+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Elkhart IN
    Posts
    4

    Default New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    We bought an Intex pool to try and get the feel for managing a pool before we commit to having an inground pool installed. We have extremely rusty water (well water) so we thought if we filled it through a hose connected to the kitchen sink it would solve the problem - NOPE. The system we have is not large so turning the water on before bed and letting it run all night was a huge mistake. We cotinued to rejuvinate the water softner, but still have extremly brown water - can't even see the bottom of the pool. I got some quilt batting and secured it around the filter and also tied a tube sock filled with polyester stuffing to the water thing that is coming back the pool. Just did this last night and it does appear to be pulling out quite a bit of the iron/rust, but I don't know how long this method will take and I don't know what to do about chemicals. Please help.

  2. #2
    aylad's Avatar
    aylad is offline SuperMod Emeritus Burfle Ringer aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars
    Join Date
    Dec 1969
    Location
    Northwest Lousiana
    Posts
    4,757

    Default Re: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    Hi Heidi,

    Your prefiltering system might work a lot quicker if you were to run the water over a trichlor puck just before it hits the batting--the high chlorine should help precipitate the iron and cause it to fall out of suspension and stain the batting.

    You are going to need to get some chlorine in the pool to keep algae from growing, but you don't want the level to be too high right now because of the iron in the water. You need to test your water with a drop-based kit (strips don't count!) and report back levels for pH, TA, hardness. We highly recommend the K-2006 kit (see the link in my sig), but if your local WalMart has the hth 6-way drop kit, that will work for now. While you're there, pick up a few gallons of plain, unscented, generic bleach.

    Take a few minutes to read through this thread--it was posted last summer by someone with much the same situation you have, and it might be helpful:
    http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ll!&highlight=
    Janet

  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: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    membership upgraded. -ben

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Elkhart IN
    Posts
    4

    Unhappy Re: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    I only have the Aqua Swim test strips so I will need to purchase the test kit from Walmart today before I can send the readings. In the meantime, I've been extremely lean on adding chlorine because I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to make it harder to get the iron/rust out, but I also don't want to deal with an algae problem. What should my chlorine level be at while I'm dealing with the iron problem? Should I stay away from shock? The pool was filled over a 3 day period - filled completely 6/18.

  5. #5
    aylad's Avatar
    aylad is offline SuperMod Emeritus Burfle Ringer aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars aylad 4 stars
    Join Date
    Dec 1969
    Location
    Northwest Lousiana
    Posts
    4,757

    Default Re: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    You need to keep your chlorine somewhere between 2-4 ppm while you're dealing with the iron problem. Your question, "should I stay away from shock"? is a little misleading--shock is actually a verb, that means to raise your chlorine to a high level (which you should do, while you're dealing with the iron). It is not a particular product. There are packets labeled "shock", but they're just different forms of chlorine, usually with some other mystery goop in them that I don't recommend you add to the pool. I'm estimating your pool volume at about 5000 gallons (someone correct me if I'm wrong), and in that volume of water, each 1.5 cups of 6% bleach you add will raise your FC by 1 ppm, so you can use that as a guide to figure out how much you need to add at any one time. Until you have stabilizer in the water, you're probably going to have to add chlorine 2 or 3 times during the day to keep any in the pool, but if you don't, then you're gonna have algae to deal with on top of the metals.

    Janet

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Elkhart IN
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: New Pool Owner 15X42 Intex Metal Frame - very rusty brown well water

    Test Results
    pH 7.8
    Cl 5
    Br 10
    Total Alkalinity 150
    Total Hardness - had some trouble with this - I added the first drops which were suppose to turn red and did for like 2 seconds, then it said to add the second part of solution count the drops until it turned blue - I was at 30 drops and no blue - each drop was to be multiplied by 50

    Stabilizer -Cyanuric Acid - again had some issues, the black dot on the bottom of the inner test tube was suppose to disappear and I was suppose to record the reading from where the dot dissappeared, but it never did.

    My Walmart was out of the 6 way test kit so I picked up one at Meijer - brand is Kokido

    Yesterday I added a second small pump to help with the iron, and swept the bottom of the pool. I've been changing filters like crazy as well as the socks on the water return. I also added some Vitamin C tablets. My water is no longer muddy brown, but still far from clear - it appears to have a green tint to it, but not bright green, still is a little brown so I guess I would say its a greenish brown color, but I can see all the way to the bottom of the pool which is a huge improvement.

+ Reply to Thread

Similar Threads

  1. Using sand to level an area for an Intex Metal Frame 15 x 48 pool
    By RedwingT in forum Intex-type Pool Setup & Operations
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 07-13-2012, 09:29 PM
  2. Timer for Intex metal frame pool?
    By drako4 in forum Pool Equipment & Operations
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-13-2011, 06:12 PM
  3. sand filter system with Intex metal frame pool
    By yjjeeper in forum Pool Equipment & Operations
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 06-25-2007, 10:31 AM
  4. Hayward pump with an Intex Metal Frame Pool?
    By kola in forum Above-Ground Pool Construction & Repair
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-26-2006, 02:07 PM
  5. Intex Metal Frame Pool
    By SBaker in forum Above-Ground Pool Construction & Repair
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 06-01-2006, 10:48 AM

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