UnknownStain - Fiberglass Pool

[Skillset]

Pool company has stood me up the last 2 weeks, so the pool is still uncovered. So, I took the above advice. Crushed up 8 Vitamin C tablets in a pantyhose, attached it to my skimmer pole with duct tape, and rubbed the pantyhose on the stains. No more stains ! Also, tried the Vitamin C in my stainless steel sink and it removed some of the iron stains there too.

Thanks for the great advice!

[mbar]

Just wanted to add to the thread, one of the reasons that you probably got the stains in the first place is that when you added the ph+ your chlorine may have been high. High ph + high chlorine will make any metal that is in the water fall out onto the pool surface. I don't know why your pool manufacturer would not endorse a sequesterer, but will endorse metal magic or Jack's Magic - the Jack's Magic pink stuff is a sequesterer! In any case, check your trichlor tabs to see if they have copper in them - some of the trichlor is adding copper as an agelcide right into the tablets. Fiberglass pools are very suseptable to staining. I run my pool at a ph of no higher than 7.4, and keep the chlorine at the low end of the "best guess" chart. I also keep a sequesterer in the water at all times. One way to handle stains that pop out is to take the ph down to 7.0 - 7.2 and add a sequesterer - this will sometimes lift a stain that is new. If the stain gets more embedded, then a treatment with ascorbic acid (vitamin c) will take them off. I hope you got your pool closed for the winter, and next year when you open I can help you keep your pool stain free I can't waint till the next swim season

[Skillset]

I opened my pool 12 days ago. Water balance looked pretty good. CYA held all winter at 55. Shocked the pool to about 15 and have not added bleach at all since opening and Cl is still staying at about 10. But, I noticed my pool is pretty stained - no longer just some spots. The stains are light though, only visible after the sun goes down, but there's a ton of them covering large areas.

I bought some of the Proteam Metal Magic product over the winter and wanted to use it tonight, but the label calls for the Ph being at least 7.5. So, I dumped some soda ash in to raise the Ph (it is currently 7.2) and was going to use tomorrow. Now, I'm not so sure if I should after re-reading some of your prior posts where you've indicated that the Ph should be low before using a sequester.

I'm not that worried because I know I can always throw a pound of ascorbic acid which will take care of the stains. But, maybe the Metal Magic will work without the acid and keep the stains away.

But, do you recommend using the Metal Magic at 7.5 (as the label recommends) or lower?

[mbar]

Go ahead and put the proteam metal magic in - it probably says to use it at a ph of 7.5 because it is very acidic itself, and will bring your ph down on it's own. I usually say that you should put your ph at 7.2 with sequestering agent because you want the water to be acidic to lift the stains. Since you have the metal magic I would try it first. If it doesn't lift the stain, then you can do the ascorbic acid - but give it a couple of days first, and if it doesn't bring the ph down to 7.0 or 7.2, then add a little muriatic acid, and keep the filter running 24/7. Good luck, and let me know how it goes.