Just had pool resurfaced and pool chemistry bad!!

[pjastpete]

Hi !! I am new to this site so not sure if my post is in the correct section. If not let me know and I'll move it to the correct section. Just had the pool resurfaced with exposed aggregate finish last month. The finish was not perfect so the pool company dumped about 10 cases of acid in the pool last week 5/17/13 to got the surface right and we still are having problems getting the numbers within normal limits. Everyday this past week we have been taking water samples to the local pool supplier and the tell us to put in total alkalinity increaser( sodium hydrogen carbonate), stabilizer( cyanuric acid hydrate) and PH plus( sodium carbonate). The pool is about 17,000 gallons. Does anyone have any ideas to help get this water chemistry within normal limits? Below are recent levels per pool suppliers system.
Total chlorine - 6.0 ppm
Free chlorine - 6.0 ppm
Combined chlorine - 0.0 ppm
pH - 6.0
Acid Demand - no numbers/not tested
Base Demand - 10
Total Alkalinity - 25 ppm
Calcium Hardness - 999 ppm
Stabilizer - 50 ppm
Total Dissolved Solids - 2,900 ppm
Salt - 2,000 ppm ( the pool resurfacing company has not connected the salt generator system yet)
LanglierIndex -1.5
Pump has been running non stop.
Thanks for any help!!

 

[Richard320]

CH is really 999? Or do they stop testing at 1000 and write that?

Sorry to say, if they used a bunch of acid to dissolve the plaster to fix the finish, you already need a partial drain. If you start at 1000, you're almost certain to start regrowing scale when the pH and such is fixed.

Until (And it's pretty much mandatory if you want to follow our way) you have your own test kit, you're at the mercy of pool stores for testing. Take a sample somewhere else and see what they get for CH.

 

[linen]

richard 320 beat me, here are my comments:

Are you certain about the CH number? If it is that high, you will have a challenge to keep your pool from scaling. What is the CH of your fill water?

Out of curiousity, why did you get the pool resurfaced?

You should get your TA up to at 60 ppm we would suggest using baking soda.

Then raise your ph to at least 7.2 using borax.

You can calculate the amount needed using poolcalculator.com

You will need you own appropriate test kit to know what your pool needs, see this pool school article for details:http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

 

[pjastpete]

Hi! Richard, We did do a partial drain last friday but only dropped the water level about two feet. Thanks for the advice. We will take a sample to another store to see if there is a difference and get a test kit. The pool company that did the resurface is coming out tomorrow, so we will see what they plan to do. . Thanks again, Phil

 

[pjastpete]

Hi Mod Squad. Do you think the water is to far out of range that we should dump all the water out and start over? The pool store told us we need to put in 17.9 pounds of total alkalinity increaser (sodium hydrogen carbonate), 2.7 pounds of stablilizer (cyanuric acid Hydrate) and 5 pound of Ph Plus (sodium carbonate) based on the test results I put up on the post. Thanks, Phil

 

[linen]

Since you have adjusted since the numbers you posted, we need a new set of test numbers. FYI, increasing TA and ph was appropriate, but increasing cya was not (unless you have a saltwater chlorine generator [swg]). With that said, adding 2.7 lbs of the cya would have raised your cya another 19 ppm for a total of 70 ppm cya which is managable...just don't add anymore!

Next, we really need to know if that is a correct CH value. If it is, then doing a partial/drain refill with the refill having much lower CH would be recommended.

Again, do you know what your fill water CH is?

 

[pjastpete]

Hi Mod Squad or anyone that can help. The pool company came out today and are draining the pool to check the surface and start over. I am not familiar with the aggregate finish and have a few questions. The guy at the pool supply store tells me they resurfaced the pool wrong, He states they should have put down the blue concrete first and then sprayed the small pebbles on the surface. The pool resurface company mixed the blue concrete and the pebbles together then applied that to the pool surface. What is the correct method? Also the grout around the tiles is soft and comes off like powder when scratched with a finger nail. Is this normal or did they forget to seal the grout? Thanks for any help, Phil

 

[onBalance]

The pebbles can be added either way.

My concern is the amount of acid added. Was it actually 10 "cases" or 10 "gallons" of acid added?
If actually 10 cases of acid was added, then the plaster/cement surface was etched, and that it why the calcium content is so high.
But as Linen asked, we need to know what the CH is of the tap water to learn what it started out as.

 

[pjastpete]

Hi Guys!! Here are the results of the tap water when we started.

Total Chlorine 0.0 ppm
pH 8.0
acid demand 2
Total Alkalinity 210ppm
Calcium Hardness 190ppm
Stabilizer 0 ppm
Total Dissolved Solids 350ppm
Salt not tested

Still concerned about the grout around the tiles coming off like chalk when rubbed with my finger.
Thanks for any help, Phil

 

[onBalance]

Have you double checked the calcium hardness again to see if it is really 999 ppm?
The grout could be chalking because 10 cases of acid was added.