+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 23

Thread: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    S. Carolina
    Posts
    30

    Default Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    I have an above ground pool with a saltwater chlorine generator. The ph and chlorine levels have always been really easy to maintain with this system. I think I still may have some type of algae though. It is this brown "stuff" on the bottom. After you vacuum it up, it takes about 3-4 days before it starts reappearing. I have even "hyper" chlorinated a few times just to see if that would make a difference. It has not done anything, other than give me a bright yellow solution with my test kit for a few days, lol. Any ideas on what it could be or how to get rid of it? Oh yeah, if you leave it in there for more than a day or two, it gets harder to remove. It almost acts like it stains the liner.

  2. #2
    Watermom's Avatar
    Watermom is offline SuperMod Emeritus Quark Inspector Watermom 4 stars Watermom 4 stars Watermom 4 stars Watermom 4 stars Watermom 4 stars Watermom 4 stars
    Join Date
    Dec 1969
    Location
    Charleston, WV
    Posts
    9,345

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    Hi and welcome! Can you tell us what kind of pool you have, what kind of filter you have and size of pump. Also, we need a current set of test results taken with a drops-based kit. We will also need to know exactly what all you have put in your pool meaning ingredients, not just product names or "shock."

    Sounds like you are using an OTO kit. You really need a better kit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want. If Amato isn't listed, wait a day or two and try again. They seem to restock pretty quickly when they sell out.

    Repost with requested info and somebody here will try and help you.

  3. #3
    PoolDoc's Avatar
    PoolDoc is offline Administrator Quark Inspector PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    11,386

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    Hi Rox;

    I just move your thread where you can post -- sorry, but I upgraded your user status, without moving the post.

    Regarding the brown stuff, it could be algae, or it could be iron from your fill water. Do this:

    #1 - Tell us what your chlorine levels are -- day to day -- using your OTO / phenol red test kit.
    #2 - Test your stabilizer level, or get it tested and tell us what it is.
    #3 - Assuming that your pool was filled with the same water that goes into the toilet, check the inside of your toilet tank. If it's dark brown, you have iron. If it's not, I need to know if you have a water softener on your water line.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    S. Carolina
    Posts
    30

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    Thanks for responding Watermom and PoolDoc! Sorry it took me so long to reply back. I couldn't find my original post when searching for it.

    Watermom: I have a Intex Ultra 16' x 48" above ground, (5,061 gallons). It has the round accordian paper type "A" filter. I don't know what these are called. The pump is 1,500 gph (per Target's website), also by Intex. The SWCG is Intex Krystal Clear. All I have added to the pool is about 125 lbs of salt and 1/2 lb of cyuranic acid. I did add a gallon of bleach to it while I was filling it up to keep it from getting nasty before the water got up to the inlet of the pump. Since then I have not added anything. You are correct, I have only been using a OTO kit. I have been debating on whether to buy one of the Taylor kits. I am wondering if something other than my chlorine level may be the culprit. Amato is evidently out of the K-2006 kits today, I will check back the end of the week.

    PoolDoc: I filled the water from a well so iron could be a possibility. I will test the water tonight and re-post. I do know that the inside of the tank is brown. It is not as bad as some other toilets as I have seen, but it is brown. I started having toilet trouble while I was filling up the pool so I remember very well what it looks like. I don't have a water softener installed. Is there somthing that can be added to the pool water to remove or treat it for the iron?

    Thanks again for your help.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    S. Carolina
    Posts
    30

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    I tested my pool water with the OTO kit I have when I got home from work. The chlorine level is somewhere in the 1.0-1.5 ppm range, which is where it usually is unless it has recently rained. The ph is a little lower than my kit says is ideal, but only by a little. I would say it is around 7.5. The kit says ideal is 7.6. It is hard for me to match up the colors exactly which is why I was already contemplating buying one of the Taylor kits before Watermom suggested it to me in the previous post. The chlorine and ph levels are pretty consistent. It doesn't matter if I test in the morning or in the evening like I did tonight. I don't seem to be losing much chlorine. I only run my SWCG for 2 hours per day. Any more than that and my chlorine readings get up around 5 ppm.

    I double checked the tank on my toilet. The "brown" I referred to earlier is a brown ring around the top, at the normal water level, not the entire inside of the tank (if this makes a difference).

    I also got in the pool tonight and investigated the brown "gunk" a little. The walls of the pool are NOT slimy at all. I have read that this is an indicator of algae in other threads. The brown stuff looks kind of like dirt, but when you try to pick it up with your fingers, it disintegrates. It is slimy almost like the slimy mud in the bottom of a river. I don't have a lot of it. It is just in small isolated spots on the bottom of the pool about the size of quarters. I tried vacuuming it up, but I have the cheap vacuum that came with the pool. (the kind that connects to the garden hose and then catches debris in a little net) After tonight, I am sure that once the "gunk" is disturbed, it just washes right through the holes in the net.

    Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

  6. #6
    PoolDoc's Avatar
    PoolDoc is offline Administrator Quark Inspector PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars PoolDoc 5 stars
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    11,386

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    Could be dead algae -- have you had algae?

  7. #7
    BigDave's Avatar
    BigDave is offline Lifetime Member Whizbang Spinner BigDave 3 stars BigDave 3 stars BigDave 3 stars
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    1,932

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    I had better luck vacuuming finer particles with the Intex venturi-vac by adding a nylon stocking inside the filterbag. I cut the foot and leg 3 - 4 times longer than the filterbag, stuffed it in, and secured the open end of the stocking over the venturi-vac outlet with the filterbag drawstring.
    12'x24' oval 7.7K gal AG vinyl pool; ; Hayward S270T sand filter; Hayward EcoStar SP3400VSP pump; hrs; K-2006; PF:16

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    S. Carolina
    Posts
    30

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    I am not aware of having any algae. My pool has always been crystal clear until this stuff started settling out a couple of weeks ago. After vacuuming last night, the stuff had settled back out again this morning.

    Thanks for the advice BigDave. I had been wondering how to rig a makeshift filter onto my vaccum. I saw another thread where somebody used the stuffing out of a pillow, a bucket and a sump pump to filter iron out of their pool. Whether this is iron, algae or whatever, I need a makeshift filter to hook to my vaccum that will catch this "gunk" and not allow it to disperse back into my pool. I think the particles may be too small for even a nylon stocking. They seem to dissapear when you disturb them or try to touch them.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Boca Raton, FL
    Posts
    126

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    I used to have an Intex above-ground pool for years, with the same problem you've described. The problem wouldn't occur at the beginning of the summer, but by late July, the problem would appear every year. Turns out it was *pollen* that was collecting in my pool water! The only way I dealt with it was either empty out the pool every few weeks, or use a pool cover.
    South Florida - 16,000g Diamond Brite pool, 700g spa & waterfall, Jandy 1400 AquaPure SWCG, Jandy variable-speed 1.5H pump, Jandy 60 DE filter, Jandy heat pump - using Taylor K-2006 kit

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    S. Carolina
    Posts
    30

    Default Re: Brown gunk on the bottom of pool

    Alright, I have finally decided to post my test results after receiving my new K2006 test kit. I've had it for a couple of weeks, but wanted to make sure I was getting consistent results before posting them on here. I still have the brown stuff settling on the bottom of my pool every couple of days. (Vinyl Intex above ground, approx 5,000 gallons, Intex SWCG)
    Test 1 (WEEK 1)
    FC 2.6 ppm
    CC 0.2 ppm
    PH 7.2
    TA 90 PPM
    CH Test started Purple instead of red
    CYA DOT did not disappear

    I added 1/4 pound more of cyuranic acid and waited a week before testing again.
    test 2
    FC 2.5 PPM
    CC 0 PPM
    PH 7.2
    TA 80 PPM
    CH 50 ppm ?
    CYA Dot still did not disappear but solution is at least blurry this time. I would guess it probably around 15 ppm.

    Regarding the Calcium Hardness, I tried a couple of different things. Per the instructions of the K2006 kit, I tried adding 5 drops of titrant first to tie up the metals in the test sample then the buffer and indicator. Doing this the solution was blue before adding any more titrant. Then I tried adding only 3 drops of titrant to tie up the metals before starting the test. Doing this, the solution started red and I was able to conduct the test until the solution changed from red to blue. This way yielded 50 ppm, but I don't understand chemistry so this may not be acceptable at all. Some body please advise.

    Since the CH test started out purple does this mean that I need something to take the metals out of my pool water? I have about another 1/4 pound of cyuranic acid. Should I go ahead and add all of this? I already have 3/4 pound in there now. The SWCG book originally told me to add 0.4 lbs which didn't even register with the test kit. One more thing, there have been a couple more sets of test results in which everything was pretty much identical to these. After adding the stabilizer, the TA seemed to drop, is this normal? How much baking soda / soda ash do I need to add to raise it?

    Thanks in advance for any and all help.

+ Reply to Thread

Similar Threads

  1. brown dust on bottom of pool
    By ds182 in forum --cleanup--
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-29-2013, 08:06 PM
  2. Brown Powdery Sediment in Bottom of Pool
    By lisapaxton1 in forum --cleanup--
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-14-2013, 09:30 PM
  3. White gunk on the bottom of hot tub
    By sj_32223 in forum Pool Chemicals & Pool Water Problems
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-10-2011, 10:42 AM
  4. Stuff on Bottom of Clear Pool... Brown Algae??
    By Tabisme in forum Dealing with Algae & Slime
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 07-26-2011, 04:30 PM
  5. brown looking dust @ bottom of pool wont go away
    By fhorta in forum Pool Startup, Shutdown, & Winter Operation
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 05-26-2011, 10:46 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts