Helping a friend with his green swamp

[Guest]

So I've converted my green swamp, now I am helping a friend with his

23000 plaster free form with DE Filter

Did testing with my Taylor kit this morning and noticed that Calcium Hardness was 130...

Should he address this before shocking? If not, when? What should he do?

Pic from this morning:

 

[zea3]

We really need to see the other test results first. It may be beneficial to begin the process with cal-hypo, or there may be an adjustment needed to pH first. If you could post all of the test results we can give a better informed opinion.

 

[JasonLion]

As a general rule you deal with algae first, and worry about calcium later. Of course, zea3 is correct that low CH levels do make cal-hypo much more attractive for shocking.

 

[Guest]

Full test results:

FC 0
CC 0
PH 6.8
TA 80
CH 130
CYA 35

I had him add two boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax to get his PH up and enough bleach to get to shock level 14ppm for round one

 

[woodyp]

Maintaining that shock level till the closing bell in round 15 is the secret........................

 

[frogabog]

What a cute little pool! I want one of those.

It'll be even cuter when it's sparkling. What a great friend you are! You did have him order his own test kit, right? Don't give up yours!

 

[Guest]

Update: After backwashing filter and adding DE he put in two boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax and four bottles of 182oz 6% bleach yesterday afternoon to get started. I haven't been over there yet but after three bleach treatments he says the pool is turning. I have not been able to get him to spring for the full FAS-DPD test kit yet, so he can only read FC up to 5ppm :-(

 

[Guest]

Here is a couple of pics... first is Day 1, second is Day 2:[attachment=1:30mejmh5]friendspool1.jpg[/attachment:30mejmh5][attachment=0:30mejmh5]friendspool2.jpg[/attachment:30mejmh5]

 

[Guest]

Its been a real battle for my friend, but he is in the home stretch now:


As the water is clearing he notcied that the plaster is real bad in a some spots, and he wanted to know what he can do to slow down the breakdown of the plaster.... I will try to get more pics.

Could this be a result of his CH being so low? Once he is done shocking and clearing the pool what can he do?

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

My friend's pool has cleared I'm going to help him with the OCLT this weekend...

Here are some pics in which you should be able to see some of the plaster deterioration in the bottom of the pool. Is his low CH level contributing to this? What should his next step be?

Thank you all for the help

 

[guamguy]

Great job helping him get that pool cleared up I believe the only way to keep the plaster from deteriorating further is to keep the CH at the proper levels. I know there is some products for patching plaster, but those look like pretty big spots. I've got one spot in mine where the plaster has popped off and I can see the gunite, but it hasn't got any worse since I've lived here and kept the pool chemistry at proper levels(2 years).

 

[chem geek]

It was probably a combination of low CH AND low pH and possibly low TA as well that contributed to plaster dissolving, but that would tend to cause pitting in larger areas whereas the photos look more like specific areas with plaster problems. When plaster deteriorates due to bad water chemistry, it tends to feel rough almost everywhere it is exposed to the water, though some areas of poor circulation could be worse than others.

 

[Guest]

What is the recommended method for getting his CH up to normal levels? Test results before shocking showed CH at 130...

 

[bobodaclown]

calcium chloride/Deicer pellets such as: Qik Joe 40 Lb Ice Melt Pellets Calcium Chloride