iron and copper

[bonni]

How can I get rid of copper and iron in my water?? I have been to the pool store and they had me put in Pool Magent 3 times within the last 3 weeks and I still have metals. And since I can't shock for days after adding the metal magnet I have very cloudy greenish bluish water. Any suggestions?

[szampino]

Bonny,

I don't have any answer for you but I'm very interested in the replies you get. I have an above ground Entex 18x48". Last year I converted my outside faucets to go directly against the well instead of my treatment systems. After I filled my pool and applied the shock everything went crazy and my water turned a yellow/green. (at least is looked that way) I had to Chemout and Pool Magnet. Then I couldn't get my water crystal clear for the remainder of the season. It maintained a constant cloudy about 2 feet down.

This year I thought I would outsmart the pool god! After filling the pool I
immediately took a water sample to the pool shop for proper diagnosis. I
expected to find Metal galor and was very surprised when I was told there were no metals present. I decided to play it safe and throw in a bottle of pool magnet just in-case, and kept the filter running continously along with multiple filter changes. Everything looked great, crystal clear bluish water, until it came time to apply the shock (1 week after pool magnetting). After about 1 1/2 days the water appeared to turn an amberish green. I took another sample (water was crystal clear in the sample bottle) to the pool shop and was told that metals not appear (iron & copper). I am now searching this forum for a miracle and would could use all the help I can find. I don't want to take the chem-out and re-pool magnet again.

I hope your story is better then mine.

[bonni]

Sad to say, my situation is not any better. After the pool magnet failed to work the third time I decided to go the BBB route and at least get my pool
balanced and then try to deal with the metals, after 4 days of keeping the
chlorine at 15-20, and the Ph at 7.6-7.8 I now have yellow- brown cloudy water and visibility of about 2 feet. I am loosing patience as I have a huge
picnic/campout planned in 2 weeks and do not see sparkling water anytime soon.

[mbar]

The reason you are testing no metals in the water is because the sequesterant -pool magnet, is holding the metals in suspension. THere is no way I am told to get the metals out of the water once they are in there, except by a very complicated way that Pool Doc had talked about. I will explain how staining occurs. When there are metals in the water, and you have your ph above 7.5 and get your chlorine levels up high as when you shock the pool, it can casue the metal to precipitate out of the water. This can cause the pool surface to stain. It also causes the pool water to appear light green, or brown. What I do when I open the pool is to add sequesterant first before any chemicals. Leave the ph about 7 to 7.2, and slowly raise the chlorine. If you have a sand or DE filter you can put a trichlor puck in the skimmer basket (this will help by the water going over the puck, if the metals precipitate out they will stain the filter instead of the surface of the pool) keeping the filter running 24/7. Do not do this if you have a cartridge filter. I also had success when my pool was cloudy after a stain treatment, putting in a flocking agent. I let the water sit for 24 hours without the filter running, then vacuumed to waste. I shut the filter off everynight and vacuumed to waste in the morning. I did this till there wasn't any stuff on the bottom, and the water was clear. Whenever I added fill water, I added it through the skimmer with a puck in it. When ever I have to shock, I make sure my ph is down around 7.2. I try to keep my chlorine level constant by testing each evening and adding enough chlorine to keep it in the perameters of the "best guess chart", this way I very rarely have to shock the water. Hope this helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[szampino]

Marie,

I've been reading all the threads you, Dave S and others have posted on Metals. Some I understand and some I don't. Everyone on this forum is a Clorox Bleach vs Chlorine supporter.

Q1. If I switch, will this help? **I prefer not, but will if I need too.


Just an FYI - I actually sampled my water without any chemicals present and was told it didn't have any metals but chose to Pool Magnet anyway because of the trouble I had last year, thinking I'd beat it this year.

Q2. What do you suggest I do?
- Chem out
- Re-Pool Magnet
- Then never shock again and keep my Chlorine and PH levels Low?

Q3. Why do I have to shock if there doesn't apear to be any living problems?

Thanks for being supportive!

[mbar]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you - I have been battling floods - in the basement, and in my pool!. Anyway, your water won't show metals if there is enough sequestering agent in the water because the sequestering agent bonds onto the metals and keeps them from showing up - it also keeps them from staining the pool and water. It does not matter what kind of chlorine you use, as long as you follow the "best gusess chart", which can be found as a sticky at the top of the chorine forum. So it doesn't matter if you don't use bleach.

You don't have to shock if you A) have no combined chlorine, and B) if your pool is holding it's chorine overnight, and the water is not cloudy.

I would suggest you add more sequestering agent (pool magnet), any chemical that says it will get rid of metals. It doesn't hurt to have more sequestering agent in the water than you need, but not enough and you will get stains. Then I would keep my ph low whenever you want to shock your water, or run your chlorine on the high side. If you have a sand or DE filter you can keep a trichlor puck in the skimmer - it helps to let any metals that will precipitate out stain the filter instead of the pool. DO NOT put a puck in the skimmer if you have a cartridge filter.

Hope this helps, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. It took me a long time to understand stains - and I a still learning!

[archdiane]

It appears that the iron that was in my well water is almost gone. I might need another bottle of metal magnet to completely finish it. Once my water is back clear, what do I do then? I am afraid to shock it because that turned my pool dark brown and it's taken days to get it back clear. Should I stick a chlorine tablet into my skimmer? I have an 16' x 48" intex AG pool with the little filter that came with it. It has a paper filter in it. At what point can someone swim in it?

Thanks,

AJ

[bonni]

I just did a quick test this AM and cl was 2.5 and ph at 7.2-7.4. I will get
the rest of the #'s when I get home this afternoon. The clarifier did not say
to turn off the pump like a floc so I kept the pump running. I am afraid
to shock because everytime I have done so the water has turned brown.

[bonni]

well here are my numbers:

TC 2
FC 2
PH 7.2
TA 120
CH 300
CYA 70

my guess is that maybe my CYA is too high and the cholrine is less effective?

[mbar]

AJ, you can take your chlorine up to your level according to the "best guess chart". If you have the sequesterer in, it should have binded with the metal, and you will not get brown water again. DO NOT put a chlorine tab in the skimmer with a cartridge filter. You can add regular laundry bleach - add a cup at a time, if the water starts to turn brown stop and put in more sequestering agent. Keep your ph low - under 7.4 but above 7. You can swim in the pool as soon as you put in the bleach. Check often and keep the bleach at the level for your cya.

Bonni, with a cya of 70, you will have to keep your chlorine at a minimum of 5 to be effective. You can take it if to 10 to help get rid of the cloudiness, and if you want to shock, take it up to 20 - you can do this by using regular bleach. I find that bleach works best when coming off a stain treatment. You can add your bleach in small increments to get to shock level, if you don't want to shock, it will just take longer to clear the water, but it should clear if you stay consistant with the bleach and you have no combined chlorine.