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.
TammyC

Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby TammyC » Fri 02 Jun, 2006 14:12

I know this question has probably been on this forum 50 times, but I am going crazy trying to figure out how to fix this!
We filled our 15" round above-ground pool from our well. I knew that we had iron in our water, but being new to the pool biz, I didn't know that I had to do anything special.
When the pool was full, I tested and all levels were fine except for chlorine, of course.
So I added chlorine, and BAM- water turns instantly coffee brown with creamer!
So, I called the local pool store, they had me put in a bottle of "Pool Magnet" and told me to keep cleaning the filter.
Does anyone know if this will solve my problem? How long will this take? My daughter is just aching to swim in the new pool!
We've been cleaning the filter every 6 hours or so, and it's only lightening a little.
We're in Wisconsin, so I want this to resolve before it snows again, which shouldn't be long! :D
Thanks in advance for any insight into this problem!
Tammy C


tonik

discolered pool water

Postby tonik » Sun 04 Jun, 2006 14:41

Hi!
We too, have an above the ground, 15 ft round pool. We also have well water. Last year we filled it, I put in some Shock treatment and it turned greenish brown. I put in some stuff from my aunt that was meant for a hot tub, but it was a ph balancer and I also kept changing the filter... after a few days, it got better.

SO- this year, I thought I would not do anything except the little chlorine tablet that is in the floating "bobber". We put up our pool last weekend, the girls got to swim in it twice...today I look and it is discolered!?!?

I tried a bit shock that I had at home...seems like it got worse! THen, I shook some of the ph balancer in it...and also sprinked some blue stuff from Wal mart that is to make "clearer, beatiful, blue water"!
Yeah right....
I am not sure what to so now except keep cleaning/changing the filter.

If anyone knows of the magic trick....please pass it on.
ConfusedinMN
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 05 Jun, 2006 20:08

coffee colored water.

Postby ConfusedinMN » Mon 05 Jun, 2006 20:17

Please someone help us!!!! Jeff
TammyC

Iron in Water

Postby TammyC » Tue 06 Jun, 2006 13:31

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
tonik

finally!

Postby tonik » Wed 07 Jun, 2006 20:41

Well.....I have fairly clear water. Finally! Here is what I did:

1) changed the filter 3 times within 2 days.
2) added almost a whole bottle of ph minus (found that at Super Walmart)
they are small granuals that come in 7 pound bottle-
3) added some liquid "metal out" (found that at Mills Fleet Supply)
4) added some algea stabilizer (found that at Super Walmart)
and...here is the kicker!
5) I read on the forum somewhere that someone used baking soda, so I dumped a whole box of that in too!

I kept checking the levels with those little colored dip sticks. My ph and alkalinity were always really high, so I kept adding ph minus until the levels came down. It was amazing....after I added all of the ph, it was within a couple of hours that I could notice a difference and then by 5 hours later, we were swimming in it!

I know that this is not ALL that helpful to all of you- as I am not sure exactly which one was the "magic ticket'. However, I hope that it gives you some insight and that you know it WILL get better....just keep dumping stuff in and checking the levels!

Good luck to all of you!
Guest

Re: Help ME! Brown Water from IRON~

Postby Guest » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 08:05

TammyC wrote:I know this question has probably been on this forum 50 times, but I am going crazy trying to figure out how to fix this!
We filled our 15" round above-ground pool from our well. I knew that we had iron in our water, but being new to the pool biz, I didn't know that I had to do anything special.
When the pool was full, I tested and all levels were fine except for chlorine, of course.
So I added chlorine, and BAM- water turns instantly coffee brown with creamer!
So, I called the local pool store, they had me put in a bottle of "Pool Magnet" and told me to keep cleaning the filter.
Does anyone know if this will solve my problem? How long will this take? My daughter is just aching to swim in the new pool!
We've been cleaning the filter every 6 hours or so, and it's only lightening a little.
We're in Wisconsin, so I want this to resolve before it snows again, which shouldn't be long! :D
Thanks in advance for any insight into this problem!
Tammy C
Sunny

yellow slime?

Postby Sunny » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 20:09

I also live in Wi. We filled our 18' inflatable pool with well water. It had lots of iron in it. Picked up some Iron Myte from Menards and it didn't seem to help. Went to local pool place and they gave me some shock thing with no chlorine. I've been putting so much stuff in I've lost track. So far, there is chlorine, shock, phos free, algaecide and iron myte in my water. The water is now yellowish green. But I have also been seeing some yellow slime floating around. What the heck?!! Someone please help so we can actually get in the water. :cry:
Sunny

Water cleared up

Postby Sunny » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 16:34

TammyC...

My water finally cleared up and I'm seeing very little of the yellow slimey stuff, which I believe was algae. I still can't seem to get my chlorine up and stay but at least the water isn't gross anymore. I think what did it was I went to my local True Value and picked up some hth YellowRid and hth Super Sock It together. I keep running the filter and rinsing it out when it seems to be too orangish yellow. And we also figured out that our pump wasn't working to it full capacity and found a dome shaped sieve in the part where the hose and the pump connect. That's where all the grass and bugs get trapped. Hope this helps you some. After it's all cleared up, I've been told all you need is muriatic acid, algaecide, and chlorine to maintain the pool. Good luck!!
Guest

Re: Iron in Water

Postby Guest » Thu 13 Jul, 2006 13:47

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


Hi Tammy,
My name is Rachel, I too am from WI & we have iron in our well water. Same problem as you are having. If you get an answer to your problem that actaully works would you please e-mail the cure to me? I would greatly appreciate any help for we too have the same problems with out pool & our two girls only got to swim twice and I feel bad for them. This is our first year having a pool & we are clueless! Thanx,
My e-amil addy is blue_by_you2@yahoo.com. Thanx again!
Rachel
trina46580

brown pool water

Postby trina46580 » Sun 16 Jul, 2006 22:38

use rustout or rust and scale (any product that drops all the rust to the bottom of the pool) and then vacuum the pool, but if you have a blue pop up pool here is the trick...remove your cart.filter and disconnect the return tube (lay it on the ground) so when you are vacumming your pool all the nasty stuff is going to the ground instead of back inside your pool. you might loose 1-2 inches of water, just try to be speedy and you can always pour some soft water back in the pool to fill it up or wait for the first big rain...but trust me enjoying my pool today when indiana reached 98degrees, i did not care about my 1 inch of water!!! i have an 18x4 foot pool and it was great! email me at rtjmspringer@wmconnect.com w/any q's
trina
peete728

He is the best solution

Postby peete728 » Sun 23 Jul, 2006 09:26

I'm have been on every website trying to find answer to clear up this horrible brown rusty water. After days of frustration and money wasted here is what worked and worked fast.

A pool product called Bioguard Sparkle Up. It cleared my water up within hours. You can buy it at your local pool dealer, not wallmart, or any retail store. This product was amazing it cost me about $30 but worth every penny considering the $75 plus that I had already waisted on product that did not work.

Use the stain and scale solution, and the Bioguard Sparkle Up, and you will get clear water guaranteed, Also make sure that your PH is right my ph was very high so I had to use a ph balancer to lower it, and make sure that you check your filter if will need backwashing because the Bioguard Sparkle Up will remove everything.

Hope this helps, and saves everyone alot of time, frustration, and money.

Good Luck! :D
Guest

Postby Guest » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 10:16

If you've got an inflatable pool just dump it. Water is cheaper than chemicals many people don't realize that. For future filling: Buy some pool magnet, and a quart per 10k gal (I believe?). Let that circulate for a week. During that week you cannot have a chlorine level above 1ppm.
Iron-free Swimmer

Don't Panic!!

Postby Iron-free Swimmer » Sun 13 Aug, 2006 16:46

I'm just going to try and give a bit of a cohesive answer to give hope to any panicked pool owners or anyone trying to make sense of the various postings . So, don't worry! Most of the time it's just a minor inconvenience and it'll all be okay...

The iron in your water (especially well water) is being oxidized ("rusted") by the chlorine (like bleach in the washing machine). And, you may see different shades of color depending on the color of your pool liner.
The good news is that ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FILTER IT OUT and you will eventually have "iron-free" water.
This process may be speeded up by adding solutions that drop the "floating" iron to the bottom for vacuuming (if anyone knows of "better" products, please let me know...), but I was able to clear my 12 x 20 x 4' pool (about 4,500 gal)--quite cheaply--in just a few days by simply rinsing the iron out of my filter cartridge a few times a day with the "shower" setting on my regular old garden hose attachment!! I actually alternated between 2 filters, but that's all the more it took, and my family actually had fun seeing how much bluer the water was each day.
Personally, I would not recommend dumping the filtered water, because I cherish my iron-filtered water (!), pool-sized quantities of metal-free water are not available in my area (anyone else?), &--for the unwitting--you will have to repeat the process anyway--to a lesser extent--if there is any iron in your future refills.

After that... chlorine and algae levels are a side matter. Free/available chlorine is extra, unused, or "available-TO-be-used" chlorine. As your chlorine is "doing its job" "killing" all of that iron--similar to how it works on bacteria and algae--it is getting "used up" (turning into other molecules) and there won't be much (if any) left over to register on your little test strips or kill algae etc. unless you add megadoses or wait until all of the iron is pumped through.

And, one extra little tip... the only problem with staining we had was on some of the white parts of our swimming suits and from some of the iron sticking to suntan lotion and collecting on the ladder, floats, etc. So, swimming in the pool as the iron content diminishes might be a matter of taste according to how patient your family members are versus how fair skinned, picky/grossed out they are, or how new/old your bathing suits are!

Happy Swimming!
kamkuda
Pool Care Proficient
Pool Care Proficient
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed 16 Aug, 2006 14:56

Postby kamkuda » Mon 04 Sep, 2006 09:36

The pool magnet was the part that probably helped. It is a sequestering agent that surronds the iron to be filtered out. You usually can use a filter aid to then help remove the metals thru filtration.

If you have a sand filter, you should chemically clean the filter to remove an iron that may have been trapped in the sand.

Be careful when you are trying to remove metals and then adjust chlorine, pH or Total alkalinity as this can cause the metals to percipate out of solution. I believe the first pool store gave you the right the course of action to take.
Some of the other products that you added afterwards helped and some did not necessarily help solve your issue.
Check back with the first store on how to continually prevent this problem from occuring as you will be adding more water from the well through out the pool season.
Guest

Pool Water

Postby Guest » Tue 17 Jul, 2007 14:22

Try the product CONQUEST. We pull our water from our pond which then goes through a filtration system. Everytime I add chlorine or PH Plus because our PH is always low - if I don't add CONQUEST along w/it - our water is going to turn any where from a green to a rusty brown . . . . the CONQUEST will clear it up over night. I want to know how to get rid of it so, that every time I add clorine - I don't have to add the CONQUEST . . . . any ideas?

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