Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing 1989-2024
-----
Excessive Iron in Swimming Pool Water p.5
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Quickstart:
Well water and city water often contain iron which is dissolved & invisible because the water is slightly acidic. As soon as you add chlorine (very highly alkaline), the iron precipitates as 'rust dust' or brown water.
In-ground pools usually have good filtration which, given a little time, will correct the problem. Above-ground pools often have no filtration or minimal filtration so the problem can be serious. One approach is chemicals like 'iron-out' which try to chelate the iron, keeping it dissolved, but the iron is still there so it's a temporary solution. The better approach is filtering out the 'rust dust' with one of the many simple home-made filtration systems described here by readers.
At start, then 9 hours later, then 24 hours later -- courtesy of Jenna Bradford
Q. Just filled my Intex 16 x 48. The water looked yellow while filling. I added 100 lbs of salt to about 4800 GLS. I have a salt/chlorine generator. The pool is full and the water looks "greenish"... But the cartridge filter next to the pump (one unit) is brown to dark brown. I have washed it clean 2 times now in one day. (Water in the pool does NOT look brown....but greenish tint ! Do I need " Iron Out" or shocking with a product called...Green to Blue or both?
Louis Botta- Mobile, Alabama
May 9, 2015
A. Hi Louis. I don't have a pool and don't know much about it, but looking at all these sequences of pictures of successful iron filtration, it seems that light green is the last step before achieving blue :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2015
I was also having trouble with rusty water. Yesterday I hung a towel in front of the discharge of my pump. I used some mason jars full of water to weight down the end and zip ties to fasten it to the pool. I let it run for 24hrs and I cannot believe the difference! The towel is completely saturated with rust and my pool is way clearer! I just rinsed the towel off and am going to let it run for another day. Way easy fix! I am so glad I stumbled across this thread before spending a bunch of money trying to solve this problem.
- Crookston Minnesota USA
June 2, 2015
Q. The sock method has worked really well at getting out the iron! Now what? The water color is pale lemonade and all the sediment has been removed. Do I shock now? I'm so afraid it will turn brown again. There's lots of info about getting to this point, but nothing about what to do next. Thanks to all - great forum! Waiting to hear!
boo brogden- North Carolina, usa
June 8, 2015
Q. I was wondering how long do you wait after using iron out on your pool?
carin foster- newburgh, New York usa
July 2, 2015
! Salt water pools aren't that much different from chlorine sanitized pool. The salt itself doesn't sanitize anything, thus the need for a salt-chlorine generator. The generators ionize the NaCl (table salt/pool salt) into free available chlorine ions. Adding a chlorine tablet will not cause problems but it is not recommended and I wouldn't use that pool store anymore. Also, if you shock your pool and it turns brown that is iron and do not shock your pool anymore, shock is used for oxidation and does not remove anything from the water and will further promote the brown color due to the oxidation of iron ions and transitional elements as ions have color. If you shock your pool and it turns a light green, that is copper and again do not shock your pool again until copper is removed. To remove iron, copper or calcium use a metal remover. At the pool store I work at we use the companies Proteam and Haviland. They sell metal removers labeled Proteam Metal Magic and Haviland's is Rust-n-scale. A lot of the time metals are referred to as minerals and they are the same thing so a mineral remover is the same as a metal remover. On a further note, Muriatic acid (Hydrochloric acid) is used to lower your pH but it will as well slightly raise chlorine levels but do not use it to raise chlorine levels; sodium carbonate ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon] is used to raise your pH and it is not the same as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda); Sodium Bicarbonate (baking Soda) is used for increasing your alkalinity level which is a measurement of the ability of a substance to be neutralized by an acid, so it creates a buffer solution so that when it rains, there's a lot of people in the pool or there's debris in the pool it doesn't easily and rapidly change the pH and chlorine is pH dependent; Hardness levels are increased by calcium chloride; stabilizer is cyanuric acid and is usually bound to chlorine in chlorine tablets but can also be bought, sold and added to a pool alone and stabilizer is used to prevent the evaporation of chlorine by the suns rays. High stabilizer levels can cause problems and the only way to decrease levels is through dilution. High stabilizer levels around 100+ ppm can start to inhibit chlorines ability to sanitize. Too much stabilizer becomes counterintuitive in slowing down the time it takes for chlorine to kill bacteria and algae. I am from upstate NY and stabilizer levels being around 20 ppm is fine and I never tell people to add it because the tablets and shock we sell has chlorine bound to triazinetrione (cyanuric acid) anyways and we don't get so much sun in this area that stabilizer levels are too important, also my pool store doesn't sell people stuff they don't need. I am also a chemistry major at the University At Buffalo
mark horgan- buffalo, New York, usa
July 14, 2015
Q. I'm sorry but I have a question. I have a 8 ft round 3 ft deep pool. It does not have a filter. We have well water with salt softener. How can I get the orange rusty color out?! I have also noticed sediment on the bottom that just mixes right back into the water when I get in it. PLEASE HELP!!! Not much summer time left. Thank you !
Andrea Mensch- Indiana USA
September 1, 2015
A. Hi Andrea. You can probably find a tiny submersible pump cheap and drop it into the sediment at the bottom of your pool. Balance an old plastic bucket on a 2 x 4 at the rim of your pool; cut a piece of old garden hose to run from the pump to the bottom of the plastic bucket. Fill the bucket with old rags to act as your filter media. Put a hole near the top of the bucket, or just tilt it, so the water runs back into the pool.
It will be a rather tepid filter, but better than no filter. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2015
This forum is a life saver! We have a tiny 8 x 2.5 inflatable pool, we filled it with water, added plain household bleach
⇦ bleach/sodium hypochlorite in bulk on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil links]
and the water instantly turned brown. As per the suggestions in this thread, we filled a 1 gallon bottle with polyfiber, drilled holes at the bottom of the bottle and attached the bottle to the end of the hose of the pump where the water goes back into the pool. Our pump is an old 330 gallon per hour one and goes on and off so we were not sure if a bottle would make any difference, after just a couple of hours, the water started to change color. We turned the pump off after about 3 or 4 hours and just turned it on the next day. Our old and flimsy pump was on for just about 6 hours in total and the water became crystal clear. We have added more water and bleach after a couple days, the water turned a bit yellowish (hardly noticeable) so we ran the pump again for a few hours and the water is clear again. We spent nothing as we already had bleach, the used bottle, and polyfiber that my sister uses to make stuffed toys.
- San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines
April 9, 2016
May 18, 2016
I opened my pool for the summer after having a tarp on it all winter and to my surprise it was dark green. The tarp must of had a hole because last summer the pool was clear after removing the tarp. I immediately got to work using a 4 cotton socks (inside each other). This is my 2nd or 3rd summer using cotton to clear my green water. I know it works.
After 2 days of a cotton sock I didn't see much improvement. The algae was eating away all the shock I kept adding to the pool. So I got me a jug out and filled it super full with cotton. Attached it to the backwash hose and tossed it in the pool. I turned the pump on 'waste' but it was really just filtering the water back into the pool. After 48 hours of cotton jug (changing it twice a day) there was great improvement and it was almost clear... a little cloudy. After day 3 and 4 of cotton jug it is now perfectly clear. I will be using the cotton jug all summer long because it cleans better than our sand filter which we bought last summer because everyone recommended it and said it works great. What a waste of money.
Leslie ford- bridge city, texas USA
Q. I have above-ground pool, approx. 5,000 gallons, with blue liner and use well water to fill the pool. Instead of brown water, mine appears green and slightly cloudy where I can't see the bottom clearly. Would this still be iron or copper and treated the same as the brown water issue? Thanks for any help you can offer!
Loretta Slack- Black Mountain, North Carolina USA
May 19, 2016
A. Hi Loretta. As I look at the photos of progress here as people move from brown water to clear blue, green and cloudy seems to be along that path. Certainly the color and cloudiness it should be filterable.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
May 2016
May 28, 2016
In regards to the battle with brown well water from iron after chlorination / shocking. I have had the same issues & was sick of fighting with paper filters towels socks and other makeshift fixes... seemed like a never ending battle! Finally got victory in a simple and quick way. Purchased a 100$ Intex 2100 Sand Filter from on Rollback from WallyWorld and in only 18 hours my pool is crystal clear! (side note: my pool is a 9' x 18' 4,000 gal Coleman). When I backwashed the gunk out of the filter, it pumped out an estimated 20 gallons of coffee looking iron ladened water. Thanks for all the other solutions on the thread love the creativity!
- Central North Carolina USA
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Q. Did any of you see any staining on your pool walls because of the iron/rusty water sitting in the pool for days? Tracy Woodbury- McLeod, North Dakota June 4, 2016
Are you suffering a rust stain? Selling a rust stain remover? Is your pool vinyl, tile, or gunite? Tried to remove it? Good luck. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. RET Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey June 2016 |
! My traditional Provençal fountain is filled from well water, and this year laden with iron as the water table is high and a seam must have been tapped. Came across this brilliant resource and started with the sequestration agent - result! Instead of embarrassingly dirty brown water it turned milky white.
But despite the double sock layer over the outlets I didn't make much progress in getting from milky to clear and had to give up three days later when things started going wrong with the electrics. And the paint finish on the fountain floor has deteriorated enormously, whether from the original iron-laden water or the sequestration, I don't know. I'm starting again, lucky it's just a fountain, but still a lot of water to waste.
If you have submerged lighting, watch out that the chemical combination doesn't interfere with your wiring.
- Provence, France
June 26, 2016
We have a 15 ft. above ground pool. We filled it with well water. It turned very green overnight. Next day we shocked it with chlorine. it turn a deep orange/ brown. I searched everywhere for 35% hydrogen peroxide. Could not find it anywhere in my town. I bought 5 bottles of 3% hydrogen peroxide from the dollar store. Dumped it in my pool and it instantly turned crystal clear. 12 days later and still crystal clear. Hydrogen peroxide test strips have been ordered and are on their way. Just saying.
- Vancouver canada
July 15, 2016
Hi T. 35% is no longer readily available to consumers because of DOT shipping restrictions for hazardous products, but it is a very strong chemical, with hazards. I think you were much better off with the lesser hazards of the 'consumer strength' 3% stuff :-)
The reactions between peroxide and iron are very complex (strangely, since H2O2 sounds so very simple -- but look up Fenton's Reagent) and I confess that I do not actually understand them all. I'm surprised that peroxide can make iron disappear, and would not have expected it, but your experience is your experience, and many people have removed rust stains from bathtubs with it.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July 2016
Q. As with most of us here, my well water didn't play well with chlorine. Using two sump pumps and the homemade, poly fill filter the water is now beautiful. I am, however, reluctant to do anything towards sanitizing as that's how the problem started. My chlorine level shows nil right now.
What do we well-water people do to sanitize our pools?
- Orange, Texas USA
July 28, 2016
A. Hi Scott. I don't think there is any real problem with chlorinating well water except for getting the iron out. Chlorination raises the pH to the point where iron precipitates out as a rust. After you chlorinate your pH will probably rise, and you may have to re-filter, but I don't think it's an endless loop :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 1, 2016
As many others have said, this has been a VERY helpful site, spanning about fourteen years of conversation. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread.
We just filled a 18' x 48" above-ground plastic pool with our own well water, and I thought I was being so smart running the hose through a sediment filter, which should have removed a large percentage of the iron. But maybe it was in solution, which would have made the filter ineffective. It has worked in previous years.
I haven't inspected it yet, but I suspect I installed the filter element incorrectly this time.
It was quite a surprise to see our tea-brown water after adding chlorine to our pool via the pump and filter. You folks over the years have explained very nicely what happened and what to do about it. I could take after it with something that would simply put the iron back in solution and out of sight, or I could use one of your methods to remove it and the source of the problem. I choose the latter. Thanks for suggesting so many practical ways to filter the water and thus remove the iron particles. My wife has a whole bag of work socks I've worn the toes out of and which she was going to darn. A few of those should make nice filters, as long as I tie the "holey" toes closed.
I'll also try the milk-jug filter some of you described but using an empty windshield-washer-fluid jug, of which we have plenty.
Judging by conversation on this site, I'll be surprised if we don't have a pristine swimming pool in less than a week.
Thanks ever so much!
- Vassalboro, Maine, USA
Q. I turned my pool water green by adding household bleach :/
I have been reading about people putting socks in their two intakes and that working. I stuff a rolled up sick in each Intake and twisted the covers back on. BUT this stopped the piece that water flows back into the pool from pushing any water out. What did I do wrong? I have two round pieces that suck water in and a big round one that pushes it back out. I am a new pool owner with zero knowledge in the area. Please help
- Enosburg falls Vermont usa
August 2, 2016
A. Hi Kaley. Bleach is very highly alkaline. When you add it to a pool whose water has dissolved iron in it, the iron can no longer stay dissolved, but precipitates out as tiny rust particles, so the water turns green or brown. I don't understand exactly where you are stuffing two socks that is completely stopping the water flow, but I would question whether two socks can capture enough iron to turn your pool from green to blue in a reasonable time anyway.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2016
I used the polyester-in-a-bucket idea. If I could meet and hug the person that thought of this, I would. I am absolutely amazed. I have a 24'x52" above ground Intex pool. After chlorine, my water turned BROWN. I couldn't see the bottom. I was about to drain it when I stumbled across this page. I used polyester stuffing from an old pillow and poked holes with my screwdriver (widened them by inserting scissors and spinning) into the plastic storage bin (with lid). I used my vacuum hose to run water from the filter to the container. I disturbed the bottom every 30 minutes or so and rinsed the pool filter. The polyester in the bin was solid brown after the second day so I rinsed it and started again. After 3 days of running it during the day, I AM SHOCKED. No chemicals, no money spent and a pool that I'm not afraid to get in. It's almost clear. THANK YOU!!
- Slidell Louisiana USA
September 6, 2016
A. In my 15x22 pool I added 6 bottles hydrogen peroxide I got a big box store for 88 cents apiece, initially. Pool was crystal clear within hours. Periodically I've added 2 or 3 bottles when it started looking any color other than clear. It's been a miracle!
Tiffany Claire- Uncasville, Connecticut USA
September 17, 2016
Q. Good day. I have read most of the posts on this thread and have a question. Most of the chat deals with pools already filled. I have a white plaster, built-in pool and have pristine blue water. I would like to top-up the pool using borehole water but was advised against it. I was told it would discolor my pool walls and I would not get the stains out. Do you have any advice on filtering the borehole water from iron content or any other metal content before it gets to the pool. Thanks
Zarier Fredericks- Cape Town, South Africa
February 28, 2017
A. Thank Y'all for this thread and apparently my water is stupid. I have tried the jug, the towel, the sock methods and nothing is happening. I went against my better judgement and said I will go the pool route and added more chemical to it. NEVER ADD MORE CHEMICAL YOU END UP WITH A BROWN GUNK AND WASTED MONEY!
Then as I was searching I found this product on AMAZON. A filter for your hose, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? REALLY! Totally upset especially after I have already sunk iron out, oxi clean, and a whole lot of other crap in there.
By the way emptied out the pool and completely started over with the 16.00 filter attached to my hose on refill. PH balance is amazing, added 2 tbs of iron out inside my pump, and a coffee filter to the part that sucks on the side of the filter, and BAM CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE WATER WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PH problems. Shock it once a week and let the chlorine floater float freely. No green, no brown, no mint colors just crystal clear blue water.
Adding iron out directly to the pool only masks the problem, adding chemicals makes it worse. Filter the water, test the PH, and add a chlorine floater with two 3-in tablets and twice a week check them. I change the coffee filter every time I change my filter which is around every 2 weeks if needed. I also add another 2 tbs of iron out. Really, do not waste your money on stupid pool chemicals. Pool/Spa filter from Amazon, small coffee filters and super iron out from WalMart, I promise if you have stubborn, hard, mineral full, swamp fed well water, this is all you need. Ensure that you are testing your PH regularly as that will eat your liner. I wish I knew all this months ago because it has been nothing but a pain in my rear.
Brandi Leon- Ludowici, Georgia USA
May 4, 2017
May 2017
I think Zarier can benefit from your suggestion of filtering the water on the way in, Brandi.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Purchased an Intex Pool last year and received spring water first year with no issues. This year had water delivered to fill the pool and ended up being well water. As soon as I shocked the pool, ended up with poopsoup!! Thanks to this forum, I knew I wasn't alone! I had my water tested and came back with high levels of copper and iron. I used a solution called Stain Remover by Regal and it worked. The next day I had clear water and the iron was sitting at the bottom of my pool. I vacuumed today and will probably have to repeat couple of times but very pleased with results. I was completely overwhelmed but hope this helps with those that feel the same as I did!
- New Brunswick, Canada
May 31, 2017
I had the SAME stupid problem living out in the country! After playing with socks and pillow stuffing for a week I finally said enough and went and got a sand filter and a bottle of Metal Magic. We went from a soupy brown to a nice lovely green in under 24 hours. I am going to let it filter for a full 48 hours before I shock and add chlorine to take care of the green!
M Broome- Sandersville, Mississippi, USA
June 6, 2017
Q. I really feel like a fool. I had 13,000 gallons of water delivered for our above ground pool. Looked pretty clear. Added shock and turned on the sand filter and within 15 minutes the water was brown. I wanted to cry. Now we are trying to get the water clear. I'm going to try the towel and socks. I'm going to take some of the water to the pool store tomorrow. This is my first pool and I'm so discouraged.
Pam Taylor- Lafayette, Indiana
June 30, 2017
A. Hi Pam. The water had iron in it, which was dissolved and consequently invisible as long as the pH was low. But you can't keep the pH low in use. When you shocked it and raised the pH, the iron precipitated. This is normal. I think your sand filter ought to be able to remove the brown color. Give it a couple of days before you despair :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2017
Thanks, very informative thread! I ran across this Youtube video which gives simple clear instructions on building a "bucket filter".
Steve Narova
- North Port, Florida USA
July 23, 2017
Q. Could you not run your garden hose thru the bucket with pillow stuffing and avoid the problem before it starts? Mine is not even half full and I noticed the green tint from our well water. I was thinking I could drain it and refill thru the filter bucket without messing with the pump.. Thoughts on this guys?
KEVIN MEERS- SAINT CLOUD, Minnesota
July 27, 2017
A. Hi Kevin. The thing is that iron dissolves into the water (and is invisible) at low pH because acid dissolves iron. But when you chlorinate, raising the pH -- which you must do -- that causes the formerly invisible iron to precipitate out as a green/brown rust.
You can probably filter out some of the green on the way in, but even if it is clear going in, it will become green/brown when you chlorinate.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2017
! Just built a 14 x 28 in ground pool, filled it with well water and put in 1 lb of shock. Water immediately turned dark brown and filled the entire pool. Took a water sample to 2 different pool companies and neither one found any iron in the sample! I did an in home test and found >3 ppm of iron. Waited a day until the shock was gone and added a sequester to concentrate the iron. My wife went to the dollar store and bought 6 hand towels and dacron fiber used for stuffing pillows. I cut the dacron to fit the skimmer basket and added 2 hand towels and started the pump. I changed the material in the skimmer basket every 3 hours the first day and rinsed it out in the sink. The following day I also took out the cartridge filter and washed it with water and replaced it. By the 2nd day the water was mostly green and cloudy instead of a dark tea color. Almost all iron was gone by the 3rd day but I continued to change the skimmer material until the white cloths stayed white. Then had the water retested and added recommended chemicals. Also bought a filter for the end of the hose so that I could eliminate more iron in the water when I needed to add pool water. Filter cost $35 on Amazon. What I learned: not all tests will indicate iron, if it reacts with shock and turns brown it is iron, materials to clean the water are cheap and effective, a hose filter is a good investment and we now use chlorine bleach and no shock.
Rich Miller- HAMPSTEAD, Maryland USA
August 25, 2017
A. I use 35% food grade peroxide, a sand filter, and an ionizer. Friends that go the chlorine route, they have so many different chemicals: pH up, pH down, shock, etc. If you want a safe easy way to have a pool, I highly recommend this option. I hope this helps.
Jeannine J Cox- Hiram Georgia
May 27, 2018
A. All you need is the HTH Metal & Stain Defense [affil links]. Worked wonders.
- Yukon, Oklahoma
June 4, 2018
Q. Filled my 16-ft Intex pool with our well water, bypassing our water softener system this year. Last year I did this and our water was crystal clear, and no problems all summer long. Only issue was that it used a ton of water softener salt, so this year my husband said to bypass it.
I spent 3 days last week making the homemade filter stuffed with poly fill. Set it up Thursday. 4 hours later, the polyfil looked pretty brown, changed it out. Friday changed out the polyfill again. By Saturday the rust had settled to the bottom of the pool. Water was starting to clear up on Friday, could somewhat see to the bottom. Against everything I read, Saturday morning I tested the water, and added algaecide and shocked the pool. Now it is worse than before. Changed the poly fill again … Still isn't getting any better. We ended up running the pool filter, and on the opposite side of the pool we have a submersible sump pump hooked up to the homemade filter. I suggested to my husband that it's possible the sump pump is running the water through the homemade bucket filter too fast? I've already had to change the polyfill 4 times, and the pool filter twice.
Dana Davis- Thompson, Ohio USA
June 4, 2018
A. Hi Dana. Although you don't visibly see it improving yet, it is. Apparently you have a huge amount of iron in your well water, evidenced by dirtying the polyfill 4 times and the filter twice. But if you keep going you'll eventually get it all out.
It is not a surprise that shocking the pool made it worse because less iron is able to remain dissolved after shocking. But once the iron is out, it's out, and no worries -- neither shock nor chlorine contain iron, and adding them does not introduce iron, it only makes dissolved iron visible.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2018
June 11, 2018
Q. Update on my pool. My homemade bucket filter with polyfil has been running for 11 days now. I also incorporated a white sock stuffed with polyfil over the outtake flow, and wrapping white wash cloths around the paper filter. I have been changing the wash rags, and socks multiple times a day. As well as rinsing or replacing the paper filter as necessary, vacuuming the sediment off the floor of the pool, changing or rinsing the polyfil every day. I also wipe the rust ring off the inside of the pool with a rag each time I change everything.
There still appears to be minimal rust in the water because my pool now looks like a green color. I know better than to shock it, until the rust is all out.
At this point, I have looked into purchasing a sand pump filter to hopefully do the rest.
I have already purchase 4 bags of polyfil $8.97 each, $5 worth of white wash cloths from the dollar tree, plus 2 packs of white bar mop rags from Walmart.
Hopefully within the next week my kids and I will actually get to use the pool!
- Thompson, Ohio, USA
Hi again. Thanks for the update and pic. Sorry for the endless hassle, and I'll bet you use the water softener next year. Your well water apparently has a huge amount of iron in it.
But green is closer to blue than it is to brown … looks like you're almost there.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2018
I had this problem from well water in my pool. I read countless suggestions to get rid of it. I worried about adding chemicals. So I tried the homemade filter idea which I constructed out of buckets and odds & ends around the house, including a rubber tire off of an old toy car as a gasket! That, along with the white towel over the outgoing port. Several changes over 3 days, one treatment with clarifier, ran the pump 24 hrs, vacuumed, and OMG! This morning when I took the cover off the water was crystal CLEAR. freakin' beautiful! I wish I took pictures. Patience and diligence is worth saving money and not worrying about harsh chemicals!
- Avondale, Pennsylvania USA
June 18, 2018
Q. Hi, I see most people on here have Intex above-ground pools and you're filtering out oxidized metals from the water. Would this work in a full sized in ground pool -- I have iron stains throughout the liner and tired of the chemicals. Should I shock first to oxidize the metals?
Tim Barsness- Stellarton, NS Canada
June 20, 2018
June 19, 2018
I would just like to say … THANK YOU!!! This thread saved my sanity, SERIOUSLY!
My 16 ft above ground pool is going on its 4th summer and I have hope we will be swimming before long. We are on city water and I did not have this much trouble the last few summer getting the water clear. We also have a sand filter that I thought was on its last leg but clearly it's working fine and was the iron in the water. I was late to start cleaning the black swamp which was highly neglected all winter.
I started the cleaning process on Monday, June 11th.....water changed from black, to dark green, to green, to teal then even gray all the way still cloudy. All of which I've encountered before, but this time when I super chlorinated on Sunday night, June 17th, I unfortunately woke up Monday am, June 18th to an ugly brown mess. I added a Metal & Stain defense Monday evening and this morning still no change. Found this thread early this am and tried the sock!
- Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Q. Well! Let me jump in and say, so glad I'm not alone in this battle. I have bestway 10x30 pool. I learned the hard way I have Tons of iron apparently in my well water. After exhausting research, on "What to do Now" I made myself a cheap, bypass filter as seen on YouTube. And it really does work like a charm. However Every time I introduce chlorine it's back to square one. My question! Is there Non Chlorine solutions to keep pool clean and algae free?
Melinda Young- Wallkill, New York, USA
July 1, 2018
Hi Melinda. I'm no expert but I think it's very dangerous to have insufficient chlorine.
But the thing is, once you've completely removed the iron, you've removed it, and re-chlorinating will not bring any more in. However, there is a posting somewhere on this very long thread where a guy realized he was using a steel (iron) ladder which was dissolving into the pool water and causing an iron problem. Please make sure there is no steel or iron exposed to the pool water. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July 2018
July 5, 2018
We filled our 15' x 48" summer waves with slightly green water and, as others experienced, then we when shocked it it turned brown! After 4 days of pulling my hair out, I found this amazing thread! My hubby built the sump pump, bucket, pillow magical device and BAM cleared up in less than 24 hours! AMAZING! THANK YOU!
Cheap sump pump
5-10ft piece of hose with female end attached to one end
2 cheap pillows
5 gallon pail with lid
2 sets of male/ female hose repair kits with wide flanges
Zip ties to secure lid to pail
Keep shocking and running your pump until its clear!
- Hatley, Wisconsin USA
August 12, 2018
A. 1st THANKS to information on this thread! I have an in-ground 12,000 gallon pebble tec pool that is NOT filled with well water.
Due to an apparent non-responding algae bloom, I opted to drain pool and fill fresh. To be sure I was killing any residual algae not drained in any pipes/drain areas I really shocked the pool significantly during the fill. I read it can take 20 to even 30 ppm to kill some more resistant algae strands. I shocked with Clorox Xtra Blue (has 0.25% copper). I'm not going to deal with algae bloom again!
Pool seems a little green tinged at 3/4 full ... it rains, and next morning pool is deeper green. I think "crap, algae is blooming", so I add more Clorox extra blue. (Now I've added 6 lbs over a couple days during fill). By end of fill, pool is very dark shade of green and I can barely see deep end bottom, but its not "cloudy" per se.
I find this site/responses and think, okay maybe its oxidized metal ("better than algae").
I buy HTH Metal & Stain Defense and put one 32 oz bottle to try. I also turn on the cartridge filter/pump and fill the skimmer basket and the pool vac line leaf bag with pillow fill. I also put the pump used to drain pool without a drain hose and just let it run and stir up water. All done at night.
In morning, WOW pool is much lighter tinted! There is, like others have shown, a deep brown/red-ish deposit and densely colored water. Its working!
So get the dense brownish red colored water tested at pool and shows mild level copper. They said no iron. (If I presume accurate?). Says none in fresh tap water I brought down from this water municipality (not well water)
So IF there was no metal issues in this water supply, I calculate .25% copper in Clorox xtra blue shock x 6 lbs = 0.24 ounces or basically a quarter ounce in a 12,000 gallon pool is creating problem.
Thus, be advised, are you shocking with this Clorox xtra Blue product? This may be contributing to a well water metal issue.
Also, the HTH Metal & Stain Defense added 200 ppm phosphate (algae like phosphate) BUT I found a couple spots on surface of water that there was a "film" of the red brownish haze so that product does seem to coagulate the metal together.
THANKS AGAIN to those who posted.
- Anthem, Arizona (East on Epcor water supply)
Hi Keith. Interesting situation but a lot of variables. Although there is usually not nearly as much copper in the water as iron, it too is very soluble at acidic pH but will precipitate at higher pH -- so it does sound like if you have a lot of it, when you raise the pH it can precipitate out as a filterable floc like iron does.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
A. Hello pool owners.
My name is Eric. I have been working in the pool & Spa industry for over 15 years. I moved to Washington state about 6 years ago. Many wells in the area have a similar problem with brown water. I think I have tried every product available. One thing that we have in the NW is iron bacteria. This bacteria feeds off of any type of iron that it finds. The reason that this is important, is because it will determine the best method to use. The main telltale sign of the bacterial form is a slimy, mucus like substance inside the skimmer, fill valve float, etc. this type of iron problem is best treated like an algae problem. Shock the pool, using the cyanuric acid chart here: [deleted by ed., see ed. note]
The best, most professional looking iron filter in my opinion, is one I simply made using an in-line leaf canister filter in line with the pool vacuum hose. I removed the basket that came with it, cut a piece of screening material for the inside bottom of the canister. I tightly packed the leaf canister with pillow fill from a local craft supply store.
Attaching the filter to the hose, isolating the skimmer suction, then shocked the pool with the appropriate sanitizer.the pool will turn the shade of brown that the level of iron in your pool has. It's rather shocking the first time.
ba-dum-pump chsh!
That's my drum roll after my hilarious joke.
Anyway,
Tough crowd!
Using an unstabilized chlorine, I run the filter pump 24/7 until the pillow stuffing looks completely saturated. If the pool water is still brown, I change the pillow stuffing, then fire up the system again. Once I can see the floor, usually overnight, I will add a drop out, or similar. Following the directions on the bottle, (That's actually located on the back of the bottle). After about 2 1/2 hours, I shut the system down, until the water is clear, and the bottom has a thick layer of sludge. If you like to take chances, like I do, then start vacuuming as soon as you point the returns toward the surface of the water. The silt that you are vacuuming is very fine. The pillow stuffing will catch it, if it is packed in the leaf canister. The safe alternative is to vacuum to waste. After you are finished, clean your filters, add a phosphate remover, balance the pool water, and have yourself a nice beverage. You are the hero savior of the backyard festivities!! All in a day's work.
Eric Morton
Eric's Pool & Spa Care - Battle Ground, Washington
----
Ed. note: I was unsuccessful finding that chart even searching for 20 minutes on that site. If you can give us the direct URL for the chart, rather than the main page of a pool store's website, we'd appreciate it.
Q. @Lady Ponder: What is the specific name of that filter you suggest?
Thank you!
A. @Barb Hand: You can do two things to get iron out of pool water:
1. Put a Mr. Clean sponge in the skimmer if it's not too dark of a brown. You may have to replace it a couple of times with a new depending on size of pool.
2. Whenever you add more water, be sure to use some type of filter. We have a 5 gal bucket with good lid. My husband added two spigots to the bottom (both on one side, not in the middle of the bottom of bucket) Get a mesh laundry bag to put in the bucket like a trash bag into a garbage can. Be careful not to push on the bucket and ruin the seal around the spigots.
Fill the bucket as tight as possible with Polyfill (used to stuff pillows). Push the laundry mesh bag down and close the lid tight. Hook up the waterhole to one spigot, make sure it's open and the other is closed.
Drill 3 rows of holes to one side of the lid (opposite side to the location of spigots). Put the lid on tight so that the spigots on the bottom are at the bottom rounded side of the bucket, and the holes in the lid at on the top rounded side of the bucket. Position it so the lid is over the water, not the spigots. Turn on water slowly at first so it doesn't blow the lid. The water will fill and run through the poly, filtering the iron.
- Texas
June 30, 2022
A. Hi Lily. Lady Ponder suggested a pre-filter you put on the fill hose to purify the water. Unfortunately, her link soon broke but we've illustrated similar devices on Amazon and eBay next to her posting.
My opinion, which you'll also see on some pool equipment sites is that while such a device certainly can't hurt, it's probably only realistic for small jobs like a hot tub or kiddie pool because any filter gets exhausted and a small hose filter will be exhausted long before the pool is filled.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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