Question about CH

[BallstonSpaKW]

I have an 18x36 inground pool with a vinyl liner. Most everything I have read is that you can ignore any CH readings. In general my readings have come back very low, usually 0-20. Is there really any value too low for a vinyl lined pool?

But more importantly, my deck around the pool is made of stamped concrete, and anytime anyone is in the pool the first foot or so of decking around the pool is constantly wet. This is usually about an hour or so most days, but is often up to 8 hours several times a month. Is there any leaching or damage to the concrete being done if the CH in the pool is very low? What would the recommended value be to prevent concrete damage? The concrete does have many pre-cut channels to prevent frost damage, so the water easily gets to more than just the top surface.

Thanks.

Kevin

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: I doubt you are incurring any damage at all. It would take constant exposure over a long period before you would notice any deterioration.

Are you testing CH with strips? That is VERY unusual for your calcium to really be that low and I would question the test result unless you're filling the pool with softened water.

 

[257WbyMag]

We generally advise that with vinyl lined pools, low CH is of no significance. However, a high CH is bad for all pools due to the scaling risk on surfaces. Even a vinyl lined pool can have problems with a high CH due to scaling on equipment parts, particularly heaters. I agree with duraleigh though in that it is a rare exception to see a pool with a low CH like that.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Wlecome to the wonderful world of low CH (mine runs about 10ppm)!

We're definitely in the minority. I don't worry about it. Then again, I don't have concrete decking. I still probably wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

don't worry about it; rainwater has zero CH and nobody worries about that

 

[257WbyMag]

don't worry about it; rainwater has zero CH and nobody worries about that

 

[BallstonSpaKW]

For the record, I test with strips and a TF-100 test kit. Always low. I took the same water to two local pool stores (I needed some muriatic acid to lower the PH) and one store, which used strips and some enclosed strip reader said it was 200; the other store, using a chemical test of some sort, read it at 50. That's what prompted me to buy a TF-100 kit of my own.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll stop worrying about it unless it gets too high.