My calcium hardness is low and the pool store says I need to raise it. In the pool school article it said that calcium is not much of an issue in VL pools. Should I ignore the calcium readings?...
1211
1211
Calcium in a vinyl liner pool
- Thread starter 1211
- Start date
The pool store is just doing what pool stores do and trying to sell you something you don't need
Our experts are trying to get you to use TFP for what it is, a teaching tool. We really want you to understand your pool and learn to take control. It's easy for,us to give the answer, and to,be honest I think you know what it is.
I will say that most of the time when someone at the pool store is making a recomendation it generally helps them more than it does you.
Now, to totally hijack your thread, you live in a beautiful area. We love camping at Hunting Island. We pick up shrimp/oysters/fish fro the Gay Fish Company and just pig out on seafood.
I will say that most of the time when someone at the pool store is making a recomendation it generally helps them more than it does you.
Now, to totally hijack your thread, you live in a beautiful area. We love camping at Hunting Island. We pick up shrimp/oysters/fish fro the Gay Fish Company and just pig out on seafood.
Respectfully, if pool school answered the question I would not have had to ask it in this forum. So, I ask again, should I ignore calcium readings since I have a vinyl pool, or is there still some calcium effect?
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
So your pool store tested your water and says your calcium is low...how low?
Pool store testing is pretty much always off.
You won't really know unless you test it yourself with a Taylor K2006C or TF100 test kit.
The level recommended for plaster is 250-350 if I recall.
Vinyl liners don't require calcium addition, but if you have a heater, the manual will likely
state that it should be 200-250 ppm. (purely for warranty purposes, but thats another debate)
You're probably fine where it is though. Don't take pool store advice, all that does is cost you money.
Pool store testing is pretty much always off.
You won't really know unless you test it yourself with a Taylor K2006C or TF100 test kit.
The level recommended for plaster is 250-350 if I recall.
Vinyl liners don't require calcium addition, but if you have a heater, the manual will likely
state that it should be 200-250 ppm. (purely for warranty purposes, but thats another debate)
You're probably fine where it is though. Don't take pool store advice, all that does is cost you money.
- May 22, 2013
- 2,796
- Pool Size
- 12000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
IF . . . IF you have soft stone or new concrete and lots of kids splashing you might want to consider having more calcium in your water along the lines of that recommended for a plaster pool. If it's really low and there is a lot of constant splash out or a fountain or jet over the stone/concrete into the pool that's keeping it wet most of the time there is a small chance of the water leaching calcium out of the stone/concrete/grout and discoloring or weakening it.
I have a 70's vinyl with a concrete apron and have no problems with low calcium. In fact, finding out the pool store was selling me a sanitizing product with added calcium is what made me cut the cord. I didn't need it, didn't ask for it and it was more expensive than the regular sanitizer.
I have a 70's vinyl with a concrete apron and have no problems with low calcium. In fact, finding out the pool store was selling me a sanitizing product with added calcium is what made me cut the cord. I didn't need it, didn't ask for it and it was more expensive than the regular sanitizer.
Hoster
Silver Supporter
Mine has been 50 this season and I ignore it 
But if you want to spend $20-30 and feel "comfortable" I would consider increasing....
But if you want to spend $20-30 and feel "comfortable" I would consider increasing....
yes, you can ignore the pool store advice - as long as you do not have any plaster or grout or mortar that is in constant contact with the pool water - low calcium in a vinyl liner is not an issue - in fact I try to keep my CSI (calcium saturation index - calculated by Pool Math) slightly negative which means that the water has a slight tendency to dissolve calcium - that way, I am confident I will not have any scaling anywhere in the entire system - if you play with the temperature in Pool Math, you will see that as temperature increases, the CSI also increases, and the water has more of a tendency to deposit calcium (scale) - so in my mind, that means the water always has a bit more tendency to deposit calcium in the heater - so to help ensure that does not happen, I figure keep the CH low and keep CSI low - then scaling is never an issue
Kiss4aFrog's comments about the concrete apron are reasonable, but I think the chances of that being an issue are slim
the only time calcium matters is if you have a plaster pool, an area that is tiled or other feature that includes mortar - in those cases you do not want your CH low and you CSI negative, or the pool water will slowly eat away at the plaster/grout/mortar - I think I recall a thread on here before about someone with a water feature (waterfall maybe?) that was made of rocks with mortar between them, and the mortar was being damaged by a lo CSI even though he had a vinyl liner - so if you have any of those things, then listen to them - otherwise, don't worry
Kiss4aFrog's comments about the concrete apron are reasonable, but I think the chances of that being an issue are slim
the only time calcium matters is if you have a plaster pool, an area that is tiled or other feature that includes mortar - in those cases you do not want your CH low and you CSI negative, or the pool water will slowly eat away at the plaster/grout/mortar - I think I recall a thread on here before about someone with a water feature (waterfall maybe?) that was made of rocks with mortar between them, and the mortar was being damaged by a lo CSI even though he had a vinyl liner - so if you have any of those things, then listen to them - otherwise, don't worry
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