First time PS234 results...

[aylad]

MBeardsley

Yes, copper levels in the water do create a problem--I would strongly encourage you to go to the "metals" forum, and read everything you can there, especially posts written by mbar (Marie) on how to deal with water that contains metals without staining your pool.

Janet

[mbar]

If you have been using a copper based product, you should put in a sequestering agent before you raise your chlorine levels. This will bind with the copper in the water and hold it in suspension, so that the high chlorine levels don't make it precipitate out onto the pool's surface. High chlorine along with high ph and no sequesterant will let any metal in the water precipitate.

[alexnco]

Michelle,
I used their own Pure n Blue branded "Metal Remover" (from the original kit) before I got too far into the BBB. It seems to have worked well, no rust or copper stains and my copper tests show zero. (And to be honest, after my whining, they agreed that copper seemed not to be working for my pool!)
The copper thing seemed "ok" for a while last year, but totally crashed last summer after the ambient temp. went above 92. All in all, it was pretty expensive, and still required chlorine, frequent shocking and (after all) needed additional algeacide.
Duh! I should've done a bit more homework first!
Interesting aside:
I also submitted my water to that company (1) and another one just north of them up I-35 (2) and here are the results (compare them to my "First time PS234 results"):

First time PS234:
FC<1, CC=0, TC=1, pH=6.8, Alk=100, Cal=80, Cya=0, Temp=82.5

(1):
FC=0.45, CC=??, TC=-0.1 (), pH=6.8, Cal=60, Alk=110, Cya=5, Iron=0.17 (their printer wasn't working -again- so they missed the actual CC)

(2):
FC= 0.48, CC=0.05, TC= 0.53, pH=7.12, Cal=116, Alk=133, Cya=15, Copper=0, Iron=0

Although I've never added cya or anything with cya, they both show cyanuric acid in my water!
Additionally, (1) wanted me to add muriatic acid to lower Alk and then add Cl. Why lower Alk? And (2) told me things looked pretty good, just to add Cl.

My new PS234 test results this weekend: FC= 0.5, CC=0.5, TC=1, pH=7.4, Alk=100, Cal=70, CYA=0, Salt=400, Temp=86
After the test, I added 9 lbs cya, 4 lbs borax, 120 lbs salt and will retest on Sunday.