I have owned a swimming pool for over twenty years and have had good luck, but now have 0.09 copper level.?

My water is slightly green, all chemistry is perfect accept the copper level. What product do I use to bring it down to zero? The pool stores want me to buy their expensive chemicals, but maybe you may have another cheap way on reducing the copper level.
Thanks for your help.
Chuck Hamerton
chamerton@comcast.net

Unfortunately short of draining the pool and refilling it there is nothing you can do to remove the copper. Note I said remove, not stabilize and I will explain this later. I’m answering your question directly but also adding things you probably already know for others who may read this…

There are many ways to get copper into your pool, and if you’ve had it for twenty years without problem then the most likely cause is the addition of the copper through an algaecide. These contain copper concentrations and are recommended to be used by the pool store, but are really more harmful than good. Another way of getting copper into your pool is to have a heat exchanger or copper piping in your system and then having the alkalinity and pH of your pool fall into acidic levels. This will leech copper from the surfaces containing it and then suspend them in the water. Since your pool has been up and running for twenty years without problem, it is HIGHLY unlikely that your water chemistry changed in the refill water, so one of the above is likely a problem (or someone dropped a penny into the pool and you missed it).

Now that you know what causes copper in your pool, let’s talk about why you can’t get rid of it.

Once the concentrations start approaching 1ppm you will have a blue-green tint to the water. This increases the chances of having the copper “drop” from the water whenever other conditions are met. This can stain hair, clothing, and pool surfaces. Of course once the copper is “dropped” from the water then you can clean tiles with a weak muratic acid solution and you will have no more copper in your pool (this includes draining it to reach the lowest parts, so why not drain it in the first place).

As for the pool store chemicals, well there’s a problem. These are chelating materials and they don’t remove copper no matter how much the guys behind the counter claim they do. What they do is bind with the copper and keep it in a solution in the water in a molecular form that is unlikely to “drop” from the water. You will still have your copper levels, but it will clear the water up for you somewhat. As you know this is an expensive solution to the problem, and really isn’t a solution at all since it just masks the copper… like fixing a car by giving it a new paint job.

You can accidentally force the copper out of the water by changing water chemistry in a drastic way (adding calcium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate on the same day, these are Calcium Hardness Increaser and pH UP respectively). The problem here is most of the time you are only following the pool stores instructions, like shocking the pool and adjusting pH on the same day, adjusting calcium hardness and pH on the same day, shocking the pool and adjusting calcium hardness on the same day, etc.

The only way to get rid of the copper in the water is to drain and refill the pool with clean water, or force “drop” the copper out of the water and then clean it off the bottom. Adding the pool store chemicals only mask the problem and don’t solve it. Depending on the solution you want (mask or ridding of it) will determine what you do.

I can also help you get rid of the pool store all together and run your pool from the grocery store for drastically less money. Grocery store chemicals are chemically exactly the same as the pool store stuff. I’ve been asked to speak and teach by my local health department on how to get folks off the pool store addiction. Just drop me an email if you want to learn more.

Interfab Zoomerang Swimming Pool Slide