What you get with remediation
- Water tested for metals and phosphates
- Sequestering or remediation product applied
- Staining treated at the source
- Chlorine demand brought back to normal
- Follow-up testing to confirm results
About this service
If your pool has brown, green, or rust-colored staining on the plaster, or your chlorine disappears no matter how much you add, the problem usually is not your chlorine. It is what is dissolved in the water. Metals like iron, copper, and manganese stain surfaces as they oxidize. Phosphates feed algae and eat through chlorine, which is why a pool can test fine one day and turn cloudy the next.
Neither problem goes away on its own, and neither is fixed by shocking the pool harder. Metals have to be sequestered or removed, and phosphates have to be brought down to a level where your chlorine can do its job again. That is what remediation is: treating the cause rather than chasing the symptom every week.
Along the Wasatch Front we see this often, particularly on pools filled from well water or topped off heavily through a hot summer. We test first so we know exactly what we are dealing with, then treat accordingly. Remediation is $300 plus labor, and we quote the labor before any work starts, once we have seen the water and know what the pool needs.
How it works
- We test the water. A full panel for metals and phosphates, so we treat what is actually there rather than guessing.
- We quote before we start. You get the $300 product cost plus a labor figure, agreed up front. No surprises after the fact.
- We treat the cause. Sequestering agents for metals, phosphate remover to bring levels down, applied at the right dose for your pool volume.
- We confirm it worked. Follow-up testing to make sure levels held and your chlorine is behaving normally again.
Common questions
How do I know if I have a metal or phosphate problem?
Two common signs. Staining on the plaster that is brown, rust-colored, green, or grey and does not brush off usually points to metals. Chlorine that vanishes within a day or two, or algae that keeps coming back despite good chemistry, usually points to phosphates. A water test tells us which one you are dealing with, and sometimes it is both.
How much does remediation cost?
Remediation is $300 for product, plus labor. Labor varies because the work does — a mild phosphate issue is a very different job from heavy metal staining across a whole pool. We test the water first, then give you a labor quote before we begin any work.
Will this fix the staining permanently?
Remediation treats what is dissolved in the water, which stops new staining from forming. Existing stains often lighten considerably as the metals are sequestered. Deep-set stains in older plaster sometimes need additional surface work, and we will tell you honestly which situation you are in once we have looked at it.
Can I just add a phosphate remover myself?
You can, and for a mild case it may be enough. The reason pools keep having the problem is usually dose and source. Off-the-shelf products are often underdosed for actual pool volume, and if phosphates keep entering the water from fill water or runoff, treating once does not hold. We test, dose properly, and then tell you how to keep levels down.