What is this stuff??

[MNPoolDreamer]

Put Rover jr. in to do some cleaning ("shocking process is now over, cholrine coming down and Water boatman back in the pool ) Attached is a picture of the "white chunks" that it is picking up. This has happened one other time last week. What is this stuff?

I added DE to the filter, but DE is much finer than this isn't it? It almost has a texture of brittle plastic with a bluish tint. Could the liner scale off?? My numbers are actually better than ever right now.

Thanks!

 

[Linkterfur]

I can't seem to find the attached image. Perhaps try re-posting?

[edit]

DE is definitely much finer than this. It does clump together but not necessarily in such a solid form. Have you added any CYA lately?

 

[PSW]

My numbers are actually better than ever right now.

What ARE your numbers?

 

[randadawn77]

Is it pollen season in your area? I know we have tons of cotton wood landing in our pool. It clumps together horrible. I usually clean my sand when it is over and it looks like a dead cat. Always fun times

 

[MNPoolDreamer]

It's not pollen. It's almost like plastic from something. Very sharp edges sort of like a cheap plastic cup that gets brittle over time and then disintegrates into shards. I'm worried it could be from the liner as it has tinged of blue to it.

We only swam for a few minutes last night but this happened earlier and we had not been swimming

My fc was as follows:
5/19. 5/20 pm 5/21 5/21 pm 5/22 am 5/22 pm today am
17. 31. 31. 17. 23. 19 (went swimming and added tap h20) 17
Cc has been 0 or less than 0.5 as it was super light pink
Ph was 7.5+ so I put in 2 lbs dry acid (mixed before adding)

The water is (was until it just rained) crystal clear. Better than it has ever looked.

TA 175
Ch 325
Cya 40

 

[MNPoolDreamer]

Could it be calcium scale built up in the heater and now that we cranked the heat it's coming off? Sort of makes sense cause I told hubby that the water coming out just doesn't feel very warm. Sort of an expensive way to remove the scale though!

The heater will cost me over 10.00 per day to run.

 

[Richard320]

Got an eyedropper? Put those chunks in a glass or ceramic dish and put a few drops of muriatic acid on them. If they foam up, it could be scale.

I've seen similar stuff as a crust, not as loose chunks, from corroded metals - aluminum and zinc - used in pool stuff, like brush handles. It might be worth a look around the pool shed.

 

[MNPoolDreamer]

Yep, it's scale from the heater. Did some more research and fond a picture almost identical to the junk I was getting. Bad news, we have a lot of scale,despite using inhibitor last summer. Good news, it's coming off. Now we just have to figure out how to ditch our hard water.

Type in scale in hot water heater, look for images and you'll see the same bluish colored flakes.

 

[linen]

As we have discussed before, get that TA down and you will have much less problem with scale Then you won't have to "ditch your hard water".

Why the high FC...are you shocking right now?

All you other test values look good though.

 

[MNPoolDreamer]

We were shocking cause I had water boatmen in th water. I was convinced that they were eating algae that I had no evidence of having...just being defensive about bugs using my pool.

I've been working on the TA but every time I stick the hose in to add water due to evap or backwashing I'm starting over with iron, high TA and calcium. We are seriously considering using our softened house water for top offs, but I don't know if it can handle that much use.

Thanks for all the support and help. I have almost given up a few times but the guidance and direction here keep me sane. I'm so jealous of people who have good water!

 

[linen]

We were shocking cause I had water boatmen in th water. I was convinced that they were eating algae that I had no evidence of having...just being defensive about bugs using my pool.

I have not seen a lot of success in posts here that suggest boatmen will be repelled by chlorine.

I've been working on the TA but every time I stick the hose in to add water due to evap or backwashing I'm starting over with iron, high TA and calcium.

Remember do not backwash until your pressure goes up 25% from you clean pressure. I would guess if you maintain you FC level properly (for your cya level) you will not have to backwash a whole lot. Maybe consider using a skimmer sock to catch some of the junk pre-filter.

We are seriously considering using our softened house water for top offs, but I don't know if it can handle that much use.

This is not a bad idea, just make sure you understand how often you need to regenerate to feed the pool make-up water.

I'm so jealous of people who have good water!

Me too, but a least both our water sources are cheap. As I have mentioned to you before I start a little higher than you with my fill CH and TA (and I have some metals) but, with proper TA adjustment, I end up having no problems with it.

 

[kimrst]

IMHO The only way to get rid of boatmen is to have borates in the water. When we get balanced and have borax in our pool we never get those water bugs. Just follow the directions here on the forum and hang in there...

 

[mcoonan]

I have to agree with kim, we had boatmen/waterbugs last year and I brought up my borate leve and no more bugs!

 

[MNPoolDreamer]

What level are your borates at? We are at 30. I haven't added any this year and that's where we were at last year. I'm just worried about toxicity since we have little children swimming in our pool.

The boatman are so bad they were bonking me on the head while I was vacuuming, and they were landing in the driveway when my husband was washing some stuff off with the hose!

We live near a lot of swamps so we are just going to come to peace with them being part of our pool. Along with dirt from the farmer.

By the way, the TA is down to 125 and I think most of the scale is out of the heater. Rover picks up all the chunks so we are on our way to a fun pool season.

 

[linen]

What level are your borates at? We are at 30. I haven't added any this year and that's where we were at last year.

I would guess your level is lower than that, especially if you drained for winterization. I was at 50 last summer and between draining for winter and backflushing this spring I went down to 30 ppm.

I'm just worried about toxicity since we have little children swimming in our pool.

Take a look at this thread: http://www.troublefreepool.com/borates-and-children-saftey-t13695.html

By the way, the TA is down to 125 and I think most of the scale is out of the heater. Rover picks up all the chunks so we are on our way to a fun pool season.

Way to go I would still drop it at least to 100 ppm.