Another Ascorbic Acid Treatment

[Taylor1584]

Just did my 3rd treatment in 9 years. Works every time. Should have taken before and afters. The best indicator is my Polaris is now bright white and not the color of Lipton Tea. The same with the ports where the water comes into the pool. I purchased from Storefront : PC NetwoRx Inc. as suggested in the post here on TFP that got me started on this years ago. My price for 5 pounds was $35 and $7.50 for regular ground, that's $8.50/pound. I am in the outskirts of SW Houston and my water is very high in iron and manganese so much so that I have a special FILOX filter prior to the water softener. My white t shirts were turning the color of tea coming out of the laundry before I figured that out. Just wanted to let anyone interested that it does work, I brushed my pool twice after putting in the AA and the stains were gone. I did put in polyquat 60 prior, and have more. Just added the Jack's Purple Magic Sequestrant, have more of that also. Will continue filtering for 24 hrs. and then start to work on slooooowly adding chemicals. TFP always had the best advice, thanks so much to all of you that have contributed so the rest of us can learn the easy way, the less expensive way, and not get pool stored.

Chris

 

[pooldv]

Nice update. Thanks for posting!

More here for folks looking for more info on dealing with stains and metals.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains

Here are the directions to use Ascorbic acid to rid your pool of metal stains: Here is the ascorbic treatment: Take your chlorine down to 0 and PH down to 7.2, if there is chlorine in the water it won't hurt, it will just eat up the ascorbic acid, so you will need more to get rid of the...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Taylor1584]

Nice update. Thanks for posting!

More here for folks looking for more info on dealing with stains and metals.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains

Here are the directions to use Ascorbic acid to rid your pool of metal stains: Here is the ascorbic treatment: Take your chlorine down to 0 and PH down to 7.2, if there is chlorine in the water it won't hurt, it will just eat up the ascorbic acid, so you will need more to get rid of the...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks for adding those links.

 

[Taylor1584]

Is there a way to measure how much sequestrate is in the pool, Jack's Purple Magic is what I am using. I know to add some every week to keep the iron sequestered, but do I just add the maintenance amount on the bottle. Every pool is a different size. I do know to keep an eye on the ph and lower if necessary and add more Purple. But is there a test so I could after time know at this level no stains appear and at this level is where I start to see staining. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Ever consider trying to remove the iron using the Polyfil trick?

Maddie

 

[pooldv]

Edit: There is a test for sequestrant, see below.
There are no tests for sequestrants levels. Some folks have been successful by keeping an eye on plastic items in the pool that tend to stain first, like skimmer housings or pool cleaners. As you've noticed those discolor more noticeably. So, as soon as the plastic stuff starts to stain they add sequestrant.

 

[Vanillathunder25]

This is awesome...I just dropped in 3 tabs of Vit C, straight out of my Rx cabinet just to see if this works and these pics are after 2 min and 5 min....I'm going to clearly do more but i think this might be an easier way that uses less AA, and is a direct hit on the stains....pool is too cold (48) to get in and mess with it now but I'm excited how easy this will be.

 

[Taylor1584]

There are no tests for sequestrants levels. Some folks have been successful by keeping an eye on plastic items in the pool that tend to stain first, like skimmer housings or pool cleaners. As you've noticed those discolor more noticeably. So, as soon as the plastic stuff starts to stain they add sequestrant.

Good tip. The first time I did the AA treatment my Polaris became bright white again, same with the skimmers. I will keep an eye out.

 

[Taylor1584]

OP here. I am going to post my numbers and then my questions.
FC 2
Ph 7.2
TA 60
CH 270
CYA 0
Salt 3000
Borate 0
Temp 78
CSI -0.69

4/12 Ph and FC lowered, polyquat 60, AA treatment, pool filter on, SWG off
4/13 stains gone, added Jack's Magic Purple stuff, began adding bleach to bring FC to 2, checked pool every hour, checking every hour early morning till about 11 pm, adding more bleach continuing to bring FC to 2. Ph was consistently at 7.0 throughout
4/14 Ph holding at 7, continue with bleach to 2, checking every hour early morning till about 11 pm Added more Polyquat 60
4/15 to present I have added MA several times when Ph crept up to 7.2 - 7.3, still adding bleach FC drifting down to 0 and 0.5 hourly, sometimes taking 2 hours,
4/18 Ph is holding 7.2 for 2 + hours, then only for an hour, turned on SWG to 30%, now adding less bleach, small amounts of MA.

Question: While I want to get the FC to hold before any other adjustments, I am concerned about the CSI. Do I continue with just monitoring FC and Ph and nothing else and ignore the CSI? All the CYA over the winter is gone and is truly 0.

Thanks

 

[Mr Bruce]

Let your pH come up a bit, target 7.5-7.8. As the water warms up your CSI will be fine.

 

[Taylor1584]

Let your pH come up a bit, target 7.5-7.8. As the water warms up your CSI will be fine.

Mr. Bruce,
I thought I was to have the Chlorine hold before doing any other balancing.

 

[Mr Bruce]

I didn't mean right now I meant in the coming weeks.

 

[Texas Splash]

Question: While I want to get the FC to hold before any other adjustments, I am concerned about the CSI. Do I continue with just monitoring FC and Ph and nothing else and ignore the CSI? All the CYA over the winter is gone and is truly 0.

Now that the AA is completed and you are in post-AA mode, I see no reason why you shouldn't have some CYA. Without it your FC will go extremely fast, not to mention whatever FC is still in the pool will be much more harsh to the pool. If your water is still chilly, you can probably get away with a lower CYA for a salt pool, but soon you'll need the protection. The last thing you want to loose FC, get algae, and have to do is a SLAM which would only exhaborate the iron once again and ruin all that good work.

I'd also try to keep the pH on the low side for now as iron seems to react less abruptly to a lower pH. Your CSI is a bit low sure, but once we get a couple good days of sun the water temp will change that. I don't think I would let the pH get over 7.4 for now. Take it slowly as you adjust everything to ensure the iron doesn't try to react again.
Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains
Ascorbic Acid Treatment

 

[Taylor1584]

I didn't mean right now I meant in the coming weeks.

Gothch, thanks.

 

[Taylor1584]

Now that the AA is completed and you are in post-AA mode, I see no reason why you shouldn't have some CYA. Without it your FC will go extremely fast, not to mention whatever FC is still in the pool will be much more harsh to the pool. If your water is still chilly, you can probably get away with a lower CYA for a salt pool, but soon you'll need the protection. The last thing you want to loose FC, get algae, and have to do is a SLAM which would only exhaborate the iron once again and ruin all that good work.

I'd also try to keep the pH on the low side for now as iron seems to react less abruptly to a lower pH. Your CSI is a bit low sure, but once we get a couple good days of sun the water temp will change that. I don't think I would let the pH get over 7.4 for now. Take it slowly as you adjust everything to ensure the iron doesn't try to react again.

Splash,
I think I will start to boost the CYA in increments, especially since it's zero. I did set my SWG to 30% last night and the chlorine was at 3 this morning.

 

[Saturn94]

Is there a way to measure how much sequestrate is in the pool, Jack's Purple Magic is what I am using. I know to add some every week to keep the iron sequestered, but do I just add the maintenance amount on the bottle. Every pool is a different size. I do know to keep an eye on the ph and lower if necessary and add more Purple. But is there a test so I could after time know at this level no stains appear and at this level is where I start to see staining. Inquiring minds want to know.

There are no tests for sequestrants levels. Some folks have been successful by keeping an eye on plastic items in the pool that tend to stain first, like skimmer housings or pool cleaners. As you've noticed those discolor more noticeably. So, as soon as the plastic stuff starts to stain they add sequestrant.

Actually, Jack’s Magic does have a test kit for this. It’s a bit pricey though.

Sequest Test Kit | Jacks Magic

jacksmagic.com

Years ago when I started using the Purple Stuff, I bought the test kit (was cheaper then ?). I found that the suggested maintenance dose on the bottle was close enough to maintain the recommended level, so I stopped testing.

 

[pooldv]

 

[Taylor1584]

Actually, Jack’s Magic does have a test kit for this. It’s a bit pricey though.

Sequest Test Kit | Jacks Magic

jacksmagic.com

Years ago when I started using the Purple Stuff, I bought the test kit (was cheaper then ?). I found that the suggested maintenance dose on the bottle was close enough to maintain the recommended level, so I stopped testing.

Thank you for that update. I have been following the guidelines on the bottle and so far so good. Though I just dumped in an entire bottle. I have been gone a week, after getting every thing looking pretty good, just got back and have been working steadily to get back my pool. While gone my yard received 17.2 inches of rain with in 24 hours, the first 7" in less than 4 hours, it's Houston after all. I am posting my new mess of test results on a new post.