You have (and use) your swimming pool because you want to have a relaxing and enjoyable time in your home. As a result, the last thing you want is to get your hair, nails, and various parts of your skin stained in the process. Because of this, you simply need to know how to get brown pool water clean without stress.
To that end, there are any number of approaches you can take, depending on what’s most convenient for you. Some things you can do to get rid of this problem include adding shock to the water, using flocculent, iron remover, or preventing oxidation.
Moving forward, we’ll be exploring what all these options have to afford you and the best ways that you can leverage them. Keeping your pool in the most optimal conditions for use isn’t an easy feat. So here, we’ll be highlighting all you need to know to make this task a bit easier!
What Makes Pool Water Brown?
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Down this road, the first thing you need to know is that brown pool water isn’t an unusual phenomenon. In fact, it’s a very common occurrence. What’s more, several causative factors may be responsible for your pool water turning brown suddenly.
Knowing what some of these are can go a long way in improving the overall efficacy of your treatment method. With this in mind, here are some of the most common causes of brown pool water include;
1. High Concentrations of Metals in the Pool
The presence of metals like iron in large quantities can cause your pool water to change color drastically. When these metals dissolve in your water, this often results in the formation of colored complexes. In addition to this, the water will also acquire a strong and bitter metallic taste and smell.
2. The Presence of Chlorine
Another thing that might cause this situation with your pool is chlorine. However, this occurs more commonly when you’ve been struggling with an algae problem in your pool. It is also known to happen if you don’t chlorinate regularly.
3. The Presence of Suspended Material
In some instances, suspended material from the soil and/or air has also been known to color your pool water. This is because they form an oily layer that decomposes which triggers a coloration reaction. In addition to this, it is also possible for you to contribute to the accumulation of suspended materials well.
This is because, when you swim with lotion on your body, your pool absorbs a considerable portion of the lotion, further coloring the water.
Finding the Cause of Brown Water in Your Pool
So, we’ve established that your pool has a color problem. Also, we’ve identified a few of the causative factors that could cause this.
However, you need to get a bit more specific if you want to effectively deal with the problem at hand. To that end, some of the ways to effectively identify what causative agent you’re dealing with include but isn’t limited to;
1. Check for the Presence of Rusted Metal Objects in Your Pool
Rusting and disintegrating objects in your pool can easily cause the brown color you’re observing. So, be sure to check for everything from lost earrings to coins and other metal objects that might be in your pool.
Along these lines, don’t forget to check the paint of your pool walls as well. If they aren’t good enough, they might leach, causing discoloration in the process.
2. Examine Your Pool Filter and Other Pump Components
Another thing you need to do here is to check your filter system. If it’s operating as it should, your pool water shouldn’t get adulterated so easily. However, if your pool system has broken pipes or hoses, it becomes easier for your pool to get discolored.
3. Run a Test on Your Pool
Finally, you can use chemical kits to test various portions of your pool. This will help you more concisely determine just which discoloring agent you’re dealing with.
To that end, be sure to test for agents like manganese, copper, and iron.
Ways You Can Make Your Pool Clean Again
After you’ve been able to successfully identify the factors making your pool water change color, the next task becomes getting rid of them. Along these lines, the four options open to you are;
Putting Shock in the Pool
Using shock in your pool is a remarkably effective way of dispelling bad pool water color. What’s more, you can follow this strategy in two ways.
The first is to use a chlorine pool shock while the shock is to use a non-pool shock. As such, it’s the nature of the factor causing your brown pool water that will determine which type of agent you will use.
For this reason, it’s often best that you reach out to a pool expert to tell you which shocking agent will be the best one to use for your pool.
Adding Flocculent to the Pool Water
To use this method of approach, all you need to do is change the direction of your filter. You need to set it to a backward flow.
After this, you need to estimate the right quantity of flocculent you would need to properly treat your pool. One rule of thumb you can follow here is to use ¼ of a gallon of flocculent for every 6,500 gallons of water in your pool.
Next, simply add this substance to your water and wait. The flocculent will bind with the iron and then settle at the bottom of the pool. Once that’s done, the only thing left to do is to collect it!
Preventing Oxidation from Occurring
Yet another line of action you can opt to follow is to try and prevent oxidation from taking place in the first place. As it’s the oxidation and consequent rusting of metals like iron that’s often responsible for the brown water in your pool, you can forestall this development.
To do this, you can make your pool insusceptible to rusting. This can be easily achieved by introducing your chelating agent into your swimming pool. The presence of this substance in your pool forms a compound in your pool.
Because of this, should iron enter your pool, it won’t be able to oxidize and rust in the process. With this, your pool will be able to stay cleaner for longer!
Applying Iron Remover
To use this method, you need to first ensure that your pool filter pumps are turned on. Next, you should avoid water chlorination. This is to make sure that the water level in your pool gradually starts to drop.
Finally, after you’ve ensured that the chlorine level is finally at zero, introduce a pH reducer to the water. For the best effect, you should consider applying ¼ gallons of iron remover for every 5, 000 gallons of water.
Next, leave the iron remover to work overnight. By morning, your pool should be crystal-clear!
At this point, the only thing left to do is increase the pH levels of the water back to between 7.2 to 7.8.
Final Word
Nobody likes brown pool water! Now, you know all you need to know to not only get rid of the colored water but also ensure that your pool never gets discolored again!
Each of the strategies we’ve highlighted here has been tested and trusted, effectively ensuring that you can count on it to get the job done with ease at all times.
Of course, keeping your swimming pool in optimal conditions for use is a continuous effort. This is why you need a reliable source of information to help guide your hand. Simply follow this link to find all you need to know to maintain a perfect pool without effort.