Every year my pool stairs start to turn yellow, the only thing that will clear them up is a vitamin C? What can I do it on my pool to prevent this from happening, rather than dealing with it after the fact?
If you have white fiberglass pool steps that turn yellow, and vitamin c or ascorbic acid based products will remove the stain you are likely dealing with metals in the water. If the pH of the pool increases (with use or shocking with chlorine), it can drives minerals/metals in the water out of solution and this will deposit them on the surface of the pool. The ascorbic acid based products will lift them from the surface of the pool in many cases, and deposit them back in the water, where they should be treated so they can be removed from the water by the filter. A great combination is to use StainFree from Natural Chemistry – followed by FerriTabs if you have a sand filter. Alternatively, Stain Free followed by SeaKlear water clarifier will remove trace metals from the water and can be used with sand filters, d.e. filters, and cartridge filters.