Brown water inside Intex filter

[Robryan29]

I have the Intex SWG model CS7111. My water is clear and clean. pH is 6.8. Alkalinity is 80. Stabilizer is around 30-40. I have to add chlorine at night because the sun eats it up. My stabilizer could be raised a bit, but anyway... However, I have to clean/change my filter every day. The water inside the filter compartment is brown. Also, in the morning, there's little brown dust particles (not algae) settled at the bottom of the pool, which I vacuum out. Any suggestions about how I should handle this? Thanks in advance.

[Pappy]

pH of 6.8 is WAY low if it REALLY is 6.8! How are you testing? Taylor k2006, DPD tablets, OTO/phenol red, guess strips, or pool store? If 6.8 is the lowest reading your test reads, getting that result means 6.8 or LOWER (maybe 6.2). pH below 6.8 can damage your pool. Since we don't know how big your pool is, we cant advise on how much it will take to fix this. Go to WalMart and get 2 boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax. If you don't have a Taylor K2006 or a drops based OTO/phenol red test kit, get a DROPS based OTO/phenol red kit.

1. Add 4 cups of the borax SLOWLY through the skimmer, don't "choke" it.
2. Wait 1 hour retest.
3. If pH is still below 7.2, repeat steps 1 and 2.

If you are using Intex a "replaces Intex" cartridges, you NEED to get the good cartridges referenced here
http://pool9.net/intex-ssr/
You should get familiar with ALL the information in the first post. It will make maintaining your pool MUCH easier.

Good luck!

Pappy

[Robryan29]

I have the Intex 15x48 metal frame (4,400 gallons). Using AquaCheck test strips for now. The pH is actually closer to the "OK for Pool" reading. The Intex SWG I have (1,200 gph pump) uses Intex filter cartridges.

[Pappy]

Do yourself a favor, and your pool. Order the Taylor K2006 test kit.
http://pool9.net/tk/
It will pay for itself quickly. With a pool that small it is WAY easy to let it get out of hand, ESPECIALLY without accurate testing and that tiny filter takes FOREVER to clean up a mess even with a good Filbur or Unicel cartridge. In the mean time, get an OTO/phenol red drops kit and get an accurate reading on pH and chlorine levels. Raise the pH to 7.2 minimum, use 2 cups of borax, instead of the 4 that I quoted earlier, every hour.


The brown stuff can come from lots of different places, and I'm not the expert. Some questions always come up though. Is the pool newly filled? City water or well water? Are there trees or large plants around that might be dumping pollen? Is there construction close that might be kicking up a lot of dust? What does the waterline inside your toilet look like? If it's brown or rusty looking, you may be dealing with iron.

I can tell you from experience, Intex brand filters (and the aftermarket replacements) will let a BUNCH of "stuff" go right through them. Get 2 or 3 of the Unicel or Filbur cartridges and learn how to clean them, unless you like having cloudy water and fine "stuff" on the bottom of the pool.
http://pool9.net/intex-ssr/
http://pool9.net/cartridge-clean/

Pappy

[Robryan29]

Thanks, Pappy. I'm ordering the Taylor 2006A kit right now. My pool was filled over a week ago with NYC water. There are a ton of my neighbor's trees and brush/flowers right next to my pool. I assume that it's pollen accumulating at the bottom. I'm also going to order the Unicel cartridges. Another question - could my SWG not be generating enough chlorine? I run it for 7 hours a night. I haven't tested the salt level since I filled the pool and added the recommended amount of salt (110 lbs). And, when you say "add Borax to skimmer". What's the skimmer?

[Robryan29]

Thanks, Pappy. I'm getting the Borax today. How do I add it "through the skimmer"? (sorry for the newbie question)...

[Pappy]

You may not have a skimmer basket. It's ok to sprinkle borax around in the pool, or into the return jet. Just be sure it doesn't clump up.

[Robryan29]

Pappy - Bought two boxes of Borax. Sprinkled 4 cups the first night. pH went to 7.6 very quickly. Since then all levels (pH, FC, Alkalinity, Stabilzer) have remained stable. I've had to add some Borax and chlorine here and there after swimming, but everything has been good. Water is clear. The brown "dust" has been attributed to the pollen from the trees in the yard next door - which I vacuum every few days or so. Thanks for all your help and guidance. I'm still waiting for my Unicel cartridges (after 10 hours of pump running, my Intex filters still get brown). One question for you - I bought a gallon of standard bleach from the local grocery store, since I'm running low on my chlorine granules. How much should I add to the pool if/when the chlorine level drops a bit?

[Watermom]

In your pool, every cup of 8.25% bleach will add about 1.2ppm of chlorine. Use that to help you figure out needed doses of chlorine. Your needed chlorine range is based on your CYA level. Read more about the connection between CYA and chlorine here:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

What kind of granules are you using, dichlor or cal-hypo?

[Robryan29]

I'm using Guardian Chlorinating Granules (unsure is dichlor or cal-hypo). I haven't any stabilizer. Should I? My "guess strips" consistently range in the 30-50ppm range.

[Watermom]

Not a good idea to add anything that you are unsure of the ingredients. Better check the label and post the ingredients.

Wait until you get your K2006 and test the CYA before deciding if you need to add any more or not.

[Robryan29]

The granules I'm using are calcium hypochlorite. The bleach I bought is 5.25% sodium hypochlorite.

[Watermom]

I haven't seen 5.25% bleach sold for years. If that is what it is, each quart will add about 3ppm of chlorine to your pool. Once your cal-hypo is gone, I'd just stick with bleach for now until we see what your CYA reading is.

[Robryan29]

Using the Taylor-2006 kit, here's my results:

Ph 7.8-8.0
2.42 ppm of FC
.44 of combined chlorine
110 ppm total alkalinity
Maybe 30-40 ppm of CYA. Water never got cloudy enough to measure.

[Watermom]

There is no way to get readings to two decimals places with the Taylor K2006. These testing demo videos might help you.

http://pool9.net/K2006-vid/

[Robryan29]

The instructions said to multiply he number of drops used by .2

[Watermom]

How many drops did it take for the FC test? How about the CC test?

[Robryan29]

I added 11 drops for the FC test, realizing it's 2.2 (not 2.42). I forgot how many I added for the CC.

[BigDave]

You can conserve your FAS-DPD reagents by using a 10ml pool water sample instead of 25ml. Just multiply drop count by 0.5 instead of 0.2. You can also conserve DPD powder by using one dipper, if the sample turns pink, it's enough.

Are you on Staten Island? I understand sometimes the water near the end of the NYC distribution system can pick up some stuff from the pipes.

[Robryan29]

Thanks, Dave. I'm in Brooklyn. The pool water is crystal clear. Some dust settles at the bottom during the night (lots of trees overhanging and nearby). My new Unicel cartridges are coming today. Hope they make a difference with the brown water in the filter pump.

[BigDave]

The better carts will likely give you more brown in the filter than less as they will catch finer stuff. The original filter is already catching the brown stuff so the Unicel should as well.

BTW- brown in the filter is better than brown in the pool; that's why we filter.:)

[Robryan29]

Installed the Unicel cartridge this evening. Will check the results in a day or two. I popped a guess strip into the water tonight, just to see what it said. Everything "looked" good, but the chlorine was low. The pool did sit in the sun all day today, but no one swam in it. I added some tonight and am currently running the pump for a few hours. The chlorine level doesn't seem to stay regulated for more than a day or two. Is this because there's not enough CYA?

[Watermom]

It could be because the CYA is low. Wait a week after you last added CYA or used dichlor or trichlor and then run the CYA test again. If you are still between 30-40, you'll probably want to bump it up a little to around 50ppm and see how that works for you. Just to make sure you realize that your chlorine level will not stay constant even with adequate CYA. It is normal to lose some every day.