I don't know what they were, but you should probably be able to achieve the same effect by putting a trichlor puck in the skimmer and filling through there--the idea is that when the metal-laden water is exposed to high chlorine levels, it drops out of suspension and is deposited on your filter to be backwashed out of the pool. A trichlor puck will work for this--but don't leave the pump off for more than 8 hours at a time with the puck in the skimmer, because the very acidic blast of water isn't good for the pump when it is turned back on.

Welcome to the forum!!