Recently, I've seen a few different situations where foam has developed as the result of a chemical reaction within the pool. I'm curious if any of you have any insight into what is going on, and what this reaction might be telling me about what is in these pools.
The first situation I saw today. I was adding salt to a pool that was just opened. The water was black, this pool was a swamp. When the salt mixed with the water, there was a vigorous bubbling that resulted in a foamy layer on the surface. I suspect this might have been a reaction between ammonia and the salt, and the fizzing was chlorine gas. Does this make sense? If the chlorine is off gassing, does that mean that whatever salt caused the reaction has been consumed, and will need to be added again?
The second situation I see a few times every season. When adding pH increaser, the water returning to the pool becomes very cloudy, and fizzes. As fizzing progresses a foam across the entire surface of the pool. As the water circulates, the layer of foam begins to break apart like little icebergs. The "icebergs" float around and continue to break up, but they maintain sharp corners. They really look like a layer of ice breaking up. I haven't been able to figure out why some pools seem to do this while others don't. I'm wondering if there is something that will react with pH increaser that would cause this. Could this be a reaction with ammonia?
Any thoughts?
The first situation I saw today. I was adding salt to a pool that was just opened. The water was black, this pool was a swamp. When the salt mixed with the water, there was a vigorous bubbling that resulted in a foamy layer on the surface. I suspect this might have been a reaction between ammonia and the salt, and the fizzing was chlorine gas. Does this make sense? If the chlorine is off gassing, does that mean that whatever salt caused the reaction has been consumed, and will need to be added again?
The second situation I see a few times every season. When adding pH increaser, the water returning to the pool becomes very cloudy, and fizzes. As fizzing progresses a foam across the entire surface of the pool. As the water circulates, the layer of foam begins to break apart like little icebergs. The "icebergs" float around and continue to break up, but they maintain sharp corners. They really look like a layer of ice breaking up. I haven't been able to figure out why some pools seem to do this while others don't. I'm wondering if there is something that will react with pH increaser that would cause this. Could this be a reaction with ammonia?
Any thoughts?