purple stain

[perrault]

Have had pool for 5 yrs. no problems until this year. opened pool and about had all chemicals in shape. when in one day had purple stain all over everything. local pool people in Ok. city don't seem to have any answers. help.

[Pool Helper]

What is the pool surface? What algicides did you add?

[jnkostroman@rogers.com]

For two years now we have been getting a purple stain on the liner which is heaviest when removing the winter cover. Pool store is unable to find cause. They have checked for iron and copper. The purple looks like powder residue and is grainy feeling. It lingers all summer no matter what we do.

[fdr4prez]

two years ago I bought from Costco a bucket of HTH "chlorine tabs with algeacide" hoping that my pool would stay green free that season. Well it stayed green free because it turned everything was promptly covered with a purple powdery residue. The residue covered my filter element really badly. When I closed the pool for the winter I took out my filter cartridge and let it complete dry out and I used a toothbrush to brush off the residue. It took weeks of work to get most of it off of the filter.

I promptly took the remaining bucket to the hazardous waste drop off location and went back to my previous chlorine.

My pool is now residue free except my creepy crawly ladybud which is still covered. I am still looking for a way to clean my poor little ladybug...

I will never buy HTH again.

[sadlad]

Has anyone heard of any actions against Costco in regard to the purple pool stains created by using the chlorine tablets they sold in 2006?

[mr_clean]

Has anyone heard of any actions against Costco in regard to the purple pool stains created by using the chlorine tablets they sold in 2006?

it's not a certain brand chlorine tab it's the conditioner that is in all chlorine tabs & after so many are added to pool over time the conditioner level becomes to high & can cause a purple ring around pool which will spread.
The only way to lower conditioner level is to do partial drain & refills until level is 50-60ppm & clean/backwash filters after.

[michlytntyres]

I am having this problem at the moment, it appeared from nowhere, then suddenly there is a purple ring around the top of the water and purple dirt at the bottom of the pool. The pool shop people here in Spain say it is a fungus and it has to be treated slowly. First they put granule chlorine in the water, then the pool had to be brushed to break down the membrane around the fungus, then the skimmer had to run for as long as possible. This was done yesterday, the large dirt has increased, but apparently that is a good sign, and there is very little new pale purple marks. I had to run the skimmer again for a long while and then leave it. Tomorrow if there is no new occurence in the pool it will be vacuumed, then retreated. All going well by the weekend it will be clear. But I have been told this is one fungus which can't be got rid of overnight.

[Guest]

Purple Granular Residue has invaded my pool. We are on our SECOND year of this craziness! Pool shops are baffled because water is crystal clear. I've been told it is because the pool got too acidic. PH shows high. Alkalinity shows high. Chlorine won't even register.
My pool guy put some different kind of chlorine in and it seemed to happen after that. Stil have the purple sand!

[chem geek]

The pool guy probably switched to using more stabilized chlorine, either Trichor tabs/pucks or Dichlor powder/granular and also added copper to the pool. Your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level may have built up and along with copper in the pool (perhaps from a copper-based algaecide) resulted in copper cyanurate which is amethyst (purple) in color.

Have your pool tested for metals, including copper. A metal sequestrant can help. Also test for Cyanuric Acid (CYA) which you can test yourself with a Taylor K-2006 test kit or a TF100 test kit from tftestkits.net.

[Heyybud]

I ran into the same thing, the cause was that I left the vacuum in the pool as I was gettting it clean for the summer. The handle on the vauum pole caused metal to get in the pool and caused a purple film then a white powder on everything. To clean it I scrubben the edge, and vacuumed. After the initial vacuum I let is sit and the purple dust seemed to settle to the bottom. I then turned the filter on by pass (waste) and vacummed the purple dust out. This cured the problem and it has been clean ever since. It was definetaly caused by the metal eroding into the pool.

Hope this helps.

[jeavington ponsonby smythe]

I too have a problem with the dreaded purple plague. Some one else has probably hit on the cause. I changed my usual chlorine granules for a reccomended type that has added "protection". To cure the problem, I've brushed the liner, "hoovered" the waste, backwashed and rinsed. I've also partially drained down, refilled with fresh water. Sometime in the next 24 hours I will do the same recovery operation. I shall also dipose of the chlorine and by the origional type that I have used for the last 20 years.

[silent]

The cause of the purple stain is High CYA levels, stop using Chlorine with added chemicals (Stabilisers) and use Calcium based chlorine.
And remove water, dilution is only way to reduce CYA.

[shaggy]

The pool guy probably switched to using more stabilized chlorine, either Trichor tabs/pucks or Dichlor powder/granular and also added copper to the pool. Your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level may have built up and along with copper in the pool (perhaps from a copper-based algaecide) resulted in copper cyanurate which is amethyst (purple) in color.

Have your pool tested for metals, including copper. A metal sequestrant can help. Also test for Cyanuric Acid (CYA) which you can test yourself with a Taylor K-2006 test kit or a TF100 test kit from tftestkits.net.

I have owned my pool for approx 10 years, this is the first time for purple dust on the liner and steps. I was told by my pool person, which by the way has opened my pool and closed my pool plus cleans and manages the chemicals that this is due to the harsh winter that we had. I was told that either I can continue to spend money on chemicals and try to remove or drain the pool halfway and have it refilled with fresh city water. After reading several of the comments and questions regarding this problem, I am not sure if winter had anything to do with the problem. I am now wondering if it had something to do with closing and the use of chemicals at that time plus the chlorine that was used last year, maybe a cheaper brand. Any thoughts

[keli]

My pool is stained now. The dust settled into the walls and floor of my pool. I am hoping that the water is still safe. It doesn't come up in tests and my water is balanced. I tested for metals and nothing really comes up. I thing I will have to empy it next year and clean it before opening next year. Has anyone had any success getting rid of the stain after an extended period of time? Is it safe to swim this year?

[Guest]

I have seen this happen when too much acid is added to the pool at a time. When acid is added when pouring in as you walk instead of pouring it in columns about 4 feet apart. Make sure pool water is properly balanced. Then you brush purple residue off ALL surfaces (very time and energy consuming),vac pool, clean filter (acid wash if needed). Alway's lower ph by adding small amounts of acid at a time checking levels every 24 hrs until ideal levels are reached.