Noticing a stain in a swimming pool can ruin the day of pool owners and engineers alike, but with Lo-Chlor Chemicals, addressing stains is nothing to be scared about, and something that can usually be treated very easily.
Are we dealing with a stain?
Before getting worried about what has caused a stain or how we are going to get rid of it, let us first find out, are we dealing with a stain?
A simple way to do this is to get your fingernail and scratch at the “stain”, if you then look under your nail and see if there is any residue. If we have residue then it is likely that we are dealing with some kind of organic matter most likely to be algae and therefore we need to proceed with a different kind of treatment.
If there is no residue then we can assume we are dealing with a stain and therefore we can proceed with the stain treatment.
What is the root cause of the stain?
Once we have established that we are dealing with a stain, the first stage of any treatment should always be to work out what the cause is. The reason we do this is because if we do not address the root cause it is likely that the stain will just keep coming back regardless of how many times we treat it.
Often this can be obvious, you may have rusty pool steps, a corroded heat exchanger, or some leaves have been left on the pool bottom. But sometimes the cause may not be clear, in which case we need to work out what it is so that we can remove it.
An effective way of doing this would be to get the water tested for metals, this is because stains are caused by metal ions that are present in the water that have fallen out of suspension. This can be done by taking a water bottle full of the pool water to a pool shop that offers pool water testing, or some test strips are available for you to test yourself but these often test for only one kind of metal so you would need to anticipate what the issue may be.
Once the results are back then you can use this information to work out what the problem is, for example if the results come back with elevated levels of copper, we know that this is due to the either source water or the corrosion of copper piping somewhere in the plumbing system.
Unfortunately, sometimes we will not be able to determine or remove the root cause of the staining for example if your source water is high in iron. In which case you can use Lo-Chlor No More Metal at a dose rate of 125ml per 50,000L of water on a weekly basis as a preventative measure.
Why is treating a stain easy?
At Lo-Chlor we believe treating a stain is simple, and a big part of this is down to the fact that many stains regardless of the cause, the size, how long it has been there, can all be treated by following the same steps.
1. Adjust the pH of the pool to 7.0
– Like all chemicals used in a pool environment our stain products work best in certain parameters, so we need to get the pH to 7.0
2. Ensure all sanitiser levels are at 0ppm
– Remember if there is no sanitiser in the pool this means no swimming until the pool is rebalanced.
3. Backwash the Filter
– The filter is at the heart of our stain treatment, so we want it working at its most efficient, that means backwashing before we proceed.
4. Add Lo-Chlor Multi Stain Remover
– Dilute the product in a clean plastic bucket according to the dosage on the bottle. Then distribute around the pool OR directly over the stained area if it is particularly localised. After a few minutes you will notice the stain start to lift.
5. Add Lo-Chlor No More Metal
– Once the stain has begun to lift, we need to add Lo-Chlor No More Metal to keep the stain in suspension in the water so it can be taken out via the filter. If we do not do this over time it can redeposit and then we will have to go back to the start.
6. Run the Pump and Filter for 24 Hours
– This stage is critical. We want to ensure that the chemicals have enough time running through the system to make sure all staining has been lifted and that the filter has had a chance to remove those metal ions present in the water.
7. Backwash the Filter Again
– Before we can resume normal filtration, we need to get all those metal ions that are currently in the filter media out to waste. This is important as if we do not backwash those ions will stay in the pool environment waiting to redeposit.
8. Rebalance and Sanitise
– Finally, we can resume normal filtration and rebalance the pool. This is another key step as you will have to move both the pH and Total Alkalinity. Total Alkalinity should not be raised by more than 20ppm per day as this can buffer stains back out of suspension meaning we are back to step one.
9. Enjoy your stain free pool
– Once water has been rebalanced and sanitised it is now fine to resume swimming.
Top Tips
Now we have established that dealing with staining is straightforward here are some other top tips you may want to consider when it comes to your stain treatment.
● Treating stains can cause the water to go cloudy, to prevent this add a Lo-Chlor Miraclear Clarifier Cube whilst dosing the No More Metal. Not only will this reduce any clarity issues, but it will also continue to keep your pool clear for 30 days.
● For sensitive pool surfaces or localised staining Lo-Chlor Multi Stain Remover can be applied using a sock tied to the end of a telescopic pole and hung just over the stained surface.
● When filling or refilling a pool in an area to avoid staining from source water Lo-Chlor No More Metal can be added at a rate of 50ml per 5m³ to keep any metals in the water in suspension so that they can be filtered out before they deposit in the newly filled pool.
