Green Iron Water

[chem geek]

I think the answer you are looking for depends on the contents of the well water. If the well water is high in Total Alkalinity, (TA), then that is the easiest thing to deal with though forced outgassing of carbon dioxide via aeration at low pH. If it is high in calcium hardness (CH), then this is more difficult but can be reduced through a water softener (ion exchange resin, or equivalent). If it is very high in metals, however, then this can be difficult as you have experienced. But if it is that high in metals, it's probably not suitable for other purposes such as tap water for drinking, showering, etc. anyway.

Richard

[law0414]

I agree that it all depends on the water that comes out of the well. We knew our well had a very high iron content. Our house water is treated and has iron filter as well as UV filter and softener.

I have given up and am currently draining the pool. At this point I think it will be less costly to have the water delivered and treat the pool from that point on.

Thanks to all for your great suggestions. Nice to know people out there are trying to help.

[chem geek]

Do you have any specs or info (website links) on your iron filter for your home? We sometimes recommend using a water softener of filter for pool water though obviously it needs a LOT of recharging if the volume is high. Anyway, I'd like to take a look to see how it works and its capacity, etc.

Also, you should have your pool's fill water (from the automatic float valve) go through your house filter if possible so that you avoid adding more metals to the water (perhaps you're already doing that).

Richard

[law0414]

We just bought this house - century home - had company called Kinetico install Kinetico Mach 206of OD Birm Iron Filter. Dual Tank system so if one fails the other keeps going. Our house water is great - very clear no metals after testing.

Basically - we have two large tanks in the basement - the well water goes throught the tanks - filters out the iron then goes to softener and then through UV Filter and then distributed throughout the house. Unfortunately, the outside water is separate and has no filter which is what we used to fill the pool.

Also because it is well - we can't fill pool again from inside water as we run the risk of running well dry - I am in Toronto Canada and it is dry season here now.

HOpe that helps. We will have a water truck deliver city water for the pool, still waiting for it to empty.

[chem geek]

Thanks for the info. I found their website here which says that the iron is filtered using a special ceramic filter made by 3M which basically means they have some sort of special coating on the ceramic since 3M is all about coatings. That's cool. It's not easy to filter metals out of water and they apparently have that technology.

It also looks like you backwash these filters to regenerate them, but I would assume you have to backwash using purified water (without iron), don't you? If not, then that's really cool -- it acts like a DE filter trapping particles in one direction only, but allowing them to be removed going the other direction. For physical particles, it's easy to create such one-way traps, but for ion traps (coatings on ceramic) that's something I don't understand.

Richard

[law0414]

Well we finally have a pool to swim in. Had city water delivered today and it is crystal clear. My advice to all home owners with wells that have high iron content - don't waste your time and money. Get the water delivered. It took a total of 20 minutes to fill pool and saved me considerable aggravation.

Thanks to all for your efforts to clear up the well water.

[Backglass]

Now, stay on top of it and you wont have any problems again.

Remember that you will need to add metal removing products from time to time as you "top off" with the hose from your well water.

How much was the water delivery by the way?

[law0414]

Water delivery was $150. Expensive but worth it. And when I used the vacum today I put the hose through the window to the kitchen sink so that I wouldn't add any iron from the outside water tap.

Getting smarter as I go. When I took a water sample after the pool was filled out all the levels were good. I haven't added anything. Chlorine and PH was perfect. Which is kind of scary in a way.

I will check it every day for a while to make sure levels don't drop off. We are having a heat wave here.

[drgayle]

We had years of trouble with iron , etc. in the water...and found metal free product was the only thing that worked BECAUSE you did not need to bring the water chlorine level down to .5. It works with full chlorine. Our pool is very blue now....

[mamcwifey]

I went to my local pool store and this was there advice. They told me to double shock the pool with chlorine shock and put 1 cup of stabilizer in the pool inside a nylon stocking and to tie the stocking to the ladder. He said this would keep the chlorine levels in the pools high. Apparently the chlorine at some point will get rid of the iron. Then just keep changing/cleaning filter as often as possible. Said would take about 4 days to get clean water. Last night I did the double shock and nylon stocking. This morning chlorine levels really high and water very green - can't see through it at all (worse than before). Filter is dark brown after only a few hours so I keep trying for a few days and hope for some improvement. If after 4 days no improvement I'm thinking I will empty pool and have water delivered from the city.
Hope this helps all in the same situation.

Wow... Sounds like you were steered in the wrong direction. As chemgeek said, the Cl will not get rid of the iron. You definitely need something to remove it. The key indicator of metals in your water is the clear green appearance of the water. I'm not surprised that after adding more Cl your water appeared worse. The green is a result of the reaction b/w the Cl and the iron. You should be able to find a store that has some mineral remover. Once you clear that up, you should have no problem getting/keeping the water clear!

[gouldie]

For those of you with green (or better yet, orange) water - don't give up on the Metal Out or other chelating/sequestering agents. They may take a few days, but they will work.

Our pool is also filled with well water. Last year it was so green we couldn't see more than 18 inches. We also had a sand problem because we used the irrigation well (not the house well) which has sand in it. After about four days and six bottles of Iron Out the water finally cleared.

At the end of the year we emptied the pool. This year we filtered and used Iron Out prior to putting the water in the pool. We put the water from the well in to a large horse tank. We added Iron Out to the horse tank and used two small pumps to filter the water before it got to the pool. The end result was much better. We still have green water, but we can see to the bottom of the pool, and we don't have a sand problem at all.

Last year we didn't let the kids swim until the water was clear, not because we were worried about the water being "dirty", but because we couldn't see the kids when they were under water. This year we can see them so we are letting them swim. We add the chelating agents at night.

[carolnh]

Hi
trying this again from my phone. I hope it doesn't result in a double post. I have this problem every year with our 16ft Intex pool. After shocking it become s brown. You cannot see to the second rung of the ladder! The solution is to keep. Ph at 7.6 or higher and add metal remover (phoenix super erase is the best that I have used). Follow package directions and clean filters at least 3 times per day. We "jerryrig" another old 8ntex filter system until it clears-usually a week and a half. I end up with crystal clear water. Dpnt let neighbprs seexthey will hound you to take care of their pool-for free of course! I clean and reuse the old filters during this process. Also stay on top of your ph. Expect to use at least two bottles of metal remover. The
Cheap stuff from Wally world does not seem to work very well.

[countrygirl]

I had the same problem with my pool filled with well water. Took 4 bottles of metal out and finally clear water. Went away for 5 days, left filter running on timer for 6 hours a day came home to gross green water......now I don't know if it is metal problems (still) or algae problems. Should have paid to have water delivered....

[cpo2go]

The chlorine has nothing to do with it.
Metals in the water need to be removed with a good "metal out" type of agent. Many are recommend here. I like the one made by Sea Klear. After using this you have to clean your filter as the tiny metal particles are caused to bind together into bigger ones which get trapped in the filter. Once the metals are trapped in the filter, and the filter is cleaned, the metals are out of the water for good. Maintaining it at that point should be routine.

[manster64]

This works every time ----> We have well water that casues the color to be green / brown.. but you can NOT put in ANY Chlorine or shock until you get the metal out first. Simply buy the metal out at walmart and out that in the pool and then clean the filter every 2 - 4 hours until the pool is clear. ( a couple days ) You dont have to do it during the nite of course just start it in the morning and you will get results. Then when its clear get the tablets from walmart and put them in a floaty and you are all set for the summer