Hello we are just getting our pool up and running for the season…it was a cloudy blue so I put in some chlorine but it immediately turned brown!! Now what do I do?
Brown water
- Thread starter Scranny
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Probably iron. Are you on a well? If so, get some polyfill ASAP and put in the skimmers. Try to capture as much as you can now.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Here's a good story.
www.troublefreepool.com
From brown to 😍😍. Thank you polyfil!
We filled our pool from our well. We knew the risks and knew we would have a battle when the water was 12" deep as it looked green from the metals. Our fears were confirmed when we added chlorine and the water turned brown almost immediately. Enter 5 gallon polyfil filter. It worked...
www.troublefreepool.com
Husband made me a filter like the one you sent pic of!! We have a 24 ft round pool..will this take a few days to clear up with just using the polyfil bucket filter? Do I need to dump in any metal out or anything?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
How long it takes to filter is a bit of guesswork. You might see decent result in a day or two. Definitely don't add any sequestrant yet or you'll ruin any chance to filter it out mechanically. At least try to let the polyfill get as much as it can for a couple days, then you can decide if you need to use a sequestrant.
So it’s been 2 days with our polyfil filter running and water is still brown…I even changed out the poly late last night thinking maybe that would help. But this morning no difference or change in Pool. I’m getting frustrated!! Now what do I do?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
My FC is 12
Ph:8.0
Ak:255
Cya: 30
Ch: 575…
I got some very high numbers!! Here’s a pic of my pool water. It also has a layer of white Crud on the bottom that when I try sweeping it’s just a big white cloud! Maybe it’s dead algea from when we first opened the pool 2 weeks ago and it was sewage and I dumped in bleach and it cleared it up to a foggy blue. We then had to add water for the season and here it turned brown after we filled it up. We are well water also. I just don’t know what to do next. The pool store tried selling me a tiny 30$ bottle of something to get rid of iron but after reading TFP stuff I don’t think I trust them now.
Ph:8.0
Ak:255
Cya: 30
Ch: 575…
I got some very high numbers!! Here’s a pic of my pool water. It also has a layer of white Crud on the bottom that when I try sweeping it’s just a big white cloud! Maybe it’s dead algea from when we first opened the pool 2 weeks ago and it was sewage and I dumped in bleach and it cleared it up to a foggy blue. We then had to add water for the season and here it turned brown after we filled it up. We are well water also. I just don’t know what to do next. The pool store tried selling me a tiny 30$ bottle of something to get rid of iron but after reading TFP stuff I don’t think I trust them now.
Attachments
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Good job maintaining the proper FC level. 
Don't worry about performing the other tests during the SLAM Process. They aren't important and/or the elevated FC level skews those other numbers anyway. FC is most important right now, and perhaps doing the CC every once in a while. Continue with the polyfill for sure. I suspect the elevated FC level is helping to keep the iron precipitated which is making the water brown.
Once your water is clear, even if ice tea color, and you pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, then we know you are algae free and only have residual iron to contend with, either by polyfill filtering our later perhaps a sequestrant. Yes, it sounds as though the white stuff on the pool floor may have been dead algae. Continue with the brushing and vacuuming as best as you can.
Hopefully there is no ladder or steps in that pool. Those are big algae traps. Hang in there.
Don't worry about performing the other tests during the SLAM Process. They aren't important and/or the elevated FC level skews those other numbers anyway. FC is most important right now, and perhaps doing the CC every once in a while. Continue with the polyfill for sure. I suspect the elevated FC level is helping to keep the iron precipitated which is making the water brown. Once your water is clear, even if ice tea color, and you pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, then we know you are algae free and only have residual iron to contend with, either by polyfill filtering our later perhaps a sequestrant. Yes, it sounds as though the white stuff on the pool floor may have been dead algae. Continue with the brushing and vacuuming as best as you can.
Hopefully there is no ladder or steps in that pool. Those are big algae traps. Hang in there.
Thanks for the encouragement I’m about to give up cuz now my vacuum broke and there’s so much crud on the bottom!! But what kind of sequestriant or whatever it’s called should I use?
What do I use for a sequestrat should I use? Also I checked my chlorine this morning and it went down to 3!!! I was at 12 on Saturday!! Now what?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic the Pink Stuff (regular), the Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and the Purple Stuff (SWG) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find other brands with similar products, some of which are noticeably less expensive. Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,005
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Chlorine can be expected to drop a little each day as the water warms. A regular drop of 2-4 ppm can be expected. So unless you have something to product chlorine automatically like a salt water generator, you have to manually add a little chlorine each day.
Similar threads
