Drain, Acid Wash, Refill questions

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nitz369

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Mar 22, 2008
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I think it's about time for me to do my first drain of my pool. Had pool for 4 years and been doing the BBB thing, water has been great. Well anyhow the pool has lots of staining and I want to make it look nice and new again, the only way I know to do this is to drain and do acid wash. I heard something about in-pool acid wash though. What would that entail?

Also CH is going over 1000ppm, so scaling is getting hard to keep down. Using the BBB method when I refill the pool I know I want my borates back and I will need to add CYA for sure as I like it around 60-70. What should I balance 1st? CYA? or just balance everything but borates all at once?
 
General rule of thumb is that acid washes remove about three years off of the life expectancy of plaster (plaster is good for about ten years). An acid wash is something I will always decline to do, as I know what it will do to the plaster.

What is your pH currently?
 
Well how do you make the stains and general spotting go away? Ph is about 7.8 high right now. The
Main issue the pool looks bad and the CH is over 1000. Everyone acid washes in las Vegas. I had no idea plaster only lasted 10 years.
 
The in pool acid wash is great but it will raise the calcium in your water even higher. Since you will essentially be etching the plaster with water in it, you will also be pulling the calcium from the plaster. The main cause of staining in unbalanced water. You need to watch your pH and alkalinity close to keep the staining down. Having your pH out of wack along with alkalinity can start to pull metal from different parts of your pool system including the heater (copper), your pool light rings (stainless steel) each staining a different color. I would suggest draining your pool to acid wash. Wait until the dry season to drain your pool to avoid the pool popping out of the ground from rain and ground water. The best thing you can do is contact your water authority and get an idea of where the water table lies in your area.
 
nitz369 said:
Everyone acid washes in las Vegas.
Click to expand...

My Dad always used to say "if all your friends were jumping of the bridge would you do it to?". :roll: :lol:

Acid washes are a great way for a pool guy to put $600-$800 (in my area) in his pocket quickly, and it is probably similar there. I am very familiar with Vegas water and the challenges you guys have (I'm in talks with some of the casinos regarding this issue, as well as pool guys that are having trouble with your water chemistry there), but acid washing is never a good option.

The in pool wash will help with water table issues, if you have them, but, like Pacifica said, it will just put the calcium in solution. Allowing your pH to stay high just deposits it all over again, and raising your concentration of CH in solution does not make the problem go away!

I never allow my CH to go over 400 ppm. That is really where you should be also. You guys have hard water. Allowing it to build creates problems (I know you guys have water restrictions also, which doesn't help). You can't change what's happened, but you can refuse to let it happen again. I'd still say don't acid wash, but only you know what you are willing to accept for appearance.
 
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