Although MOST of us still have snow on the ground and/or ridiculously cold temperatures outside our windows, some other folks have started to experience weather warm enough to make them start thinking about… testing their pool water.
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‘TommyT’ wrote in and asked, “Due to a bad cover and probably a hole in my liner we will need to add a lot of fill water this Spring. We have a well and know we will need to shock real well come Spring, but will we need to test for things like iron or is that all a bunch of hype about iron and metals ruining pools?”
Definitely NOT a bunch of hype, Tommy. We highly suggest that anyone needing to add water to their pool from a well, or ANY source for that matter, perform a number of tests on the water BEFORE adding chlorine, bromine, etc. If present in the water, minerals like iron and copper will immediately get oxidized by sanitizers ‘drop out of solution’. When that happens, they land on pool fittings, liners, steps/stairs, etc. and could leave permanent stains!
Yeah, sure, we would still suggest adding products like Sea Klear Metal Klear or Jack’s Magic Pink Stuff even after testing, but the testing will let you know if you need a lot of those products or just a normal maintenance dose.
Trust us when we say that the time and money spent testing the water before shocking does not compare to the amount of time and money wasted when people have to clean up stains caused by metals in their pool water!
I personally use a water filter from Ecosmarte on my well water to remove the iron before filling the pool. this helps to reduce or eliminate the amount of chemicals that are required to open my pool.