CuLator Ultra 4.0

Yes, it does reduce the copper content in your pool. I put it in the filter basket of the pump so all of the pool water passes over it. It is that easy. It appears to work better than the liquids which neutralize the copper but still test as present after,

works fantastic eliminating our rust colored well water in hot tub

The CuLator Ultra 4.0 is an absolute game changer. We use well water for our pool, and this has made a huge difference. It’s a simple, hassle-free solution that really works. Since using it, I’ve noticed I need far fewer chemicals, and the water stays incredibly clear. It’s saved me time, money, and frustration. If you’re dealing with metal-heavy well water, this is a must-have. I won’t maintain my pool without it!

UPDATE: 29 MARCH 2016. My original review is below. I'm going to go ahead and up this to 4 stars. The reason is that after about 90 days, I saw no more metal stains in my pool. So, my verdict is that this thing works, but very very slowly. I left it in my pump basket all year. I don't know if it was "full" of metals or not as there is no visual cue, but like I said, metal stains eventually stayed away, despite plenty rains, leaves and other things getting in my pool. So, a few weeks ago, I went ahead and bought another one for this next year. I again, dumped ascorbic acid (vitamin C powder), but only about 3 lbs, and it almost instantly cleared all stains. I didn't even use a sequestering agent as the stains weren't that bad in the first place (compared to last year). Anyway, this works, but it takes a LONG time to notice it working. Plan on it being a yearly maintenance things. ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW. I guess I'll write one of the dissenting opinions, as I cannot recommend this product. It is simply way too expensive for its ability (or lack thereof) to remove metals from water. I can't confirm or not that this thing does in fact remove metals, as I have not tested the device in any scientific way, but I can say that I had a lot of brown metal stains on my pool liner in my 30,000gallon 20x40 pool. I dumped 10lbs of ascorbic acid (vitamin c powder) and overnight, the stains were gone. I dumped a bottle of a sequestering agent (amount recommended by the pool store) and kept my chlorine levels at near 0 for two weeks--even though my pool started turning green. During the two weeks, this culinator power pak was in my pool pump basket as instructed—and my pool pump ran 24/7. The alkalinity was low and the PH was about 6.0-6.5 (low). Anyway, after the two weeks, I slowly brought up my chlorine levels to a "low normal" level. At the one month mark, I shocked the pool. I saw no stains in my pool, till last week (2months later). I see brown streaking starting to form around the water-line at my steps. It has rained a lot recently, but I have been careful to remove leaves the same day, and I bought a pool robot cleaner to keep my pool clean. Despite that, metal stains are reforming--and well, at $60bucks a pop, I just refuse to buy another one of these things and "hope" it finally pulls out enough metal to prevent the stains. It says it pulls out up to 4ppm total, and I don't know if that is a lot of metal or not, but I can tell you that if you have a lot of stains in your vinyl lined 20x40 pool, this product is not "powerful" enough to bond enough metals to keep the stains out (once your remove them with acid). I probably will just have to dump 10lbs of ascorbic acid at the start of each season and dump about $30-$40 bucks worth of a sequestering agent throughout the season to keep the pool stain free. Too bad, I love new products, and at $30 for the powerpack, I'd buy one or two more to try out, but not at their current price. My verdict--snake oil for pools.

I used a lot of Black Algaecide this summer, and the copper got very high - 90% too high. Just in time to avoid staining the vinyl liner this CuLator 4.0 lowered the copper in my vinyl pool by 75% in 5 days constant use in the skimmer. I dried it out in the sun for a couple weeks, put it back in the skimmer after rebalancing all my pool chemicals, and it lowered the copper another 5%, getting me to an acceptably low amount of copper so that my vinyl liner would not stain as easily.

Had several ppm of dissolved iron in my pool as well as iron oxide stains on liner. Adjusted pool pH to 7.2 and chlorine to 1 ppm. Placed CULator PowerPak inside GatorEgg cage and placed in pump filter basket for maximum access to water per directions. Ran pump for 24 hours. Did nothing to reduce iron ppm. Added Metal Magic sequestering agent as per directions that say it works with all sequestering agents and stain removers. Still no drop in iron ppm or yellow discoloration of the PowerPak to show it was catching iron. Waste of $55. Discarded GatorEgg. Did some more intensive research and came up with alternative plan that actually worked very well. 1. Make sure filter (preferably sand) is clean/backwashed. Set valves so that all water is running through the filter (no bypass) and run pump continuously. 2. Adjust pH to 7.2 to 7.8. Add some poly-based (non-metal) algaecide as steps below will neutralize all chlorine. Never use metal-based algaecides again as these add metal to the pool and contribute to the problem. 3. Carefully dissolve a half-teaspoon of potassium permanganate (PotPerm) powder into full bucket of pool water, then pour slowy into the skimmer. This powder is purple like squid ink and will stain if not handled carefully. Mix and add more buckets as necessary until pool water turns noticeably yellow green from oxidizing free iron and iron chloride ions. May get a browner or bluer color depending on if the problem metal is manganese or copper, respectively. Will temporarily get increased liner staining from iron fully oxidizing the metal ions clinging to the liner. Water may become cloudy as dissolved metals begin to precipitate out as tiny solid grains. 4. Sprinkle ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder into pool water in step area and around perimeter of pool to dissolve oxidized surface metal on the liner back into the water where the PotPerm can precipitate it out as grains. Ascorbic acid will remove iron stains from walls like magic (looks like an Oxi-Clean infomercial). Ascorbic acid will also quickly neutralize your chlorine. Brush pool wall and bottom to help distribute the ascorbic acid and push any metal dust accumulating on the bottom toward the bottom drains. 5. Once the stains have disappeared from the liner, add FerriTabs to the skimmer basket (1 tablet per each 3,000-gal of pool capacity per the directions). These tablets are a flocculating agent that help tiny suspended solid particles to flock together into particles large enough to settle to the bottom and get caught by the filter. As these tablets dissolve and do their work, the cloudiness will gradually clear. This may take up to 12 hours. 6. Once pool water is clear, vacuum the pool to collect all the metal dust into the filter. Then backwash or clean out the filter. Don't wait more than 24 hours or the metals might begin to go back into solution. If operation was effective, should see oxidized metal color in the filter discharge water (brown for iron, black for manganese, blue-green for copper). 7. Adjust pH and add chlorine to 3 ppm. If there is still any residual metal in the water, may get some staining as the chlorine oxidizes it. That would be a cue to repeat the process. 8. As metal accumulates in the filter, it will increase the back pressure. Depending on the amount of metal and the strength of the pump, it may be necessary to backwash or clean the filter before the water fully cleans up.

I have read mixed reviews on theses, but i have used them for 3 years in my pools that get filled with well water, but I believe they do a great job in assisting the filter to give me super clear pool water

Not certain if this is working or if the metal out has done the job. I bought this device after trying to brighten the pool plaster with an ascorbic acid treatment. The vitamin C did the trick but light brown plaster staining came back a bit even after adding both a metal out sequestering agent and this culater. The culater is in the skimmer and has swolen up but is bright white in color. Pool testing comes back with zero metal. Maybe the stain is just dirt? My advice is to test your pool water for metals BEFORE buying this product and then test again after using the product without a sequestering agent to see if it really works.

Works great and dissolved all metals

Très très efficace

My pool water has always been high in copper. After a few weeks, the bag was very blue, indicating copper bonding. Balance is back in range.

It’s one week working in pool skimmer, picks up debris. Works good, pool is clearer

Good