have to use a sequestrant. But I'm not the one to advise you on how to use it.

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

Carl

[mbar]

I agree with Carl. When you get the water as clear as you can, start to add the sequestering agent. Add it according to what the bottle says. After you add the sequestering agent, check the ph. Add some conditioner (stabilizer) according to the directions on the bottle, you need this so that the pool will hold chlorine in the sun. When the ph is between 7.0 & 7.2 you can start to add the bleach. Just add a little at a time until you get the bleach where you want it according to the "best guess chart" for chlorine. If you see stains or the water still has some discoloration, you can add some more sequestering agent. If you get most of the metals out using the homemade filter (great job!), you shouldn't need a lot of sequestering agent. Remember that high ph along with high chlorine levels will make any metals in the water fall out of solution. When this happens lower the ph and add some sequestering agent. It will lift any new stains, and keep them in solution. Use your filter whenever adding water to the pool. If you have any questions, please let us know. Happy swimming! Just so you know, you can swim in a pool with stains as long as the water is balanced.

[Bree1978]

yea! i'm so happy for you!

[cans25]

I am happy to report that our pool is 100% clear and clean. The water has been clear a few days now, but hubby just got around to vacuuming today. The pump 100% worked to completely clear the water. There is a tiny bit of staining but it's really not all that noticeable unless you are looking for it so eventually I'll scrub at it but I am honestly not that worried about it. I wish I could post before and after photos you would not believe it! And I checked our CYA, chlorine and ph levels and it's ALL GOOD. Wow. Let's swim!

And by the way the sand filter has only been up about a day so this was all from the sump pump and batting filter with the weak paper intex filter. Again. Amazing. Thanks for the help, ingenuity wins the day!

[Watermom]

Glad to hear this!

[mbar]

Congratulations! That is what is so great about this forum, the experiments, and the results! We can now put this in our bag of tricks as something that works to remove the metals before they go in. Thanks for keeping us updated.