Green Glow.

[AGPoolNewbie]

I've been reading some of the threads regarding the Culator bags. And I have seen where anyone has seen the bags change color. I added my Culator bag last Saturday, making today a week. My metals were Copper = 0 and Iron 0.6.ppm. And like I've said earlier I ignorantly shocked the pool before handling the metals. Anyway, The following day (last Sunday) after reading reviews about The Culator and hearing that it takes a month or so to work, I began using Metal Free. I added one bottle of Metal Free. By Wednesday there was no change so I added a second. I also noticed at this time, that the Culator bag was turning Yellow or a little rusty. I picked up a second bottle of Metal Free and added that on Wednesday. On Thursday I began bringing my pH down some from 8.0 to now 7.5 using the hth pH Minus.
On Friday there was a noticeable difference in how dark the green is, but its still a little darker than Green Tea. Should I keep throwing sequesterants like Metal Free at it until the water is totally clear. And keep it clear that way while (hopefully) the Culator is pulling the iron out?

This morning my readings (Using the hth 6-way) were as follows:
TC: 5-10 ppm
pH: 7.5
CYA ~40 ppm
Alk: 140 ppm
TH: 40 ppm

I'll add some pictures of the Culator bag if others are curious to see.

Thanks,
Chris

[AGPoolNewbie]

Here are some photos of my pool water's progression. Also there are a couple pics of the Stained Culator Bag.

Water:
----- First Pic on 6/17/12



----- Second Pic on 6/23/12





Culator ----- After 1 1/2 Week



I've decided to go ahead and just dump 2 more bottles of Metal Free into the pool today. I've gotta get this water clear or blue.

[PoolDoc]

I hope I didn't scare you, but I texted you from the PoolForum Google Voice number -- you don't want to put Metal Free in. It's just citric acid, which can be used to lift stains, but it's no more chlorine compatible than ascorbic acid (Vit. C) and not as good at lifting stains.

What you are looking for is HEDP -- a phosphonate sequestrant that IS more or less chlorine compatible. The problem is, you do not have to list the ingredients in liquid sequestrants, so you're limited to the ones that do list ingredients or put them in MSDS sheets.

Here are options from Amazon:

Jacks Magic The Pink Stuff 1qt (60% HEDP) @ Amazon
20% KemTek HEDP @ Amazon

Other products you might find locally include:

Haviland Stain & Scale Magic (30% solution?)
Jack's Magic Blue Stuff (20% solution)
Jack's Magic Purple Stuff (20% solution)
Jack's Magic Pink Stuff (60% solution)
ProTeam Metal Magic (30% solution)
RamChem Ram Metal Hold ((60% solution?)

Those are all that I can positively ID as HEDP, at this time.

Many other products are being used, including citric acid, EDTA, sodium hexametaphosphate, and so forth, so you need to be careful NOT to buy products unless you can get your hands on an MSDS that IDs the product as HEDP.

[AGPoolNewbie]

I'm actually making the 30 minute drive to the closest pool store to get water iron levels tested again. Do they sell any of these substances at Leslie's. Your post said "Here are options:".

Thanks for texting, because I may not have checked the forum before getting to the store.

[PoolDoc]

Pool store metal tests don't mean much. You can do a better test by putting 3 gallons of pool water in each of 2 buckets, and adding a cup of bleach to one, and a 'glug' of muriatic acid to the other. Keep up with which is which. If it's iron, the acid will clear the iron. If it's algae, it may or may not kill the algae. Again, if it's iron, the bleach will tend to make it drop as orange powder. Adding a tablespoon of borax or washing soda makes that even more likely. But if it's algae, bleach will kill it, and let it settle to the bottom as brown or tan -- NOT orange -- powder.

Let them stand -- covered -- for 24 hours, before evaluating.

With a vinyl pool, a 3rd way to rule out algae is to feel the sides: with algae, they will be slick. With iron, they will not. (But, it IS possible to have both at the same time!)

I'd recommend doing the following:

1. Lower your pH to near 7.0
2. Run your filter 24/7.
3. Vacuum & brush the bottom.
4. Do the tests.
5. If it IS iron, get some HEDP & do the metals bucket test on your FILL water.
6. If you can, get some polyquat algicide -- it will help kill algae, and filter out BOTH algae and iron.

BTW, the Culator does NOT look like it's 'working', because the color is all on the OUTSIDE of the bag -- but that may well be because your iron is already in an insoluble form. Lowering the pH and adding HEDP will tend to make the iron soluble again.

[PoolDoc]

my apologies; I upgraded your membership, but didn't move your thread. And, then, I went out of town.

Thread moved; access restored!

[AGPoolNewbie]

Thanks. I was starting to think I did something wrong, or that you were just done talking about the thread subject, lol. I really appreciate you (PoolDoc) catching me before I wasted more money on Metal Free Stain Remover. After looking into the HEDP products you recommended, I decided to try the hth Metal Control, which contains HEDP (Maybe in lower quantities), but it was sold locally. The water has gone from the dark Tea Green color to blue with a slight green tint within 2 days. I still plan on testing my source water with the bucket method to see how much iron is in it. I'll upload more pictures when I do.

Oh, and I will be contributed some of that money you saved me to the site. Thanks again!