Fix Metal Staining In Vinyl Pools

Fixing metal stains is vinyl pools is a bit more of a process compared to fiberglass, concrete or marcite because you can't drain the water from the pool without likely damaging the liner or at the least wrinkling it.

Despite Chlorine Levels brown tinted water is apparent from iron in the water

Adding Chlorine to a pool with high metal particles in it can quickly turn the water literally dark brown.

So what do you do to fix iron stains in a vinyl pool?

Severe iron stains accumulated on the plastic steps of this swimming pool

How to remove metal stains from a vinyl pool in 5 steps.

Step 1: Find the source of the metal and remove. Often times I find the source of the metal staining is around the jets or inside the jet covers, then I trace it back to find a corroded pressure gauge 90% of the time.

Other occasions I've seen corroded pump impellers or the small mesh filter inside a pentair pool sweep hose.

Step 2: Apply 1lb of powdered food grade Citric Acid per 10k gallons and keep chlorine level at 1 ppm.

Now the stains will lift and disperse into the water, you'll need to add bicarb to bring ph back up as pool will be cloudy.

Step 3: Use magnets in a sock in the skimmer basket and a product like CU later. Add some metal free and cellulose powder into skimmer to help add more microns to the filtration rate.

Step 4: Vacuum metal that has settled to the bottom to waste and then backwash until clear. Add more cellulose powder to skimmers and add cotton socks to jet returns if possible to add filtration and catch metal particles.

Step 5: Switch over to bromine products like yellow treat to sanitize the pool water as it doesn't oxidize the metal particles as severely as liquid chlorine or calcium hypochlorite shock.

Metal stain removal success

Repeat the vacuuming to waste and backwashing steps until complete.

Removing metal stains can be a tricky process but you can do it with finesse.

The metal stains will lift and your pool will return to normal. Don't be alarmed if it turns slightly brown or tinted green. Follow the process and keep at it.

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