Brown Stains in Salt Water Pool - How to Remove Them

Stains are one of the common occurrences if you have a pool, but removing the stains is not as simple as you may think it to be. There is no particular process by which a stain can be removed. What may work well on one type of stain may not be so effective on another stain. The first and foremost rule of removing the stain is to test the stain. The most common type of stains you will find are the brown stains in salt water pool. These stains can be caused due to various factors such as through nature, metal, chlorine, etc.

Brown Stains in Salt Water Pool

What Are These Pool Stains?
The pool stains can be of various appearances and sizes. The size of the stains can be as small as the size of a hair clip and as large as the whole pool. Almost every swimming pool has some sort of stains in it. When the stain is beyond acceptance, you must take some action to remove the stains as soon as possible before they leave a permanent mark. Not only does this affect the appearance of the pool, this can deteriorate the quality of the water in your pool too.

What Causes Pool Stains?
Stains can be caused due to different reasons. The primary cause of stains is the introduction of metals into the water. This can react with the chlorine present in the water and give a dark colored metal oxide, which then becomes the stain. There are many ways by which a metal can be introduced into the water. They include:

• Adding Salt to the Salt Water Pool: One of the most common causes of stain is the salt. The iron, depending on the severity, provides with a yellow to brown stain in the pool. Even the Manganese can also give a quite dark brown or even a blackish stain.
• Liquid Chlorine: The yellow colored stain that you notice in the pool is usually due to the iron. But with continuous use for several years, the iron can build up to form brown stains.
• Garden Dirt: Often the dirt and dusts from the garden area are washed into the pool due to heavy rain. This dirt may contain manganese and copper which can cause a brown stain.
• Organic Stains: Even the leaf stains or the algae stains can cause a brownish colored stain in the pool.

How to Remove the Stains?
Stains can broadly fall into four categories – oxidation, metal stains, organic stain and scale stain. Here is the way to remove the stains:

Step #1: First, you have to test the stain. Whether the stain is due to iron, manganese or silver or is an organic stain.

Step #2: For the iron and manganese stain, you have to remove the chlorine first and then ensure that the pH level is within 7.2 to 7.6.

Step #3: For the copper brown stains in salt water pool you have to ensure that the chlorine level must not be above 3.0 PPM and the pH level must be within 6.8 to 7.2.

Next Steps
Treating each and every stain is different for pools. Depending on what kind of stain you’re dealing with, there are different remedies you’ll have to utilize. So, are you still wondering what the brown stains in salt water pool are? They’re most likely due to adding salt to salt water pools, liquid chlorine, garden dirt, or are organic stains.