Question about orange/brown stain...

[PopcornGirl]

Thanks so much for your replies, Waterbear & Dave! I really appreciate your help.
I had not considered iron...
But where is it coming from??? We are on municipal water and Baton Rouge's water is notoriously SOFT (aggravatingly so!).
Also, I am not a scientist (my degree is in history ) but why wouldn't Metal Out remove iron from the water?
Finally, I know NOTHING about using ascorbic acid... do I need to stop the chlorine (I use a feeder with the discs) and do I need to let the chlorine level drop before adding the asc. acid?
I'm sorry to be such a novice; this is all still very new to me!
Thanks again,

[waterbear]

Soft water just removes calcium hardness. It has nothing to do with any possible dissoved metals which can come from numerous sources such as pipes, the ground your water source comes from, pollution, etc. It is possible to have soft water with a high iron content. First step would be to check your water for all metals. I have a big distrust of pool store testing from my own experiences. One time I brought in two different samples, one from my spa and one from my pool, and did not tell them that they were a connected system and that I had my spillover running for 4 hours right before I took the samples. One sample tested as having very low CYA and the other sample was low on CH and had very high TDS. I suspect it was error on the part of the (what looked like) high school girl who was doing the testing. There is a compnay that is supposed to make a metal stain identifying kit (I think it's Jack's Magic but I don't know anything about it) and Taylor sells kits for testing for varous metals as do other testkit companies (LaMotte). There might even be test strips that will at least tell you if metals are present but I would not trust them to tell you at what concentration. Iron is your most likely culprit and you probably still have a lot of copper in your pool. It might not be in the water but it is deposited on the surface and can leach back into the water if your pH drops.
Good luck on fighting the stains!

[PopcornGirl]

Oh, wow. Ok, that makes sense. Guess I'll be going to buy a metal test kit.

I don't really trust my pool store completely, either. Although, I do not go to a national chain store (whose name I won't mention) that seems to be run by uneducated teenagers -- we do have one nearby, but I won't go there!
My store is a family-owned business that has been around for about 20 years and the owners (mid-50's couple) do all the testing themselves. But I still don't trust them implicitly because they are running a business and they profit from my *needing* more chemicals. That's why I joined this forum.

I think you have a excellent point & I will get that water tested right away!
BTW, it's now been nearly 36 hours with the Metal Out and there is NO change in the stain. DEFINITELY the wrong course of action...
Thanks!

[PopcornGirl]

Alright, I did a little *research* and read about a "vitamin C test" to see if ascorbic acid is what I need...
I took a handful of Vitamin C (chewable orange juice tablets) and put them in a white sock and secured it with a rubber band. Then I used a hammer to break the tablets down to a large gravel (not powder). I then tied this sock on to my pool brush and used the brush to hold the sock against the stain for 30 minutes.
There doesn't appear to be any difference in the stain!

Now, does that mean I do NOT need to use ascorbic acid or was that a total waste of my time (and my expensive Vit. C tablets)???
HELP! I don't want to spend any more money on this than I have to...

[waterbear]

I think the first step you should take is test the water for everything including metals so you will know what is going on. Also my understanding is that ascorbic acid is very pH dependant for it's use as a stain remover. I am not that familiar with it's use. I know several companies market it as a stain remover (reading a MSDS will usually tell you what is in the product). Perhaps the second step is to do a bit of internet searching and looking at the various products and what is in them and how they are used. Above all, DON"T GIVE UP! Like I said before I am not an expert on stains in pools but I know that there are several on this board! I'm just a guy with a little knowledge and a big mouth!

[vgg659]

I think we're neighbors.

I'm on Baton Rouge Water, use the same pool supply store, and we have the same problem. Sounds like water problems.

In the past, Parish Water (a.k.a. Baton Rouge Water) used local wells purchased from Capital Utilities to augment their water supply when necessary. These wells are notoriously high in iron; I know, because I used to be on one of them before becoming a Parish Water customer.

Anyway, back to your problem. I have the same stains, but I originally thought that it was tanic stains from live oak leaves and such. During Mardi Gras, we went to Colorado for a week. Upon returning, I had a large amount of live oak leaves in my pool. After cleaning it up, the stains appeared. So, I shocked at high levels, which is the prescribed method for getting rid of tanic stains. No luck.

So, I took a water sample to my friendly local pool supply store, but they were closed for the Easter holiday. I happen to have a quart of Metal Out, so I dumped it in. A day later, my stains have faded to the point of barely visable. I plan on another quart or two of Metal Out.

I have not had to top off my pool much, so I didn't think the iron came from the tap water. But, given your and my problem, and the common tap water source, I guess we have too much iron in our tap water and pool.

Good luck.

[PopcornGirl]

Whew! What a RELIEF!
I had NO idea about BR's water supply! That definitely explains a lot...
What a small world it is!

SO, I have another question for you... (did you read my post in the pool chemistry problems forum yet?) I have 2 bottles of METAL OUT and some OMNI Filter Aid. Can I go ahead and use those -- even with all the algae in my pool and my pH being so high??? What do you think?
I was thinking I might soak my filters overnight and spray them down really good tomorrow, then add the Metal Out & filter aid, then reclean the filters...
But there is SO much algae (live & die-off) in my pool right now, I'm kind of immobilized by fear of doing something out-of-step.
Thanks so much for your input! That helps clear up the metal mystery!

[vgg659]

Puzzling. My water test doesn't show any metals, including iron.

I'm now second guessing my iron deposits diagnosis, but my stains didn't seem to respond to high chlorine levels, and did seem to respond to 1 Qt Metal Out.

I decided to continue treating these stains as though they were iron deposits.

Yesterday's water test results are as follows:
FC 4.9 ppm
TC 4.9 ppm
CC 0 ppm
pH 7.8
Hardness 170 ppm
Alkalinity 140 ppm
Cyanuric Acid 30 ppm
Copper 0.0 ppm
Iron 0.0 ppm

My FC this AM was 2.0. This afternoon, it will be approaching zero, and I'll add the Stain Out, per the label directions. I'll repost.

Given the water test indicated no iron, the lingering question in my mind is that these stains could be tannins from the oak tree leaves, but I can't explain the lack of response from my high chlorine treatments.