The RETURN of the Orange/Brown Stain!

[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!

[PopcornGirl]

Marie,

Don't worry; I knew you meant my vacuum pole & that does make sense about the water through the skimmer first... Thanks so much for your help!
Summer

[PopcornGirl]

Hey, Just wanted to let you know -- the Metal Out worked perfectly!
I did what you said -- poured in the whole bottle last night -- and this morning the stain was GONE!
My pool looks great & I am SO relieved.
Thanks again!

[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

[vgg659]

Hello again. First of all, it is perfectly acceptable to use Metal Out for maintenance, such as when adding tap water, per the labeled directions.

But, I am surprised that you could have added enough iron to the pool by simply adding 1" of tap water to cause staining. Usually, iron accumulates from tap water over a span of time, because there's not that much iron in Baton Rouge's Water.

Could the iron be coming from some other source?

[rwkelleyjr]

I've got a similar problem and thinking now it's from the fill water. The only area in the pool where I have stains is where I put the hose into the pool...

I've done the Vitamin C test...It worked! Now what? I've read some threads from Marie, but getting conflicting information from my pool store.

Now they've sold me a Stain Test Kit to specifically identify what the stain is. I haven't used it yet since I already know that it's metal stain.

So here are some questions...

Pool Manufacturer's User Manual suggests using jack's Magic Pink or Metal Magic as a preventative, BUT how do I get rid of these stains to begin with?

Pool store suggested rubbing Jack's Magic Pink on the stains in a sock. the stained area is too big to rub with a sock IMHO. Is there something I can put into the water that will remove the stains or will I be forced to rub the stains directly for best results???

Salt Water Pool. Ph 7.4; TA 120 Cya: 22ppm

Thanks