iron and copper

[mbar]

AJ, you can take your chlorine up to your level according to the "best guess chart". If you have the sequesterer in, it should have binded with the metal, and you will not get brown water again. DO NOT put a chlorine tab in the skimmer with a cartridge filter. You can add regular laundry bleach - add a cup at a time, if the water starts to turn brown stop and put in more sequestering agent. Keep your ph low - under 7.4 but above 7. You can swim in the pool as soon as you put in the bleach. Check often and keep the bleach at the level for your cya.

Bonni, with a cya of 70, you will have to keep your chlorine at a minimum of 5 to be effective. You can take it if to 10 to help get rid of the cloudiness, and if you want to shock, take it up to 20 - you can do this by using regular bleach. I find that bleach works best when coming off a stain treatment. You can add your bleach in small increments to get to shock level, if you don't want to shock, it will just take longer to clear the water, but it should clear if you stay consistant with the bleach and you have no combined chlorine.

[archdiane]

MBAR, sorry I already put the Tab in this morning, before I read your note.:-(, what now?, I have the chart but don't understand it. Should I put the laudry bleach in still?

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

[mbar]

THis is how I understand it, chlorine comes in 2 parts, stabalized chlorine and "fighting chlorine" If there i isn't enough of the "fighting" chlorine in the water to fight anything that is introduced to the water, you can get an algae bloom. The cya binds onto chlorine and stabalizes it - which is good, because there will be a level of chlorine always maintained in the water. This will keep it sanitized, but if something new comes in there is no "fighting" chlorine to battle it. That's how so many people get into trouble with their water - they have enough chlorine in the water according to the kit, but the chlorine is binded with the cya, therefore not leaving any "fighting" chlorine in the water. Ben came up with this chart to keep you with enough of the fighting chlorine in your water depending on how much cya is in the water. Hope this makes it more clear for you, so you can understand the importance of keeping up with the chart. If you keep your levels consistant, you shouldn't have to shock. Just bring your chlorine up slowly and if you start to see the water change color add more sequesterant and take your ph down to 7.2.

[bonni]

All of the sequesterants that I have seen want you to have your chlorine below 2 before you can use them, is this really necessary? I have a hard time getting my chorline up to 5-10 where it should be, once I hit 3-4 it starts to stain again and then I have to drop it to put in the sequesterant. I feel like I'm in a cylcle that can't be broken.

[mbar]

I always add the sequestering agent no matter what the chlorine is. I think the reason it is stated to have the chlorine low is to give the sequestering agent a chance to work before the metals fall out of suspension when you raise the chlorine. You need it to get the green out - with a low ph it should work. I wouldn't lower the chlorine.

[szampino]

Bonni,

Why do you have to get the chlorine up to 5 - 10?

Mbar- Is there a problem keeping it between 1-2?

So far, my water has been almost perfect. I am not planning on raising my Chlorine above 1-2 unless I see a problem.

All comments welcome.

**last year I had a problem with the cloudy water (same entex 18x48) Nothing fixed it. But my remedy this year if it happens again is to treat it like staining, add Ascorbic acid, which will bring down the chlorine and then slowly raise the chlorine again until it gets between 1-2.

[gerri]

Do the metals always fall out of suspension when you raise the chlorine? It seems like this will be a never ending cycle

[mbar]

szampino, the reason I told bonni to raise the clorine is that she has a cya of 70. With a cya of 70 you need to have the chlorine between 5 & 10. The water may be cloudy from algae starting and never getting completely killed. It is more important to have a sanitized pool, you can swim with metal in the water, but I wouldn't swim with unsanitized water. If you have a cya level of 20 or less, then it is fine to keep your chlorine at 1 to 2 ppms. You just have to test often and not let it go down to 0, because then you are leaving yourself open to an unsanitized pool.

Gerri, as long as you have enough sequestering agent in the water, you will be able to shock without stains forming. If you keep your chlorine at the right level, and never get a combined chloirne reading, it isn't necessary to shock. You will get the hang of how your water reacts - when you shock, always bring your ph down to 7, or 7.2 before you add the chlorine.