Help! What the heck is this??

[maggiem]

Any ideas what may be causing this discoloration in the tile grout? I know many don't like tile grout showing like this but we do - maybe a bad choice? No signs of the same discoloration in the plaster at all and none under the water line. We're still scraping some sticky "gunk" off the tiles.

Just added about 2 more inches of water to the pool this afternoon as well. The water was about 1 1/2-2 inches up the tile line. I don't think this is iron since we have municipal water in the pool but.....

We plastered & filled on the 30th June. Fill came from local municipal water source so it is treated, chlorinated water and not well water. Electric hooked up 5th July then pump, filter started on 6th July. We have had 2 chlorine pucks in 2 skimmers, added some calcium on the 6th and 4 qts of muriatic acid over 4 days.

PB gave us those test strips (waiting on my TFP Test kit to arrive!) and according to the test strips we have:
No chlorine
PH bounces from too high to just right
Alkalinity bounces from too low to just right
Stabilizer bounces from too low to just right

When we had an AG Intex pool, I maintained it for 3 seasons with BBB and now I'm at a loss. We will be firing up the SWG system in another 2 weeks so I'm nervous to really mess with the water.

Thanks for your input!
Maggie

 

[JasonLion]

I'm afraid I can't answer your primary question about the tile grout, but I can give you some background on fresh plaster.

Fresh plaster will raise the PH, TA, and CH levels very rapidly for the first three or four weeks, and more slowly for up to a year. Your main focus during the first month should be to keep the PH under 8.0, which may require a lot of muriatic acid. Keep a couple of trichlor tablets in the skimmer and keep the pump running 24/7 during the first several weeks. The FC and CYA levels will start out very low, but will come up over time. You should also be brushing the entire pool twice a day.

It is best not to adjust TA or CH during the first few weeks. They will both be going up. If you raise them early, they will end up too high by the end.

 

[maggiem]

Thank you once again for your wisdom! Funky color on grout has disappeared where the water has been raised.. very odd! We now have 2 pucks in both skimmers and are brushing 2-3 times daily. At this stage, would the pucks raise the CYA so much that we would have to dump and refill a bit?

As I mentioned, we have not done anything but add 3 bags of shock (forgot to mention that) on the 6th, the acid, some calcium and the pucks. Other than the leaves and dirt brushed down daily to the MDs, I am somewhat in shock (no pun intended) that the pool is amazingly sparkly clear.

Hubby mentioned today that he thought the bottom felt "slimy" but my kids don't think so. I have yet to go in - still too cold so I'm waiting until we can fire up the heater - to see but I can't feel anything slimy on the steps or swimout...

Today's test strips had the same readings tho the ph was very bright pink - too high. Will add another 2 qts of muriatic tomorrow if testing shows the same. I understand that lots of swimming and aeration can temp. cause ph to raise, is this correct?

I can't wait to get the TFP test kit (ordered salt strips too) so I can get some real results and feel better about what we are doing!