Newbie here

[edgarortiz1]

Aloha to everyone! This is one great site for us pool (and spa) people! I look forward to maybe helping others in the future but for now, I need help First time owner of pool and just wanted to do things myself. I will have to let go of our pool guy and I want to do it better. I took samples last week and this week. I noticed that there are now calcium deposit in my Jandy TruClear salt chlorinator. I know it will over time but this is just often when I had new pool guy. In any case below are my sample result and pool information.

16000 gal. plaster pool
Pool is exposed under the sun (no cover or anything). This is Hawaii
Jandy TrueClear salt chlorinator (salt water pool) set at 30% chlorinating
Pump runs from 8AM to 6PM everyday

May 22, 2023 samples
FC = 15 drops x 0.5 = 7.5 ppm
CC = 0 ( 5 drops no change in color)
TC = 7.5 ppm
CH = 800 ppm (pool water is clear)
TA = 9 drops x 10 = 90
CYA = black dot disappears before it reaches 100 scale so I'd say 90 to 100
Chlorine = more than 5-10 ppm in the scale. Definitely beyond recommended
pH = 8.2 Definitely color beyond recommended

Pool guys came or not on May 24, 2023
Pool guy came or not on May 31, 2023

June 2, 2023 samples
Free Chlorine (FC) – 18 drops x 0.5 = 9 ppm
Combined Chloramines (CC) = 0
Total Chlorine (TC) = 9 ppm
Calcium Hardness (CH) – 875 ppm (pool water is clear)
Total Alkalinity (TA) – 10 x 10 = 100 (60 to 90 for salt water pool)
Cyanuric Acid (CYA) – 90-100
Chlorine – more than 5-10 ppm Definitely color is beyond recommended
pH – 8.2 Definitely color is beyond recommended

I have been reading about muriatic acid to lower pH and also to clean my Jandy salt chlorinator cell so I will be purchasing a couple of gallons of that. I also played around with the PoolMath and saw the recommended amounts or what to do but I prefer to have someone tell me and hopefully I can understand better what I'm doing and what I need to do to get my pool water to what it should be. Thank you in advance for any help and Mahalo! Aloha Friday (to all) no work 'til Monday !!!

 

[RickM21]

Yep. Need to add Muratic Acid to lower PH. Everything else looks good if you have a vynal pool. Plaster or concrete might stain with that high calcium.

 

[an1vrsy]

Welcome to TFP! Don’t you get significant amount of rain? Does your pool have an overflow? One thing for the CH is to lower your water level a few inches before a rain event. Then when it does rain your pool is being filled with calcium free water.

 

[Texas Splash]

Aloha and welcome to TFP from the mainland. We can definitely help. To add to the comments above:
- Looks like are testing your own water now which is great!
- Don't worry about breaking down the TA. If you count10 drops, the TA is 100. Our PoolMath APP accounts for all parameters.
- Your CH is high which seems odd for all the rains you get there.
- Your CYA is a bit elevated as well, but you do use a SWG, so to lower the CYA down to 70 or so isn't a huge water exchange.
- And yes, the pH does need to come down.

So a couple questions first:
- How does your water look right now? 100% crystal clear? No cloudiness or signs of algae?
- Are you prepared to exchange a little water from the pool which should help lower both the CH and CYA? Bringing the CH should be very helpful in reducing the amount of scale you find in the salt cell.

Also be sure to bookmark the Pool Care Basics page. It has a lot of great info. Take some time to think through everything presented, then come back with more questions. We want to help you make choices you are comfortable with based on facts, no guesswork. Your own K-2006 testing helps us do that.

 

[edgarortiz1]

Thank you for all your replies! I am on the West side of the Big Island - Kona. We don't get as much rain here compared to Hilo (east side). I do fill the pool once a week or else the pump will be sucking air. When it does rain though, it pours! So yes, I sometimes had to dump water or the pool will over flow

Texas Splash - water looks clear, I can see clearly all the way down without cloudiness. Although my pool guy before (good guy) saw algae on the sides but I couldn't see what he was seeing.
Based on some reading I've done (internet), high calcium in pool may be due to water evaporation due to heat. Which makes sense since it it constantly 88 deg. here. Also, since my pH is high, combined with heat, evaporation and alkaline water create high calcium levels. Any suggestions to keep CH level normal aside from controlling pH?

Based on what everyone says, here's what I plan to do
- brush, clean the pool (to get the calcium deposit loose)
- exchange water, based on PoolMath, I need to replace 37% of my pool water (Target CH is 550 per PoolMath)
- clean the calcium deposit on the SWG cell
- check pH and CH. Might as well check everything again
- depending on test results, bring down pH to 7.6-7.8 by adding muriatic acid (with caution)

Did I miss anything? Am I on the right track? This is exciting! I'm learning something new

Mahalo!

 

[pjt]

I have been reading about muriatic acid to lower pH and also to clean my Jandy salt chlorinator cell so I will be purchasing a couple of gallons of that.

MA is a "last resort" option for cleaning a cell. Every MA cleaning shortens its life.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[MITBeta]

What is the CH of your fill water?

 

[edgarortiz1]

PJT - Noted on using MA on the SWG cell. I'll rinse, scrape the calcium deposit
MITBeta - I have no idea what the CH of my tap/municipal water is.

What do you guys think of using flocculant to remove the calcium?

So if I am to replace some water from my pool, I will need a pump, right? I cannot just use the back wash since it is only taking water from the skimmer level of the pool and my pool pump will eventually be sucking air once the pool water reaches below the skimmer.

 

[edgarortiz1]

NVM about the flocculant, I just read that TFP does not recommend it So it's replacing water then which I will need a pump or can a backwash be adequate? That might not be enough water to remove.

 

[Texas Splash]

I will need a pump or can a backwash be adequate?

A separate sump pump is ideal. We frown on using your main pool pump to pump to waste for too long just incase it runs dry or something odd happens. Certainly your call though.

 

[MITBeta]

I have no idea what the CH of my tap/municipal water is.

You can measure it with you test kit. This will help you to understand what CH is likely to do in the long term.

As a side note, even if floc was a recommended TFP tool, it would not work to remove calcium from a pool.

 

[edgarortiz1]

MITBeta - duh! Use my test kit of course! Thanks!

 

[edgarortiz1]

MITBeta - our tap water is 40-50 ppm CH. Based on this, I have to exchange 47% of my pool water (per PoolMath)
Ok, so since I have to wait for my pump to arrive (June 12), CH is just rising. But I can lower pH by just adding MA (3 cups, 9 oz per PoolMath)? Is there anything I need to do before my CH or anything else goes haywire?

 

[MITBeta]

I'm guessing the previous owner used a lot of calcium hypochlorite to shock, which was unnecessary with a SWCG.

I think the CH will come down with normal dilution over time, so you might want to consider the advice above about diluting enough to lower CYA to about 70 and then manage your CSI so that you stay out of the scaling end of the spectrum.

 

[edgarortiz1]

MITBeta - it's actually the pool guy who probably let go of the pool condition since I've owned this pool for three years now and it's only the 2nd pool guy (5 months now) that I'm seeing this problem. I saw him dump 1 gallon of MA one time. I just did not bother ask but will let him go and I'll do it myself from here on.

So is it ok to just adjust my pH by adding MA and then wait till I get my pump to exchange water? Nothing else to worry since it'll be by June 12 when I can exchange my pool water.

Thank you for all your help!!! Aloha!

 

[MITBeta]

You should download the
PoolMath app if you haven't already, go to the settings, and select "Track CSI". (I don't remember if you also have to turn on temperature tracking as well...)

Play with the CSI calculator to work with the numbers you can control without dumping water, like pH and TA, to try to keep CSI slightly negative. This will help to reduce scaling.

Also, how does your water look? Because you have the power now, you should run the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to be sure that everything is a-ok. Which will also confirm that you can live with a higher CYA.

 

[edgarortiz1]

MITBeta - I did have my CSI tracking on and just turned on Temp tracking. When I do enter information on the CSI, it does say that scaling is likely. Checked pool temp with temp probe (80F). CSI = 0.93 Greater than 0.6 suggests scaling is likely.
Here are my latest #'s (6/8/23)
FC = 8
CC=.5
TA=8.5
CH=950
CYA = 90
Cl Br = 5-10
pH =8.2 (added 30 oz. MA)
Still waiting for my pump to arrive.
Photo of my pool. Sorry, there's trade winds....

 

[PoolStored]

Ok, so since I have to wait for my pump to arrive (June 12), CH is just rising. But I can lower pH by just adding MA (3 cups, 9 oz per PoolMath)? Is there anything I need to do before my CH or anything else goes haywire?

CH=950

Short term CSI being high won't likely be a significant issue. I would lower your pH to 7.0 to 7.2 and keep it there to reduce scaling, until you can replace some of the water.

 

[edgarortiz1]

PoolStored - agreed! MITBeta actaully lead me to CSI calculation and I did play around with the pH to get a "no scaling" result. I've been testing my pH and following the prescibed MA addition. pH has dropped to 7.8 and shooting for below 7.6 Much appreciated for all your help! I feel "smarter" now (HAHAHAH!)

 

[edgarortiz1]

Just a quick update. I received my pump and should be ready to replace pool water. I did a test today and here are my results.
pH = 8.2
FC = 8.5
CC= 0.5
TA=110
CH= 775
CYA = 90

It's been raining these past couple of days. Not strong enough to fill / replace some pool water but enough to water the plants and fill rain barrel I did refill the pool with tap water to keep level normal. I imagine, my CH has dropped due to rain and water replacement. Look like I can just lower my pH to keep my CH at bay and hold off on pool water replacement.