The RETURN of the Orange/Brown Stain!

[PopcornGirl]

Intro: <Dramatic horror movie music plays ominously>


Sorry to be so dramatic, but I absolutely REFUSE to go through all this again.
My pool is looking GORGEOUS and I have been testing my water DAILY (like a good girl).
My Stats:
Water Temp: 76
pH: 7.4
FC: 3
TC: 3
TA: 120
CYA: 40'ish
12,000 gal. IG, Gunite ~4.5 years old; Cartridge filter
Using only BLEACH now to chlorinate

I HAD to finally add some water to my pool -- have not added any since start-up and it has been so hot and dry here (well, until YESTERDAY). Anyway, I added about an inch of fresh water to my pool and guess what?
Yesterday I start noticing 3 or 4 small areas where the stain is trying to come back. This has GOT to be the water source! My pool walls/floor were *pristine* before I added the fresh water.
So, I have another bottle of Metal Out on hand and I'm wondering if it's ok to do the maintenance dose of 16 oz./10,000 gal every time I need to adde fresh water (actually, the bottle says to add this every week during the swimming season, but that seemed a little excessive to me).
What do you think?
Pool chem is great; water is sparkling clear. I do NOT want to go through the horrors of that Easter-Egg-thread again!
But I don't want to mess up my pool, either, now that I've finally gotten everything under control.
Please advise!

[JohnT]

The first thing I would do is take a sample of pool water and a sample of your fill water to a pool store for testing. Tell them what you are having problems with. Let the hose run for a few minutes to get rid of anything that comes from the plumbing out.

[PopcornGirl]

Hi John

No offense, but I'm not about to go back to my pool store!
LOL!
They are what got me into this mess in the first place!
Read my 2 previous threads ("Orange/Brown Stain" and "My Pool Looks Like An Easter Egg").
First of all, their readings were off, but more importantly, they didn't have a clue what they were doing and had me dumping ALL KINDS of chemicals in my pool (Stain Out, Metal Out, Black Algaetrine, Filter-Friend, Baquacil Shock, etc.)! Or maybe they DID know -- they made about 200 dollars off of me in the past month!
So, I won't be talking to them. Besides, I have gone completely against their instructions by switching to a bleach pool and I don't feel like arguing with them until I have a little more knowledge/experience under my belt.

No, I'm pretty sure I've got a good hand on my chemistry now; I just want to make sure that I won't mess anything up by adding the Metal Out when I add fresh water. Obviously, I am getting some iron through my pipes because this has happened twice now. Also, another member on this board who lives in my area informed me that Baton Rouge sometimes supplements their municipal water supply with local wells (My house/pipes are new -- only 4.5 years old). We have been so dry for the past couple of years, I'll bet that's what is going on.
Thanks anyway though!

[mbar]

Summer, don't worry - put the whole bottle of metal out in and keep your filter running 24/7. When you put fill water in, put it in through the filter. Lower your ph down to 7.0 - 7.2 - You can do this by getting a sock and filling it with ph down, tie the sock to your skimmer pole, and rub the stain with the sock - it should take the stain off, as well as lowering your ph just a little bit. Don't worry about putting in too much metal out - it won't hurt anything, then any metals that get into the water will be suspended in solution. Sometimes just adding the metal out and lowering your ph will take a new stain off, but rubbing the stain with the sock of ph down will do the trick, or You can aslo use ascorbic acid in the sock if you have any left without messing with the chlorine.. Let me know how you do, I was just as scared as you when I saw the stain return after doing the whole treatment, but you will see that once it is gone, and you keep your water balanced, you should be fine.

[JohnT]

Hi John

No offense, but I'm not about to go back to my pool store!
LOL!
They are what got me into this mess in the first place!

I didn't say do what they said. I'd find a store that can give reasonable readings on the metal in your fill water so you know where you stand.

[PopcornGirl]

I didn't say do what they said.

LOL!
hee hee...
Point taken!
But, even so, when my pool store supposedly tested my water for metals before, they told me there was no iron, but a lot of copper. Of course, this test was done AFTER they had me put Black Algaetrine in the pool and they didn't seem to make the connection -- even AFTER I reminded them!
<sigh>
If I had time, I'd go to a pool store I trust in a neighboring town, but alas, my children have my schedule completely BOOKED for the next 3 days!
Is there a do-it-yourself metal test kit for pools??

Marie, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
That's exactly what I needed to hear!
One question though: When you say,

When you put fill water in, put it in through the filter.

What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand what you are saying... Do you mean put it in through the skimmer? Like put the hose in my skimmer?
I'm sorry if I'm being dense; I was up with the baby half the night.
Thanks again!

[mbar]

No Summer, It was me - I meant your vacuum pole! Or anything long enough that will reach the stain. Put your hose in the skimmer of your pool when filling, so the water will go through the pump first before it gets returned to the pool . As for all the mistakes in my last post, I have no excuse, my babies are all grown up - maybe oldtimers disease!

[waterbear]

LOL!
hee hee...
Point taken!
But, even so, when my pool store supposedly tested my water for metals before, they told me there was no iron, but a lot of copper. Of course, this test was done AFTER they had me put Black Algaetrine in the pool and they didn't seem to make the connection -- even AFTER I reminded them!
<sigh>
If I had time, I'd go to a pool store I trust in a neighboring town, but alas, my children have my schedule completely BOOKED for the next 3 days!
Is there a do-it-yourself metal test kit for pools??
Both Taylor and Lamotte make kits that check for both copper and iron. Taylor's (K-1264) is pricy at about $80. Don't know the price on the Lamotte (3611/EC-67). From my own experiences with both company's test kits their chemistries are good but LaMotte seems to cost more per test than Taylor. Hanna Instuments http://www.hannainst.com/products/prodline/testkits.cfm
also has an iron test kit for around $16 available from http://sciencekit.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_435180
Don't know too much about it. Ben sells a copper test kit. Maybe if there is enough demand he might consider a kit to test for iron.
Marie, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
That's exactly what I needed to hear!
One question though: When you say,
What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand what you are saying... Do you mean put it in through the skimmer? Like put the hose in my skimmer?
I'm sorry if I'm being dense; I was up with the baby half the night.
Thanks again!

As an alternative you might check out the test kits used for aquariums. I know Seachem has a test kit for iron for about $10. I use an aquarium testkit to check my pool for phospates. Works fine and gives me exactly the same results as the pool store. The chemisty involved is basically the same whether you are testing pool water or pond water