New Pool Owner With High Iron Manually Removing Iron

[labdi01]

Isn't it crazy?

We filtered from Friday at 6:30 pm to this am at 6:00. We're doing a stain treatment right now and want the acid to circulate for 24 hours before we start filtering.

Since this treatment will free some more metals into the water, after the 24-hr mark, I'm going to keep CL down, polyquat 60 up and continue to filter until batting is clean, then add bleach (and everything else needed for balanced pool) to swim levels. I'm actually looking forward to swimming on Saturday. Saturday will be about 3.5 weeks since we started our iron battle.

I'll keep you posted! Please do the same.

[newpoolgirl]

did anyone try using the metal out first? before adding the chlorine. I just spoke to a lady i work with and she said she ran into that w/ her pool the first year. she added the metal out stuff. let the pool sit w/o filtering. then vacuumed the bottom. she said as long as she used that she didn't have a prob. She said that she also has a hot tub and now uses that before she adds chlorine and doesn't have a problem. I just want to know if her story is just a fluke or if anyone tried this metal out stuff 1st before anything?

[labdi01]

From what I'm understanding, anyone who needs the sequestrant has to use it before chlorinating. Adding the chlorine just has to be done slowly, so as not to take the metals back out of suspension. You also have to use sequestrant any time you need to shock, then raising your chlorine slowly again. I've not been past the chlorinating stage, so I don't know about maintenance dosing with sequestrants. You may be best off starting a new thread, so the metals expert, Marie (Mbar) can read it and advise you best. She's dealt with metals in her pool for 10 years and offers a lot of guidance and support through the process.

[aylad]

did anyone try using the metal out first? before adding the chlorine.

Metal Out is one brand of metal sequestrant--that is what labdi01 has been adding to her pool all this time. The purpose of the Metal out is to keep the metals in suspension in the pool water so that higher levels of chlorine and pH don't allow them to drop out of solution and stain the pool/water.

Janet

[mbar]

There are some products that claim to turn metals into salts so they can be filtered out, but I don't believe them. There really is no way to get metals out of the water unless you can turn them into something solid and then vacuum them out, and I don't know any way to practically do it. I would love to hear of any way it can be done

[newpoolgirl]

thank you. i am glad i came here because the pool places around me have no clue what to tell me. One said they never heard of chlorine turning water brown and tried to sell other chemicals. This is my first forum and my first pool. i'll try posting a thread. Thanks again.

[Watermom]

One said they never heard of chlorine turning water brown and tried to sell other chemicals

NO!!! I am shocked!!

Glad you found us, newpoolgirl!

[chem geek]

The flocculants help consolidate solid particles that might be too small for the filter to catch, but that does not include metal ions.

As Janet said, the metal sequestrants hold the metal ions into solution, essentially making them so they won't react when the pH rises and won't form solids that can stain. There are some products that claim to remove metals in the filter, but they don't seem to work reliably.