New pool, brown water

[diwilson]

Please help. We have our new pool up and filled 30' round 4.5 deep so - 24,000 gal? This is our first big pool and I want to start right but the water is brown. We often have a brown tint and after the fire dept flushes the lines we get brown sediment in the bath tub and the kids won't get in - smart kids! I am guessing this is the bown pool problem. After sitting the night we can see sediment in the pool and my husband is vacuuming now. Here are the numbers using PS 234.

FC 5 (7 last night after 1 gal Clorox)
CC 0
TC 5
pH 7.2
Alk 60
Cal 20 (not important with vinal pool?)
Cya 0

Should I add Cyanuric acid now? How much? The directions say not to back flush for two days after adding. The pump pressure is 15 so I think we are alright there. Should I run the pump 24/7 until clear?

Thanks in advance for your direction which I have found very helpful thus far.
Dianna

[mbar]

I would get a sequestering agent such as Metal Free, Sequasol, Jack's Magic, anything that says "sequeserant" and put enough for the volume of your pool. I would let my pump circulate 24/7, so I wouldn't put any cya in through the filter, however you can put some in a sock and tie it near a return so that it dissolves into the water. You didn't mention what kind of filter you have. You can also cut the leg off a stocking or tights and put it on the skimmer basket to help catch the small particles. Don't take your chlorine up any higher for now until you put in the sequestering agent - you want the metals to bind to the sequestering agent so that the metals will stay in solution. High chlorine plus high ph will have the metals fall out of the water and stain the pool, but the sequestering agent will keep the metals in solution so they won't cause a problem. Keep your ph where it is now, and keep adding enough bleach to stay at 5ppms. The brown water will tend to use up the chlorine fast - especially with no cya. So you will have to test often and keep the chlorine in there - keep the pump running 24/7, vacuum to waste when there is sediment on the bottom and have patience - it will clear up. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Welcome to the forum!

[diwilson]

The pool store is out of anything that says anything about sequeserant so they sold me Baauacil brand Flocculant. Do you think this would work? They said dissolve it in water, broadcast , run sand pump for one hour, let set overnight and vaccume to waste. What do ya'll think?

[mbar]

Take it back and get refunded your money. You need something that is specifically for binding with metals to keep them suspended in water. You can find it at a walmart, or lowes, or some hardware store that sells pool chemicals. Or you can order it off the internet. It will usually say stain and scale prevetor, and you will see in the small type that it is a sequestering agent.

[NWMNMom]

Some places carry this as "Metal Myte" or "Iron X" - "Mineral Control", make sure its not the Metal Out just for cleaning household rust stains in sinks, etc, as that will eat holes in your liner and hoses or more. SKIP the one for spas and pools that has "soy protein" for water softening - it will cause a great slimy ooozy mess at the water line, in your hoses and costs more anyways (hubby picked it up by mistake and boy WAS it a mistake!)