Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Stains on the pool surfaces, pool equipment
or on the swimmers, or off-color swimming pool
water. Discolored but clear pool water.
mel t

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby mel t » Mon 20 Jun, 2011 13:13

Anonymous wrote:I'm back to say that now, one day later from my initial post, our pool is TOTALLY clear!!! :o) I'm telling you, the layers of tube socks zip tied over the end of the incoming tube from your filter is the answer! Wrap the sock layers with a towel and then spray it out every few hours when the towel is totally dark orange. I'm so happy to have our pool up and ready for chlorine now two days before the holiday weekend. Hurray!



Do you remember how murky the water was at its worst? How many ladder rungs could you see from the side of the pool? Could you see the first step under water? or the second? We can see the top rung (obviously, its out of the water) and the next rung, but nothing below that.


I think your idea is WONDERFUL and we're giving it a shot. I'm actually using microfiber shop towels instead of a white towel. Hopefully I'm catching more gunk...faster!


kiwipool

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby kiwipool » Thu 29 Dec, 2011 23:31

You do not say what type of Filter you are using but if you fitted a Sand Filter and instead of sand use White Quartz (You may get some from Wet Edge Technologies and put that in the filter) because when the water passes through the quartz it creates a Ion Charge that attracts the Iron in the water to it like a magnet. when you backwash the polarity is reversed and you will see what looks like black coffee coming out.

Quartz will filter down to 3 microns (email kiwipool@vodafone.net.nz
kiwipool

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby kiwipool » Thu 29 Dec, 2011 23:32

You do not say what type of Filter you are using but if you fitted a Sand Filter and instead of sand use White Quartz (You may get some from Wet Edge Technologies and put that in the filter) because when the water passes through the quartz it creates a Ion Charge that attracts the Iron in the water to it like a magnet. when you backwash the polarity is reversed and you will see what looks like black coffee coming out.

Quartz will filter down to 3 microns (email kiwipool@vodafone.net.nz
Pritchard_2011

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Pritchard_2011 » Mon 28 May, 2012 20:52

Alright...I usually search the internet for information, use that information, and go on. However, after our brown water experience I decided to post our results so readers (like me) can hopefully come to a quick, and cheap, solution.

We filled our pool with our well water, and as soon as the chlorine was added --BOOM-- brown water. I spent WAY TOO MUCH money adding different chemicals as suggested from other users. We were getting ready to try the sock and towel trick, and my husband decided to try the Iron Out first. For $12, he purchased a jug of Iron Out...added about 1/4 of the jug into our pool...and within 10 minutes the water was clear. And, the pool has continued to be clear.

So, thank you to the many users who suggested Iron Out...I wish I had went with that 2 days and $100 ago :)
chem geek
Pool Industry Leader
Pool Industry Leader
Posts: 2381
Joined: Thu 21 Jun, 2007 21:27
Location: San Rafael, California

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby chem geek » Mon 28 May, 2012 22:52

Just so we are clear, is it Summit Brands Super Iron Out? If so, they note the following in this FAQ:

Can I use Super Iron Out in a swimming pool?
Super Iron Out is not recommended for pool water. Super Iron Out is safe to use in an empty pool to remove staining from walls, liner, etc. just not in a full pool.


Based on their MSDS which contains a variety of reducing agents I believe the issue is that it will consume a lot of chlorine and if you eventually add enough chlorine so that it starts measuring again then you may get restaining unless you add a metal sequestrant preferably based on HEDP (like Jack's Magic). So the product is good at removing stains where you can then remove the water, but they figure no one is going to drain/refill their pool after using their product. See this old thread on another forum about this issue.
jeff e

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby jeff e » Sat 02 Jun, 2012 09:24

had pool painted. added water from well for a month - even with softner on - the water must have had iron, bcz after 2 weeks of blue, I shocked it with chlorine and boom it went coffee brown.

years ago, i added 3 quartz of Calcium Reducer and did the trick in 24 hours. but now I am told that's not sold any more. will try metal out later today, if I can find it.
very frustrating.

to other person, baking soda works well to increase PH levels.

Jeff :(
blonde.knox

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby blonde.knox » Tue 12 Jun, 2012 08:24

Hello
This is our first summer with our pool, and we have the same high iron problem as everyone else. We did the sock and the towel "thing", and it did help some. But what we found and tried with wonderful results is HTH Stain remover. We use half the bottle before we went to bed (after dumping it in, it looked like all the iron in the water was clumping together, and the skimmer and filter caught it all) In the morning when I woke up the pool was Blue and clear.
Just thought I would let everyone know.
1st time pool owner

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby 1st time pool owner » Mon 18 Jun, 2012 17:40

hi i have a intex 15'x48" metal frame pool and i just filled it up yesterday after taking down several times to get land lebel. well after it filled completely it was nice clean and clear water and when i put some pool sanitizer in it within a hour it turned the water green! then when i got up this morning the water is dark brown! What do i do? i really love the pool but iv already put so much money and time into it, i feel like just giving up if it dont work right. Is there a way to get it back clean and sparkling clear without draining and refilling? i have well water! :(
1st time pool owner

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby 1st time pool owner » Mon 18 Jun, 2012 17:43

blonde.knox wrote:Hello
This is our first summer with our pool, and we have the same high iron problem as everyone else. We did the sock and the towel "thing", and it did help some. But what we found and tried with wonderful results is HTH Stain remover. We use half the bottle before we went to bed (after dumping it in, it looked like all the iron in the water was clumping together, and the skimmer and filter caught it all) In the morning when I woke up the pool was Blue and clear.
Just thought I would let everyone know.


HI did you put anything else in the pool besides the HTH stain remover to get rid of the iron?
Kham

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Kham » Sun 24 Jun, 2012 17:15

Does Saltware filer system will fixes iron problem?
judyfruity

Iron in Water

Postby judyfruity » Tue 26 Jun, 2012 15:02

TammyC wrote:Well, the Pool Magnet product did help some, but the water is now greenish yellow. Better than coffee brown, I've been letting my daughter swim in it, but of course, I aim for clear, sparkling water just like everyone else!
My filter has been running non-stop for a week now. Just like the replies I've rec'd, I hope someone can reply that actually KNOWS what to do!
Tammy
judyfruity

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby judyfruity » Tue 26 Jun, 2012 15:07

We also have a 16' above ground pool and we filled it with well water. Of course, it was dark brown and we spent more money on chemicals then we did on the pool. The filer/pump system that comes with these pools are junk, and if you look up the model number you will find that the system is not big enough for the number of gallons of water your pool holds. Here is what we did!! We got online and purchased a Pump/Sand Filter combination that works for up to a 15,000 gallon pool. (ours is 3,800). It was only 179.99 and it cleared it in one day. Quit wasting time and money on chemicals and go straight to the source. It will save you money every year. Hope this helps.
Clark

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Clark » Sat 07 Jul, 2012 11:37

I had this problem and found a cheap solution. We filled directly from the well and had coffee-colored water as a result. We have a 14' 42" Intex above-ground pool. The problem is the iron in the water is too small to be filtered out by the Intex filter system (I have a Type A filter). I had 16 inches visibility into the water when I starter, after I used the below following solution to the problem, I have clear blue water.

The solution ("benchmarked" i.e., stolen, from others around the net). Before spending lots of money on chemicals, try the following for under $15. Make a better filter with items around the house, and make the iron particles bigger.

Items you will need:
1) large 1-gallon plastic juice bottle
2) an old pillow with fiber-fill
3) some teflon tape ($1-4 depending on where you get it)
4) a $11 bottle of foculant from KMart/Walmart

Foculate the iron in the water:
Follow directions on the bottle for your pool size. Do this a few hours before running your new filter for best results.

Make the filter:
Drill some small holes in the juice bottle (I used a juice bottle rather than a 1-gal milk jug because the bottle neck is stiffer). Cut open the pillow and stuff the bottle with the fiber-fill from the pillow. Use a small rod or stick to really push it down inside so it isn't 'fluffy'; you want it packed in tight.

Connect filter to pool:
Find the hose returning water from the filter-pump to the pool. Remove the pool end (stopping the hole so water doesn't leak out). Connect the hose to your new filter with the existing clamp (using teflon tape around the mouth of the bottle if necessary to keep a tight fit). Instead of just draping the bottle over the side of the pool, set the it on the ladder so there isn't strain on the hose connection. Turn it on and let it run overnight.

The next morning, you should see a difference (I could see the pool bottom). Clean out your filter pump filter (not the bottle), add a new filter, keep going. Every few hours or so, change filters in the filter pump. You should be seeing some nice brown in the bottle filter, and some cleaner water in your pool. After 2 days (the water should be yellow-blue [green*] now), add another dose of foculant. Using this method, we had crystal clear water by day three. I hope you find this useful! I'd like to hear your results if you try this: cwlind (at) gmail dot com. I didn't take any pictures at the start, but can post some of the filter and clean pool somewhere if anyone is interested.

*it looked green because the yellowish iron against the blue pool liner... don't mistake this for algae.

No, I'm not a pool expert, just a new owner who decided to tackle a brown-water problem. Good luck!
Clark

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Clark » Sat 07 Jul, 2012 11:49

P.S., I got the main idea from here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KaHep4QJjg&feature=plcp. Mute the sound, and skip to around 40 seconds to see it working.
Clark

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Clark » Sat 07 Jul, 2012 11:51

P.P.S. (sorry for the spam), You will need to vacuum the pool bottom after day 2-3.

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