I've added ascorbic acid -- now what?

[piggys8]

used ascorbic acid in pool today.how long before I can swim? also what do I do next?

[PoolDoc]

Ascorbic acid alone doesn't solve anything; it simply *temporarily* re-dissolves the metals that caused the stains.

what do I do next?

There's no way to answer that -- I have no idea what condition your pool is in.

Most likely, you need to gradually re-chlorinate (ascorbic acid destroys chlorine and vice versa), brace yourself for the probably reappearance of your stains, get a K2006 test kit, find out what your water condition REALLY is, read through the metal treatment sticky-s here, make a plan to actually remove the metals from your pool, . . . and then start over.

But, I don't know that. And, you may get lucky -- people sometimes do, in stain removal.

I'll move this thread to the metals section; I recommend that you read the sticky-s in that section before deciding what to do next: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/forumdisplay.php?139

[PoolDoc]

I just upgraded your membership, and since you included your address (which results in a higher user privilege level), I looked up the address on Google and Bing. (I'm the only one that can see that info -- none of the moderators have that access.)

Anyhow, given your location, it's unlikely you are on well water, so a major question you need to answer is, "What kind of metal is staining your pool, and where did it come from?". If it's iron, old city water lines are a possibility, but if it's copper, you need to figure out if it was from algaecide use, an eroding pool heater, or something else.

It doesn't do lots of good to remove stains, unless you also make a plan to avoid the situation that created them in the first place.