High CYA and shock

[Midnight]

Oh Ben, I also meant to tell you that the weird film on the water that we originally thought would be copper is completely gone. It disappeard as quickly as it appeared. There was a very fine almost oily appearing residue on the water for a short time, that almost looked like someone had worn a lot of suntan oil in the pool. That disappeared by that evening and it has been totally clear of that since. Maybe something from turning the heater on for the first time? The guy who had the pool before seemed to like to buy everything the pool store and catalogue offered, maybe something residual from last year or aliens. I'm not sure.

[Charlie_R]

There may be a good chance the previous owner used potable water antifreeze in the heater. I've seen that leave an oily looking film on a sink full of water on first use in a camp trailer. It does lose it's pink color over time, so you probable wouldn't have noticed it when you opened the valves for your heater.

[Midnight]

Charlie, it wouldn't surprise me.

I wasn't surprised if it was copper, either, because we have had problems with copper in the water in the past, but drained 3/4 of the water and refilled. Can all the water chemistry being off bind up the copper and it's just going to show up later when the water is balanced maybe? I don't see any other color in the water right now, but maybe it's going to still.

[PoolDoc]

Can all the water chemistry being off bind up the copper and it's just going to show up later when the water is balanced maybe?

Low pH can dissolve metals, which may then reappear as stains when the pH and alkalinity are increased. Adding HEDP prior to 're-balancing' can temporarily keep the metals in the soluble (non-staining, but also non-filtering-out) form. The CuLator bags can remove SLOWLY remove metals from pool water but ONLY when the metals are in the soluble form.

If the metals are not actually removed from the water, they will began to reappear. Depending on a number of factors, metal can reappear as debris collected on the filter -- this is a highly desirable outcome. When HEDP is used, the filter should be run 24/7, so that as the HEDP breaks down and releases the metal, there is an improved chance that it will be caught as particles on the filter.