Help with stain removal and metal free

[Watermom]

I sent a message to Marie asking her to take a look at this thread. Hopefully she is still around the forum and will be able to help.

[mbar]

hi, sorry I was away and just got back. You are doing everything right. The whole idea is to get the chlorine up slowly while keeping the ph low. Try to keep the ph at about 7.2 and no higher than 7.4. High chlorine with high ph reacts and drops the metals out of solution to stain the surface of the pool. You do have to be careful of getting any algae, so it is a good idea to put in a polyquat 60 algacide. I would use bleach to raise the chlorine -raise the chlorine slowly, by taking it up 1 at a time. Start by getting it up to 3 and keeping it there, keeping your eye out for stains. As long as you have sequestering agent in the water, and the ph is low, you shouldn't get any stains. If you see the stains returning take the ph lower and add more sequesterant. You don't need anything else in the water. All of the metal sequesterers are basically the same - just not the really cheap ones. Let me know if you have any other questions

[webfeet]

Thanks Marie for your input. I used all my Jacks Metal Free when I first put it in. So I went to the local pool store and bought a product made by haviland called Metal Wizard that claims to sequester and remove the metals through the filter. I put about 1/2 half a quart in.

I am having trouble getting the chlorine level to hold. Ph is about 7.1 or 7.2. Should I raise the chlorine level up each day to the level suggested by Ben's best guess chart?

Also, will the ascorbic acid remove any type stain or just metal stains and will the sequester move other particles or just metals?

Finally, is it okay to put the solar cover on now?

Thanks, Jan

[mbar]

Most of the metal sequesters say that they remove metals, but they don't. They are all basically the same, and metals get in the water some way, and stay there unless you can pinpoint how they got there, and refill with water you know doesn't have any metals. I think it is easier to just use the sequestering agent, and keep the ph on the low side. Keeping your chlorine up everyday so you don't have to shock is really the best thing. You can start to bring your chlorine up slowly. It sometimes takes a long time to hold chlorine, because the chlorine is busy eating up the ascorbic acid that is left in the pool. Once all of the ascorbic acid is gone, the water will hold the chlorine again. So you just have to test often and bring it back to you minimum according to the best guess chart. Once the chlorine is holding, you can go back to keeping it at the regular levels that you do. Just be sure that when you get a lot of rain, or fill water, you add more sequestering agent. Also, if you see some stain coming back, you know it's time to add more sequestering agent. The sequestering agent also brings ph down, so you have to monitor the ph often. You can notice that if the ph is high, your stains come back easily. I always keep mine no higher than 7.4. Ascorbic acid will only remove metal stains. Sequestering agent will only sequester the metals. You can put the solar cover on - but make sure you keep an eye out for algae - put in an algaecide, because you don't want to have to shock the pool right after a metal treatment, the stains will return. Hope this helps.

[webfeet]

I put in a quart of polyqouat 60 about 5 or 6 days ago. Do I need to add some more? Any opinion on the solar cover? Thanks

[mbar]

sorry, I missed that you added poly in the first post You don't need to add anymore. It is just as a precaution for when the chlorine goes to 0 while doing the stain treatment. How does the pool look?

[webfeet]

The pool looks great. But I can't keep the chlorine level up yet. Is this normal? Ph is about 7. do I need to raise it? Thanks