Your pool is green. But it is not algae. It looks
almost like someone added food coloring to the water. A green tint almost. Or
you finished swimming for a couple of hours and you get out and notice your
hair is green. Like you were hit by gamma radiation. Or maybe you notice purple
dust all over your pool cleaner and pool walls. Almost like the kids were
playing with purple chalk in the pool. All of these are related in some way and
it is an indication of metals in your pool water.
The most likely source of all of these is a copper
level in your pool over the acceptable 0.4 ppm. How did the copper get into
your pool? Here are some likely sources. The pool fill water may be the source. If you are on
well water it is likely to have some level of copper in it. As the weather gets
hot and you are adding fresh water to your pool you may also be adding low
levels of copper. They can eventually build up to a 0.2 or 0.4 level causing a
green tint in the water, green hair and purple dust (I will touch more on the
purple dust later).
You may be using a copper algaecide in your pool and
not even know it. Look at the active ingredients carefully and you may see
copper listed. Overusing copper algaecide can add copper to the water. Also, enhancers like PoolRX, Flog mineral and Zodiac Nature 2 can add copper to the
water if you add to the product incorrectly. Mainly if you add too large of the size
of the product, the minerals can cause copper to enter the water.
If your pool’s pH drops below 6.8 for prolonged
periods of time, the acidic water can cause metal parts in the heater, pump or
filter to bleed metals into the pool water. If you have copper plumbing the low
pH will release copper into the water from the plumbing. It is important that
the pH in your pool never gets below 7.0 for an extended period of time. Dark black
staining is usually from iron bleeding out of the pool equipment when the pH
has been too low.
So if you notice a green tint to the pool water or
your blond hair turns green (this reaction is known as Copper
carbonate, it is copper in the water. If notice the purple dust it is copper
but this is only seen in conjunction with very high CYA levels. If the Cyanuric
Acid level gets above 100 ppm and the copper level gets above 0.4 ppm the
purple dust will drop out and cover your pool cleaner hoses, the cleaner head,
the pool walls, and the filter elements. To rid your pool of the purple dust a
partial drain or a full drain is needed to lower the CYA level down. Once the
CYA level drops down below 100 ppm the purple dust will start to disappear.
This dust is known as Copper Cyanurate.
To remove the copper from the water and reverse the green
tint and green hair you will need to do a metal treatment. This consists of
adding a metal sequestering agent like Jack’s Magic product in conjunction with
a Culator 4.0 added into your skimmer basket or pump basket. The sequestering
agents will suspend the metal ions and the Culator 4.0 will eventually extract
them from the pool water. It may take as long as 60 days but this treatment is
effective.
If you have brown copper stains on your pool wall and
floor you can treat the staining with the Ascorbic Acid Treatment. You can
purchase a branded Ascorbic Acid product or just purchase straight Ascorbic
Acid in powder form online. This treatment is highly effective in fiberglass
and a vinyl pool. For a plaster or PebbleTec pool with metal staining a full
drain and acid wash is the best way to remove the staining.
Bottom line, if copper is present in your pool water at
a level above 4.0 ppm your pool will develop these symptoms and you will have
to do a metal treatment to correct it or a full drain and acid wash.
Visit my Website: http://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/
YouTube Video Index: http://poolmandave.blogspot.com/2014/03/swimming-pool-tips-reviews-how-to-video.html – A
list of all of my videos.
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