What is this and how can I get rid of it?

[dtrujillo63]

Can someone help identify the white spots/streaks in my pool and how I can go about removing them? The pool is only a year old and I do a pretty good job at keeping everything balanced. The two issues I do have is PH always raising (I have to add acid every other day) and the fact that I have really hard water. I've never had algae in my pool and the only two products I ever use is liquid chlorine and muriatic acid.

FC: 5.0
CC: 0.0
PH: 7.6
TA: 100
CH: 700
CYA: 50

 

[mknauss]

Looks like scale. Put your data into PoolMath. Your CSI is positive -- and with an elevated CH you need to keep it between zero and -0.3.
Probably too late now. Most likely will need to be drained and soda blasted to remove.

 

[lightingguy]

How are you adding the acid to the pool?

I accidentally created some white patches in my grey plaster slowly adding straight acid in front of the return.


For some reason I can't see these pics to confirm....

 

[pooldv]

Yeah, I can't see pics either. Upload them to Photobucket, copy the IMG code next to the pic and paste it in your post. That will embed the pic in your thread.

If it is scale, as MK suggested you can mailntain CSI at -0.3 to 0 to prevent scale. You can lower CSI to -0.8 to -0.9 and brush a lot to see if it will start to dissolve over time. It will take a while, about as long as it took the scale to build up. If the plaster is a year old you can use a stainless steel brush for more aggressive brushing.

More here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling

You can also do a no drain acid bath, which is more aggressive than above but less aggressive than draining and blasting of acid washing.
More here, The Zero Alkalinity Acid Treatment

 

[dtrujillo63]

I just re-uploaded the pictures. I add acid by walking around the pool. Since I have such hard water, should I try to keep my pH level on the low side? I'm usually around 7.8 and I can't seem to keep it down for more than a day without adding acid.

 

[duraleigh]

Your pH should never be above 7.8 and with that very high CH, I would keep it at 7.4.....regardless of how much acid it took.

The cause of your scale is high pH, high CH, and high TA

Walking around the pool pouring acid is not the best. Lower the acid jug almost into the water and pour it SLOWLY in front of a return - pump running.