Pebble Staining Issue

[JimboAZ]

Hi All,

Our pool is a bit over a year old and maintaining levels has been pretty easy so far. I use a stenner to dose chlorine and do everything else manually. Just recently I noticed a lot of staining, it really seemed to creep up on us. I posted a picture where you can see the clean and dirty spots. The streaks are from the infloor cleaner and the clean square shaped spots are probably where our robot cleaner was resting. I have a feeling the staining is a combination of our AZ dust storms and high CH. And I don't think I kept the PH as low as I should've, and to top it off probably didn't brush enough.

Any advice on what chemicals to add, or a recommendation to just drain and acid wash?

FC=1 (our stenner timer broke, so I'm bringing this up to about 5-6 right now)
CC=0
TA=70 (this was always within range, but has just dropped recently)
CH=590 (our tap water registers as 20)
PH=7.2
CYA=55ish

I've been trying to keep PH lower and brushing a lot. I do see some dirt coming up, but to be honest I can't tell if it's getting better or worse.

Thanks!!

 

[Butterfly]

How did the CH get to 590 if the tap water is 20? Using cal-hypo?

What type of brush are you using? Now that the pool is over a year old, you can use the combo brush or the s/s algae brush.

Have you tested a spot with a trichlor tab to determine if it is organic?

Also, I suggest you retest FC and CC after you add chlorine.

 

[JimboAZ]

Actually I just realized I tested our tap water, which is softened. Duh, I'll test from the outside tap. I'm pretty sure the calcium is normally pretty high.
I do have a combo brush and have been using it. I'll do the tab test and report back.

 

[JimboAZ]

I tried the trichlor tab and it removed the stain. Then I noticed the chlorine was reading zero. So, either the pool is eating it up or my stenner wasn't really dosing yesterday. Manually added chlorine. Since the tablet removed the stain does this mean this is some kind of mold? Thanks.

 

[Butterfly]

If trichlor removed the stain, it is organic in nature. You should do a SLAM process and follow it to a T.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

 

[JimboAZ]

Thanks Butterfly, I'll do the SLAM.