How To Clean Pool Steps That Are Yellow

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The other day I noticed a very hint of yellow haze on my white fiberglass pool steps. There was a definitive yellow water line, and it seems to clean up a bit when I scrubbed with a magic eraser or brillo pad. I scrubbed enough that its only noticeable in the dips of the treads on my stairs. I'm also paranoid and think I notice an ever so slight yellow tinge in on the liner in places. This would be places where my super old sun bleached out liner is typically the white-est.

Based on my first full analysis below with my ultra test kit recommended here, I added enough pH increaser to bring that up to 7.7-7.8.
5/14/15:
pH 7.3 - 7.4
FC 7
CC .5
TA 90
CYA 50
CH 175
Copper 0

Today, my pH was 7.6 and FC at 3.5 and CC at 0. All others are the same. I have a propane pool heater, so I'm concerned about copper stains. I have a copper test from the same place I purchased the test kit, and it shows zero. I tried putting a tri-clor puck on the steps for 5-10min, but it didn't do anything since the yellowing is in the dips of the treads.

We are in moderate drought here in Massachusetts and the pollen has been off the charts. I've been pulling out enough oak tree puke from the filter to fill about 2.5 gallon buckets daily, so keeping everything tidy has been impossible. This is my second year with the pool and didn't notice anything like this last year. Any thoughts on what the yello may be?

Mash up a few Vitamin C tablets and sprinkle the powder down into the treads. Brush it away in fifteen minutes or so. If it's metallic in nature, you'll have a white spot. Otherwise, the stain is organic, and chlorine and time will lighten it.

^in my pool with trace iron the yellowing of steps means I need to add more Metal Magic (sequestrant). If the vitamin c works, its a sign it could be iron.

If you've added a sequestrant at season startup, you may need to top up. Are you on well water?

When you say Vitamin C tablets, do you mean daily supplement tablets you get at the drug store?

I am on a well, but my iron readings are very low (0.06MG/l). I have zero signs of iron issues anywhere else in the house and never had any issues last year.

Before I found this site last year, I used the pool store guy to measure. He told me there was copper from my heater, so I added a sequestrant. I did get very low readings last year using my Taylor kit. This year, the test water doesn't turn yellow in the least bit. It's measuring absolutely zero copper. So either there is copper and the Taylor kit is lying to me, or this is none showing itself in the water. Can I still get stains from the copper if the Taylor kit is reading zero? I'll still try the Vitamin C, but I'm just interested how that can happen.

Yes, Vitamin C is ascorbic acid -- simple way to test for metals.

Metal tests aren't particularly reliable at the home kit level. Its not uncommon to test zero and still have precipitated stains. None of us know why

With iron, trace amounts can build up in the water over time. If you didn't use a start up dose of sequestrant this year, that may be all you need to do for it to clear. Generally, if you have metals at all, you need to periodically replenish sequestrant as it wears off.

So each year, you need a startup dose, followed by maintainenace doses.

In your home, do you use a water softener?
Most outdoor spigots bypass the softener systems.

Interesting. Well now I wish I didn't waste the money on the K-1730 kit!

No, I don't have any softeners.

Vitamin C worked awesome. I could write in the yellow using the tablet LOL. It hasn't gotten any worse over the past few days that's for sure. I'll have the pool store check for Cu. I believe used "Blue Stuff" last year when I saw high copper readings. I'll plan to have that be part of my opening procedure.

For what it is worth, I have had that problem with my stairs as well. A pool guy told me about Jack Magic which, I believe, is concentrated Vitamin C. It works just like the name says "magic". It is a two step process that takes about 10 minutes. And, it appeared to clear up some of the other yellow spots I was seeing on the main drain after a couple of days. You can find this at "In the Swim" on their website. Their catalog store is close by to me so I was able to get it there.

I am new to TFP and I do know that getting stuff from pool stores is not really the first choice.

Does Vitamin C take away stains from copper, iron, or both? I don't know whether I should use blue stuff or pink stuff.

Should I do the whole convoluted AA treatment or just add two bottles of Jack's Magic?

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