Filling a small pool with iron well water

[Watermom]

You are welcome!

[newbiepool]

If you use the well water, you'll need to use a metal sequestrant (they don't actually remove the metals--they just keep them suspended in your water so they don't fall out and stain your pool). Don't worry about the TA for now, and just make sure the pH is in the 7.0-7.6 range. You'll need to add enough chlorine to keep algae from growing, but you can't immediately shock the pool due to the metals, so you need to keep your chlorine in the 2-4 ppm range.

We added a couple trichlor tablets this morning and they aren't doing much...just sitting there. It is really cold today (55degrees) not sure if that matters. We did use filtered well water to fill it and it doesn't seem as rusty. We also wondered about the BBB method...should we skip the tablets and use bleach? If so how much? I did use the kit to check chlorine and pH and the pH is good but no chlorine. Not really what to do next...any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Watermom]

You can definitely just use bleach if you want but if you do, you'll have to add some CYA separately which would be fine.

In your small pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add about 2.3ppm of chlorine. Until you get some CYA in there, the chlorine will disappear fast especially on a hot sunny day. I'd add a couple quarts and see if that will give you enough to make it through the day without it all disappearing by evening.

If you decide to go this route (bleach) you'll want to add some CYA to an old sock and hang it in front of a return jet. 2 lbs. of it would give you a reading of about 40ppm which would be good. If you give the sock a squeeze every once in awhile, it will dissolve faster. But, if you do add this CYA separately, you won't want to use the trichlor pucks or dichlor shock powder since they both have CYA in them. When you buy it, it may be labeled as stabilizer or conditioner. Check the label ingredients. You want cyanuric or isocyanuric acid.

[newbiepool]

Will the iron and other metals in the well water affect the bleach or cyanuric or isocyanuric acid or will they affect the ability of the iron to filter out of the pool?

[PoolDoc]

Iron doesn't affect much of anything, except pools and swimsuits -- those, it turns brown or orange. But it's harmless to people and doesn't really interfere with the chemistry. It CAN make the pool very cloudy.

If you are already up and running, do all these things, and you may find you can operate without lots of complexity:

1. Keep your pH on the low end of the scale (7.0 - 7.4) -- this minimizes the problems with iron.
2. Run your filter a lot, and keep the cartridges clean.
3. Very carefully, use a liquid clarifier, to help your filter remove the iron as particles form.
4. Try to avoid adding a lot of chlorine all at once -- it tends to make the iron drop out all at once. Raising it gradually is better.
5. As soon as you have a complete set of test results, please post them.

[newbiepool]

Thanks! We are using or trying to use BBB method. Just adding a little bleach every day. Today the water temp got up to about 70 degrees so no one has used it yet. We'll get a clarifier in and I will try to post some results tomorrow. Thanks for your help..

[newbiepool]

Test results today were pH 7.2, Chlorine 5, TA 220 (I added 17 drops and it was starting to turn red added more and it was mostly red when I got to 22 - I am new to testing so I'm just going by what the paper said to do). Should I add borax to lower the TA? How much?