Hi to all from Turre Spain

[r0ger]

Hi

Can you help please,
I live in Turre near Mojacar Almeria, in Spain - not far from Pulpi.
I have had my pool from new and have lived here for 6 years
I have a problem with Crystal Celestine (gypsum crystals)
I have been told to visit this link which is way over my head!
http://giantcrystals.strahlen.org/library/pulpigiganticgypsumcrystals.pdf

I have rough sides and floor to my pool
I brush walls and floor every day, then vacuum - clearing the pump filter and backwashing the sand filter.

Is there anything I can add to the pool, or do, to rid myself of this problem?
I have been told the only remedy is to drain it, jetwash, then replace any loose tiles and regrout, then refill with tanker drinking water.

I has been topped up from the mains for the last 4 years so is obviously mostly mains water anyway and will be again in a while after doing this.

My water is put through a water softener before it goes in the pool.
I have a drinking water filter with ultraviolet light in the kitchen, to enable the water to be drunk, but it would be impractical to use this to fill it up.

Any one have any answers?

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

It would be helpful if you could give us some test results for your water.

 

[r0ger]

Yes I understand.

My pool cleaner, who usually deals with the pool, is back on Tuesday so I will ask him to get that piece of info.

Just an update, I am in a bit of a backwater here in this part of Almeria province, so not sure how long it will take.
The crystal we have seen so far is visible in my hand, so is quite a lot.
Any standard info you may have in the meantime would be appreciated.

Best regards

And thanks for the speedy answer!

Roger

 

[chem geek]

This sounds like the same problem described in the Large crystals in my pool thread that was also interestingly from Spain. Do the crystals look like the ones in this link? These are calcium sulfate (aka gypsum) crystals and as Kim noted in the thread I linked to, they are very hard to remove and do not dissolve in acid (they are not pH dependent). Hot water removes them slowly.

I would first get a water analysis, but you can start by getting a water quality report from your local water district (or are you using well water?). That will tell us if the Calcium Hardness (CH) and sulfate levels are high, which I suspect. As for preventing this problem, that is difficult, though you can use a metal sequestrant designed to reduce calcium scaling in general. If you had Reverse Osmosis (RO) available in your area, then that would work, but I suspect that's not available.