POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Stains on the pool surfaces, pool equipment
or on the swimmers, or off-color swimming pool
water. Discolored but clear pool water.
chem geek
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POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby chem geek » Tue 24 Jul, 2012 20:55

See Metals in the Water and Metal Stains. You most likely have iron in your well water. You might try first filtering it out as best you can. If you have a sand filter you can Add DE to a Sand Filter to improve filtration. You can get a Slime Bag as well. Then after removing all particulate matter you can use a metal sequestrant to keep the rest of the iron from staining pool surfaces.


wicked139
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My Pool: Started using well water and went to town water after it turned a tea colour, thought with more town water than we'll water it would come back but it isn't and I added purox, shock it and algiside nothing happened help its a 13x22 pool please don't make me empty iy
Location: Irvine

POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby wicked139 » Mon 01 Jul, 2013 23:58

Help help my water is brown too started with well water and went to town water figured it would come back because there was more town water than we'll water, but it didn't . Please help me I don't want to empty this pool it is 13x22. Help me please
CrystalSue

POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby CrystalSue » Tue 09 Jul, 2013 10:44

I have we'll water and the same problem I went to Walmart and in the camping section they have filters for RVs and camping and such get one of those for the end of your hose and it filters the well water
Jody Bone

POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Jody Bone » Tue 27 Aug, 2013 12:17

I had the same problem years ago, I found out that well water has alot of phosphates in it, you have to kill them first. If you put the stuff at Leslies pool supply, it kills phosphates, give it a couple of days to kill them before you add chlorine. It turns out algie thrives on phosphates so get rid of them before you add chlorine
jodybone

POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby jodybone » Tue 27 Aug, 2013 12:25

Kill the phosphate before you put chlorine in it, at Leslies pool supply get the phoso stuff, you have to do that, kill the phosphate first with well water
paulbest
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Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby paulbest » Mon 29 Aug, 2016 21:41

pool water turns brown due to high iron levels. with that, if pool water is acidic, it will deteriorate metal equipment in the pool causing excess iron into the water. the known solution for this is shocking or also known as super chlorination. chlorine oxidizes the iron and turns it into rust causing it to settle out of the pool water.

https://www.reference.com/home-garden/e ... =learnMore
Ditlevsen

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Ditlevsen » Fri 24 Mar, 2017 23:25

An old post. Still yet relavant.
I have a small 1000 gallon pool. In the philippines.
Stuff here is hard to find.
So I use what we can get.
Household items.
The water is dirty from mud and iron.
But I still manage to get it clean in about 24 hrs. when filling it up.
I use following - so far..
Some general chlorine cleaner, like clorox I think it is called. 0.1 gallon per 1000 gallon water.
Added after sun set. Let the pump run over night.
Have a 2000 gallon sandfilter pump. Filled with plain riversand.
In the morning the algae is dead (actually almost instantly), and the water is brownish from iron.
I then add maybe 1/2 a cup of white vinegar.
After 10 min it is clear. And the iron has settled on the bottom.
Will see if i killed the chlorine as well by doing so, but now I can start to fine tune the clear water in the pool.
Hope this helped someone out there.
Happy splashing.
poolresearcher
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Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby poolresearcher » Thu 30 Mar, 2017 15:32

I'm researching pool water problems similar to the ones reported in this thread. If you could fill out this survey https://goo.gl/forms/PLpN6UrKHJMgEmAI2 that would be much appreciated.

Thank you
dcolby

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby dcolby » Thu 01 Jun, 2017 17:10

For everyone who has shocked their pool that has been filled with well water, here's the answer....we tried everything, filtering, scale metal treatment, CYA, nothing worked..I bougt Iron Out at Walmart, according to your size pool, I put 3 quarts in my above ground pool, 18ft X 48", within 10 minutes the water was clear and I couldn't be more happier. Every site I tried really didn't have any help to offer...but this works...Happy Summer
Ninab

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Ninab » Fri 09 Jun, 2017 23:07

Thank you to Colby. You suggested Using "Iron Out" (purchased at Walmart) to clear up the brown well water caused by the iron in the water when adding chlorine. It was amazing. Easiest and cheapest problem solver. Within 3 hours, our 15,000 gallon pool was crystal clear.
Robwyso

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Robwyso » Wed 28 Jun, 2017 13:46

I am not a pool expert but i can tell you about my experience. I have a intex above ground 4 x 20 pool. The last 2 years i did not cover my pool but had clear water in 8 days this is what i did. First i scoop out the leaves by attaching a leaf basket skimmer to vacuum pole i scoop out the leafs for about an hour usually there are very few left at this point. Next i vacuum the pool with out using a cartridge filter i only use the bag that goes in the skimmer. This gets a lot of the thicker stuff off the bottom i vacuum the pool about 30 to 40 times. At first you will only be able to vacuum for a minute or 2 and will have to wash out the bag then you will be able to half the pool before the bag needs to be cleaned. This will take 6 to 7 hours. Next i pour in 1 gallon of liquid chlorine the water will turn from green to greyish black first 12 to 24 hours then it will turn a rust color. I believe this rust color is not metals but the burnt slgae from excessive chlorine. Over the next 7 days i will vacuum the pool 2 times a day with the filter cartridge in. I will wash the cartridge every 8 hours and i will leave the pump running for 8 days straight. NOTE YOU MUST SCRUBB THE WALLS OF THE POOL ATLEAST ONCE A DAY ( IT TAKES 20 MINUTES) WITH A BRUSH I USE AN ATTACHMENT THAT CONNECTS TO THE VACUUM POLE. In 8 days i have clear water..... test the chlorine level before going into pool as it still maybe high but i doubt it.
Nurschik

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Nurschik » Fri 30 Jun, 2017 16:03

Well water is usually hugh in metal content adding chlorine is a mistake it oxidizes the iron levels and turrns the water briwn almost instantly there are a few products in the market one is "the pink stuff" another is clotix scale, metal,stain remover it is a sequestial agent that attracts the iron and settles it at the bottom of the pool if adding to already briwn water it will take about 2-4 days with filtering and chnge/clean your filters every couple of hours or uf your like me and dont want the hassle just drain the pool and start iver adding the metal remover at the start while its filling and you get crystal clear water just remember wait several weeks prior to adding any chlorinated agents ph up and alkalinity agrnts are ok its also recommended to treat the pool monthly with the metal out agent.
Nurschik

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Nurschik » Fri 30 Jun, 2017 16:06

Mispelling. Its clorox brand scale metal stain remover
Fisiosike
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My Pool: 10'x32" Intex

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Fisiosike » Sun 02 Jul, 2017 22:57

I saw no solution to my brown/ferrous water problem that actually worked for me. I admit not trying any that were way out of my meager budget range.

This method works, remarkably so. It does not costs much; It does require some patience. And if your pool is much bigger than my 10'x32" Intex, you may or may not want to use this method.

Keep in mind, I had attempted many of the suggestions made in this forum with no satisfactory outcomes.

My pool, on sale, was around $75 and it came with the standard weak pump. There was another pool with the same dimensions for around $50 which did not include the pump. In hindsight, the second pool would have been an excellent ADDITIONAL investment as my method calls for a "holding pool." Instead, I purchased a small $18 pool that holds approximately 250 gallons of water. The pool that I now swim in holds a little over 1000 gallons, I believe.

My larger pool is set up on carpet and carpet padding that I already had. Out of padding, I put the cheaper/smaller pool just on carpet and have had no issues yet. The pools are side by side, relatively near to where the pump is placed while running.

I put 250 gallons in wading pool, treated it generously with a pool shock powder/crystal, and stirred this together with a broom. Now, the patience. Wait until near the end of the second day (48 hrs or so.) If ample enough shock treated was stirred in, the rust should have now settled to the bottom of the pool. The water on top of the rust may not appear crystal clear, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised by it.

You have probably figured out by now that I am going to transfer this good water over to the big pool. To clarify, had I purchase the $50 pool the same dimensions as my big pool, I would only need to transfer the treated water one time. As is, I had to transfer about 4 separate loads. I cannot say that a larger treating pool would work as well for sure though. There may be a working value to treating smaller batches. I just do not know for sure.

Using the pump that came with my original pool, I pumped the water from the treatment pool and began the process again. The little treatment pool I have is only about 18 inches tall. Pumping water out of that pool, without getting the iron sediments mixed back in is a little trick. I took either my had or a broom and gentle brushed a clear area. It doesn't take long for the heavy iron to sink back down. Using slow motions, and after priming the pump, I let the pump first draw in water directly to the hose. As soon as possible, once I knew the pump was drawing, I tied the cut-off end of a sock around the entrance of the hose. The sock material adequately prevented any suspended iron left in that area. I also tied a rather heavy lead weight to keep the hose in the position I wanted it. The closer to the bottom, the better.

Once your transfer(s) is/are through, treat your large pool water as you normally would. Same process is used for topping off.
Faith T

Re: POOL WATER IS BROWN (THE COLOR OF TEA)

Postby Faith T » Wed 25 Jul, 2018 18:31

Just filled out pool for the first time with well water. It looks like a huge brown mud puddle. Haven’t tested it but according to everything I’ve read it’s iron in the water. Pool store said to put MetalFree in and it’ll clear it right up. Will be trying it this weekend.

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