I'm hoping somebody can give me some advice. Our pool is about 4 years old. Last year, I relented and had the pool acid washed due to some excessive calcium scale build up on the walls.
This year, after opening the pool, the entire bottom surface appears to be covered in scale. It's gone from a very smooth surface to it being so rough that it cuts up the kids' feet when they are in there. It’s not very visible (and I do have a dark plaster), so is it calcium scale, or something else? Also, there were no scale deposits on the SWG when I disassembled that at the beginning of the season.
I am religious with testing and maintaining the pool chemistry, with the only thing that ever really gives issues being the pH. It seems to constantly rise on me, forcing me to put muriatic acid in 1-2 times per week. I’m assuming that the pH creep over the winter months is what caused the scale issue to begin with.
So, how do I remove this scale, whether it’s calcium build up or something else? I don’t want to do the acid wash again, for fear of limiting the life of the plaster. Will relentless brushing do the trick? Will something like ScaleTec or Natural Chemistriy’s ScaleFree help, or are those more for prevention?
Lastly, how do I prevent this from re-occuring…apparently I must be doing something wrong.
Any help is appreciated…here are my latest water test results, which have been consistent for the last 4-5 weeks:
FC – 4.0
CC – 0.5
pH – 7.8
TA – 60
CYA – 60
CH – 280
Salt – 3380
CSI - -.26
This year, after opening the pool, the entire bottom surface appears to be covered in scale. It's gone from a very smooth surface to it being so rough that it cuts up the kids' feet when they are in there. It’s not very visible (and I do have a dark plaster), so is it calcium scale, or something else? Also, there were no scale deposits on the SWG when I disassembled that at the beginning of the season.
I am religious with testing and maintaining the pool chemistry, with the only thing that ever really gives issues being the pH. It seems to constantly rise on me, forcing me to put muriatic acid in 1-2 times per week. I’m assuming that the pH creep over the winter months is what caused the scale issue to begin with.
So, how do I remove this scale, whether it’s calcium build up or something else? I don’t want to do the acid wash again, for fear of limiting the life of the plaster. Will relentless brushing do the trick? Will something like ScaleTec or Natural Chemistriy’s ScaleFree help, or are those more for prevention?
Lastly, how do I prevent this from re-occuring…apparently I must be doing something wrong.
Any help is appreciated…here are my latest water test results, which have been consistent for the last 4-5 weeks:
FC – 4.0
CC – 0.5
pH – 7.8
TA – 60
CYA – 60
CH – 280
Salt – 3380
CSI - -.26