How to Identify and Remove Pool Stains

Stains have and will always be a pain in the butt. You may feel disheartened when you encounter stains in hefty investments, especially when you find them in your luxury pool. But understanding how to identify and treat pool stains will help ease the removal of these pasty eyesores. Read on to discover some helpful pool stain removal tips suggested by the trusted Shoreline Pools maintenance team.

First Things First: Identify the Pool Stain

Just like illnesses, it is impossible to effectively treat a stain without diagnosing it. There are two different categories of pool stains: organic stains and metal stains. Organic pool stains result from natural elements’ effects on a pool like algae or mud. Meanwhile, metal pool stains usually have a darker, reddish-brown appearance. The two most common types of metal stains you will see are iron and copper stains. These chemically induced spots often manifest after adding chlorine to the water. You can also experience rust in pools that have corroded pool fixtures or metal objects in the structure.

Organic stains are far easier to remove than metal stains. Thankfully, pool owners can conduct a simple test to confirm if the stain is organic or metal.

• Organic Stain Test: Add a few sprinkles of granular chlorine to the stain and scrub the granules into the stain with a brush. If the stain vanishes, it is organic. If not, it may be metal.
• Metal Stain Test: Add some ascorbic acid or crushed up Vitamin C onto the stain. Again, scrub away because any metal-based stain will slowly disappear.

How to Remove Organic Pool Stains

Organic stains are quite simple to remove and do not pose a huge threat to your luxury pool’s integrity. Since these smudges arise from natural causes, you can complete the following steps to mitigate any unappealing organic pool stains.

Step 1: Remove Leaves & Debris from the Pool’s Surface

Using a pool net, remove excess leaves and outside material that lies on the top or inside your pool.

Step 2: Test the Water’s Levels

Next, lower your chlorine levels to less than 1.0 parts per million. You can do this by either using chlorine neutralizer or not using sanitizer for a few days.

Step 3: Shock the Pool

“Shocking” occurs when you add chemicals to your pool to break apart “combined chlorine,” thereby raising the chlorine levels in the water. Shock is a granular oxidizer, a powdered form of chlorine. With organic pool stains, you want to kill the bacteria and other organic things creeping into your luxury pool. So raising the chlorine levels will successfully purge any bacteria and allow for dirty spots to fade faster.

You can find the instructions and measurements provided on the product’s guide to determine the appropriate amount needed. More importantly, always add the shock directly to your pool and never mix shock with anything other than water since it’s highly reactive. Pro Tip: Shock your pool at nighttime to allow for the chlorine to clean the water. If you shock during the daytime, the UV rays from the sun will dissolve the chlorine.

Step 4: Brush the Stains Until They Disappear

After shocking your pool’s water, you must now brush away any particular spots on the floor or wall inside your pool that you wish to eliminate.

Step 5: Run Your Pool’s Pump

Now it’s time to switch your pool pump on to filter out the dirty water. Our pool-cleaning experts recommend running your pool pump for at least eight hours to ensure maximum efficiency.

Step 6: Brush the Stains Again

There’s always a chance that some stubborn stains will persist. As such, you may need to complete a second round of scrubbing to make sure they recede completely.

Step 7: Check to See if the Stains Disappeared

After completing all the steps listed above, check to see if your hard work paid off. If not, just repeat the entire process until all stains dissipate.

How to Remove Metal Stains in Your Pool

Many pool owners may feel worried that metal stains will become a permanent addition to their luxury pool. Luckily, they can eliminate tough smudges by following these steps:

Step 1: Lower You Water’s Chlorine Levels

While effective at removing algae, chlorine can add to your stain problems. Since chlorine oxidizes areas of your pool, like the bottom, you should lower chlorine levels down to 0 parts per million. You can do this by partially draining the pool and filling it with fresh water. You can also purchase a chlorine neutralizer to quickly bring down the chlorine levels.

Step 2: Add Algaecide

Algaecide, as you probably already guessed, it kills algae. While chlorine makes a great algaecide, algae can grow with lower chlorine levels. So adding algaecide to your pool’s water during this process will keep your water free of any disgusting algae. Algaecide is readily available to purchase at your local pool store or online and has the instructions on the bottle.

Step 3: Apply Vitamin C on the Stain

Vitamin C, otherwise known as ascorbic acid, is an ingredient that fights stains due to its high acidity levels. Rubbing a Vitamin C tablet on stains can help lift it quicker.

Step 4: Add Ascorbic Acid for Larger Stains

Some larger metal pool stains require extra effort to treat by hand, so try sprinkling ascorbic acid evenly on the surface of your pool. Use a half-pound of ascorbic acid for every 10,000 gallons of water in your pool.

Step 5: Circulate Your Water

Next, you need to turn on your pool pump and allow the filters to circulate the stain-eliminating ingredients throughout the pool. The experts at Shoreline Pools recommend running the filters run for approximately half an hour.

Step 6: Check For Residual Stains

It’s finally time to see if your hard work was successful! If the metal pool stains are still present after running your filter for thirty minutes, simply repeat steps 3-5 until your pool looks stain-free!

Post-Stain Removal: Preventing Future Stains

Pool stains aren’t always by-products of poor or sporadic pool maintenance. In fact, it happens to all pools! But as time-consuming as cleaning pool stains take, you must remember you can take measures to prevent them from forming. After completing all six steps for removing metal stains, add some commercial enzymes to your pool to prevent the stain from returning. These enzymes lift materials from the bottom of your pool to keep it clean. In general, keeping your pool’s water properly balanced is key to avoiding any excessive staining.

Are you looking for reliable pool maintenance professionals this summer? Contact Shoreline Pools for unbeatable support and expertise by dialing (203) 967-1203 today! Our friendly maintenance team eagerly looks forward to helping restore your pool’s crystal-clear water.