Quote Originally Posted by labdi01 View Post
Hi - thanks for your time!

I thought I was treating one thing at a time. Metals. pH has to be low, can't add chlorine til levels are zero, so I'm trying to stave an additional issue of algae while I work the metals out. (and I do realize I'm not getting rid of the metals, just the water staining of the metals).

My fill water is from my well, which is riddled with iron. Had I known what a nightmare metals can be in a pool ahead of time, I never would have filled it from my well.

I've since purchased a pre filter to fit the hose (looks like a pillow in the shape of a bat) - but can I take confidence that it will remove all metals before getting to the pool?

Even if I partially empty/refill at this point, I'll still be dealing with metals for the life of the pool, no?

I can't completely empty because the liner could shrink. What are your thoughts on emptying to 1.5', refilling over the course of a few days with the prefilter, then emptying down 1.5 and refilling - think it might reduce my metals down to a point that I won't have to spend $140 in sequestrants? Makes some sense to me saying it - but what I don't know could fill a warehouse.
Well, I think you're on track with this idea... but draining a liner pool (in-ground, right?) to 1.5 feet is a chancy proposition in comparison to draining a gunite pool in a dry climate. If this were my pool I think I would test the effectiveness of the pre-filter first. If it worked to contain a significant portion of the iron, I'd do multiple partial drains --- not down to 1.5 feet but perhaps just 12" (from the top) at a time. You could also drop a solar cover or large plastic sheet so that it roughly separated the incoming flow from the outflow and pump to waste while infilling on the other side of the sheet with your pre-filter in place. Other members who have experience with this may want to comment on this procedure.