iron in pool water

[kdrews1975]

Problem: The local water company has been having issues with iron in the water resulting in a brown ish tea colored water.

FC: Free chlorine level is 1.
TC:
pH: pH level is between 7.8 - 8.4.
TA: Total Alkalinity level is 240.
CH:
CYA:

My pool: We have a Intek easy set pool that is 15' x 48" and is metal framed.
Pool chemicals: HTH shock and swin, HTH pH minus, HTH metal free, 3" chlorine tablets, and Pool first aid.
My pump & filter: Krystal Clear Model 637R Filter Pump. (Filter A)
Other info: My husband and I filled the pool and it was tea colored. I was told to use 1/2 of a 1 pound package of HTH shock and swim after we filled the pool and we did that. I was also told to buy a floating chlorine tablet holder and use 3" chlorine tablets in it and we did that. The chlorine tablet holder is floating in the pool as we speak. I then went to Leslie's Pool supply in town and was told to use 5 capfuls of Pool First aid and wait 12 hours. The Pool First aid has not worked at all and it has been over 12 hours. I then call Leslie's Pool supply back lastnight and spoke to the manager who told me to use 8 oz. of a metal free solution and wait 4 hours. I bought HTH metal free and added 8 oz. to the pool. It has been just about 4 hours and the water has not cleared at all. I do know that I need to use the HTH pH minus to lower the pH to the proper level, but the manager at the pool supply store told me to take care of the metal in the pool first! I just want a clear pool. I do not want a tea colored pool to swim in for our family. Please help me. I am at my wits end. This pool has been a nightmare, but the kids are so looking forward to it that we can't just rip it down and get rid of it. Please tell us what we can do. And we are new pool owners so please be very specific step-bystep. Thank-you so much.

[papa]

Here is a cheap, easy fix. We have an intex easy set 15' x 42" pool. We filled it with well water that is loaded with iron. You guessed it, brown water, we can barely see 6" below the surface. I search the net and found a solution. First, forget any chemicals, i.e. iron out, oxyclean, etc. These will only mask the problem, and think about what's in your pool after adding this stuff. The solution is to aggresively filter the water. Get yourself a 2 pack of replacement filters that you get at walmart, the one that comes with the pump is not very effective at trapping iron. Now, get a couple of white kitchen towels a few rubber bands or some string and a pair of mens crew socks with good top elastic bands. Place a sock over the water discharge from the pump, the elastic should hold it over the basket. Now, take one towel, fold it in half and wrap it around the outside of one of the filters, hold it in place with 3 rubber bands or some string wrapped around a few times. Put the filter in your pump, turn it on and wait. You will see in a very short time the sock will start turning orange. Use the sock as your indicator to change, clean your filter. When it gets fairly dirty, swap the sock and filter(I have the 2nd filter already set up with the towel for a quick change). wash the sock, towel, and filter with a garden hose. Set up the filter to have it ready for the next change. You will be amazed at how fast the sock and filter get dirty. I started out changing them about every 30 minutes or so. At the end of the day I put 2 towels around the filter and left the pump running all night. After a full day of changing/cleaning socks and filters and a full night of running, we could see the bottom of our pool. It is now the 2nd day of doing this and I'm cleaning about every 2 hours and I am confident that this will work. And after you're done, the iron will be out, not just masked. I'm thinking the next time I shock it I may see more brown water, because the clorine seems to make it show up, if it's still in the water, but with more filtering, I think I can eliminate it completely. I also plan on making a filter out of some PVC pipe to stuff with towels or socks that will attach to the garden hose when I need to add water, if I can get the iron out before it gets into the pool, that's less filtering I'll need to deal with.