white flakes in pool

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I apologize for the long post, but I will try to give you as much information as I can because we are desperately seeking help! We just had our pool installed two weeks ago and I am already regretting our decision to go with a SWG! I have posted my numbers and what we did below. The first few days we took a sample to a local pool store. The store where we purchased to pool is about 45 minutes away. Within a few days of start up we started noticing white flakes in the bottom of the pool. We finally figured out it was coming out of the return jet. We took a sample of the flakes to the pool store where we bought the pool and the tech guy said it was caused by salt additives from the salt we added (we did not get our salt from them). He then went into a speech on how much better their salt was than the other guys. Our chlorine level was also at 0. This is after running the SWG 12 hrs. a day at 100% for almost two weeks. He told us to take a sample straight from the return jet and test for chlorine. Sample showed 0. He then told us to clean the cell and add 9 lbs. of shock and a qt. of muriatic acid. We checked the cell and realized that is where the white flakes are coming from. It was plugged up almost solid. We cleaned the cell in the muriatic acid solution and put in the recommended chemicals. Today, the pool is no longer green, but it is very cloudy and the cell is coated with white flakes again. Here are my water test results and what we have added to the pool since day one:

6/10 (local pool store)
FC 0
TC 0
CC 0
pH 7.4
Hardness 0
Alkalinity 170
CYA 5
Copper 0
Iron 0

Instructed to add: 13 lbs. CYA, 8 bags of salt, 50 lbs. Calcium Chloride

6/11 (local pool store)
FC 0
TC 0
CC 0
pH not run
Hardness 180
Alkalinity 140
CYA 50
Copper 0
Iron 0
Salt 3200
Phosphates 1400

Instructed to add: 3 lbs. shock, 17 lbs. calcium chloride, 3 liters PhosFree

6/12 (local pool store)
FC .3
TC 1.4
CC 1.1
pH 7.6
Hardness 280 ppm
Alkalinity 180
CYA 50
Copper 0
Iron 0

Was told numbers where good, turn SWG up to 100% output.

6/21 (pool store where we purchased pool) (same day I showed him the flakes)
Alkalinity 161
pH 7.6
Calcium Hardness 272
CYA 50
FC 0
Salt 2700

Instructed to add 9 lbs. shock, 1 qt. muriatic acid, 20 lbs. salt (I did not add the salt since other pool store and my tests showed 3200).

I would appreciate any help you guys can give me. Thank you in advance!
 
Hey marf -

I'm not that familiar with SWG set-ups, but I'm sure someone will come along to help you out. One thing I can tell you is pool owners always have to liberally add plenty of POP (pool owner patience) to the mix!

Glad you're here . . don't panic!! :-D
 
Your pool water had to have very high calcium hardness for the cell to be clogged up so quickly with calcium scale (that is what the white flakes are) so I find the test results of hardness 0 suspect! What kind of SWG do you have, btw. Your final CH of almost 300 is ok but your TA is WAY too high and your CYA is still too low at 50 ppm. Don't waste your money on phosphate remover, it's a scam 99% of the time! How are you testing your salt level? If you are relying on the display on your SWG don't. Get a chemical test for chloride like the AquaChek salt test strips.

The 'my salt is better than their salt' is pure hogwash! Plain solar salt for water softeners that is at least 99.5% pure is your most cost effective salt for a SWG. Our main salt manufacturer where I work just grinds their solar salt into a finer crystal to make their 'pool salt' that sells for twice the price! (This info comes from their literature and website, btw).

The first thing you need to do is get a GOOD testkit and start testing your own water. You want a kit that uses the FAS-DPD chlorine testing method and also tests pH, TA, CH, and CYA. There are really only two that fit this description, Taylor K-2006 (not the K-2006 ) and the TF Test Kit's TF100 category/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison For testing your salt level use AquaChek salt test strips.

Next step is to read category/pool-school/water_balance_saltwater_generator and water-balance-tips-for-a-swg-t3663.html
You need to take control of your pool and stop being 'pool stored'. Once you do you will LOVE your SWG and we are here to help you.
 
What did you shock with? I've learned that shocking with calcium hypochlorite, while the cell is energized, will accelerate scale formation on the cell.

Also, if the swg system is not a self cleaning system, the cell can get plugged up in about a week. I don't know if Compupool's salt system is self cleaning or not, but I would think that it is. Hardly any of the swg manufacturers offering units in the US are selling their non-self cleaning systems in the states.
 
According to this manual it is self cleaning.

Ignore your pool shop's advice about adding calcium, you have above ground pool, so your CH is really irrelevant. If anything you should try and minimize it to get rid of scaling.

What kind of salt did you use?

Also it seems to be a bit too low for your pool, since it's rated for 25000 litres. But that may be because they used Australian rating with only 8-12hours/day runnning time.
 
Thank you all for the quick response!

waterbear - I am using the AquaChek salt test strips and will be ordering a test kit today.

Poolsean - I did shock with calcium hypochlorite and the cell was running at the time. I will remember not to do this in the future.

Strannik - I don't remember the brand of salt I used, but it came from a pool store and said "Pool Salt" on the bag.

How much muriatic acid should I had today to lower my TA?
 
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