Brown water in pool- from Iron

[aylad]

The brownish-orange color that you see is definitely your iron falling out of suspension. Now that you have sequestrant in the water, I would definitely start bringing the Cl up, a little at a time, to at least 3-5 ppm. If you start seeing the brown/orange color again, add more sequestrant. If you don't get some chlorine in the water soon, you are right that you will start an algae bloom, and you don't need that to complicate things!

You need to be very, very careful when adding that amount of acid to the pool. When you add the acid, it drops TA and pH, and then you aerate to raise pH--your aeration method sounds pretty good to me. When the pH gets back up to the 7.6-7.8 range, you can again add another dose of acid to bring the TA down a little further, then aerate to raise pH again. At no time do you want your pH below 7.0. That is acidic and can damage your pool. Lowering the TA is a gradual, ratcheting process (read the "lowering alk" sticky at the top of the "Dealing with Calcium and Alkalinity" forum). You can't do it all at once without trashing your pool.

Pool water without chlorine is not safe to swim in. You do need to get the chlorine in there, but again , you're going to have to do it slowly in order not to drop the metals back out. While you're at it, you need to get some stabilizer in the water--in your case I would put it in an old sock and hang it in front of a return. YOu'll need that to help keep the sun from eating up your chlorine, but remember that it takes several days for it to register in the water, so you'll need to make frequent chlorine additions until then. YOu want to target 20 ppm CYA in your pool, but only put in about half as much as the label recommends, because it's much easier to add more later than to overshoot it and have to drain/refill, especially with metals in the water that you're having to deal with.

Janet

Edit: I'm going to lock and delete the other thread. It is much, much easier for people trying to help you if you'll keep all your info for one problem in one thread!

[mbar]

Sorry I haven't answered sooner. I was in Texas, then flew to Philadelphia to attend my nephews graduation party, then today to my future daughter-in-law's bridal shower I am now homeIf it were my pool, this is what I would do:

Put a puck in the skimmer.
Start to add cya (stabilizer) - I am not sure how much you need for your salt system, but cya takes a while to register. I would put it in a sock and hang it by the skimmer. You don't want to put it in the skimmer because you will need to backwash often now, and you don't want to backwash any of the cya out. If you hang it by the skimmer, and squeeze the sock every now and then it will dissolve.
You have to continue to lower the alkalinity - just keep adding muriatic acid and keep the water aerating to raise the ph. Just make sure you don't let the ph to get too low - the puck in the skimmer will also lower ph. You can add borax if your ph goes too low. It will raise the ph without raising the alkalinity. (I know this is all confusing) The reason the pool store does not want you to add bleach right now is because the bleach will break down the metal out. So while I agree with this, a puck in the skimmer will add enough chlorine to keep the algae away while your cya is at 0. You can also add some polyquat 60 algaecide, but the algaecide also uses up chlorine. I know all of this is complicated, but once you get your water in balance it is very easy to maintain. You really have to get your alkalinity in check, because unbalanced alkalinity will cause a ph bounce and then it is hard to maintain a balanced pool. It all works together

I just read that Aylad answered your post - what she said It is the same advice.

[newguyjosh]

Thanks.

I turned the SWG on last night and added some cya. So far I have added 3/4 gallons of muriatic acid to lower the alkalinity. Water still green but can see bottom of pool. Havent had a chacne to get my own test kit (just have strips) but the pool store reported the following from todays sample. Haven't got a puck to put in yet either

Total chlorine 2, Free chlorine 2
Cya: 0
Ph: 7.4
Total alkalinty: 309- came down 60 but still way high
Total hardness 285

They advised continuing to add muraitic acid 1/4 gallon a time ove the next few days and seem to think if the alkalinity lowers the water will turn clear.

I have been cleaning the filter and reusing it several tiems per day but maybe I wil start replacing it more often.

Any other suggestions? Will lowering alkalinity actually clear it up or do I need to do something mroe about the iron? More metal control? Time with the fitler? thanks

[labdi01]

Hi Josh.

My name is Dianna, and I am a brand-new pool owner and have very high iron. I have an AG 24' pool (that I acquired with the house I just purchased).

We started, after initial-fill and shock - with "Cesspool, Opaque brown" water, and I spent $140 in sequestrants alone (not to mention all the balancing chems) to try to clear it (and daily trips to pool store for testing).

The sequestrants semi-cleared it over the course of 3 or so days - to a clear pool with a green tinge (which I think you're experiencing). Then I had to shock. Tried to do it slowly. Ended up at square 1 ("Cesspool Brown") and I was so disheartened (this happened this past Thu) and I was ready to either spend $300 to drain it and have it refilled - or rip the thing down. Lived this long without a pool, right?

Well, I found another way - and since Fri afternoon - not only is my pool CRYSTAL clear (no lie) - I did it without chemicals and worrying about that delicate balance of CL and pH because of metals. No more sequestrants, no bringing your CL down and risking a bloom (and more chems), etc.

Look under "New Pool Owner with High Iron Manually Removing Iron". I kid you not - it's crazy - and it works - and you're free of the "ball-and-chain" of having iron (you have to filter your fill water, tho). Our water has been 'to-the-eye' clear since 5:00 am today, and we've been running the homemade filter and still catching lots of brown (and my iron reading this am was ZERO at the STORE).

[newpoolgirl]

I have a 4'x16' round (5000gal) metal frame intex pool.The filter for that does nothing. At least your getting some help. My pool dealers around me told me to buy metal out and put it in. Well lets say it did nothing, and they didn't have any other advice. I ended up dumping my pool, and am now starting from scratch. Called HTH chemicals for their reccomendation. they said to fill, dump their metal out in pool with chlorine level at 0. Wait 4-5 days then it's ok to add chlorine. Also, I was reading online how to make a hose filter to try and catch most of the iron. I'll let you know how that goes.

[labdi01]

Hose filters help - but don't 'cure'. We used the Slime Bag too (captures particles as small as 1 micron).

What I'm seeing everyone say when you have to keep CL levels very low for an extended period of time, is to also use polyquat 60 algaecide during that period.

It goes by diff names (mine is black algae treatment), but look for the main ingredient of poly-something-something-ethylene 60% (not sure where the "quat" comes in).

Good luck to you!! I was SO ready to dump our 13.5+ gal swimming pool before we decided to try the homemade filter - and it's been a savior!

Keep posting!

[newpoolgirl]

Well yesterday was day 5 after using hth metal control after i dumped and refilled my intex round 5,000gal pool. i balanced my ph and alkalinity. now today i added shock and no brown water. (I stuck with all hth chemicals from walmart for now.) the only problem now is that my ph dropped after i added shock.
HTH support told me not to add any chemicals when i'm waiting my 4-5 days after using metal control. i did ask about algecide and they said no, do not add anything. i wasn't arguing b/c i didn't want brown water. i will add it now though b/c i'm passed that window. the only part i didn't like was that they said if i'm going to add more well water to pool, i have to let chlorine level drop to 0 again to add metal control. The instructions on the bottle of their products are misleading b/c they don't tell you everything. The bottle didn't tell me to wait 4-5 days or not to add any other chemicals. i do have to contact them again to see if i need to keep adding metal control weekly like the instructions on bottle tell me to. they are easy to access on their web page to do a live chat. I hope this will help some people out.

[CarlD]

About the only thing HTH told you that was correct, IMHO, is not to add algaecide.

You will find that their advice differs from ours. You cannot split the difference or you WILL get a mess. You will need to either follow HTH's advice to clear your pool, or follow ours, but not both.

[mbar]

I never wait for my chlorine level to drop before adding the metal out. Metal out will use up chlorine, but I always keep my levels up so that I don't get an algae bloom, because then you are in a loop - algae bloom, shock then get stains, get rid of stains with low chlorine, and go around again I just keep up with the pool by adding sequestering agent and keeping the water balanced. Once you get the water cleared, and the water balanced I will help you with the stains. Remember the most important thing is to have a sanitized balanced pool. You can swim in a pool that has stains, but not in one that is not sanitized.

[newpoolgirl]

today i woke up to brown water again. Called HTH and they said i must not of added enough Metal Control for it to take care of all the iron in my water. I did add what they told me. They said that I should take my water to pool store and get it tested, then they can tell me how much to add. Does anyone know if this is the correct advice b/c i'm about finished with my pool. I have been trying to swim in it since memorial day and haven't been able to get it clear. Please help.