Pool Cover Problem

[Arizoniann]

Hello everyone! I live in the Phoenix area. We have a heat pump and a cover on our pool so that we can use it even in the winter months. I’m having trouble with water from the pool resting on top of the cover, the water evaporates, leaving a lot of calcium/sodium (I believe) residue on top of the cover. When I wind up my cover to use the pool, all that “sediment” falls right into the pool. I believe this causes my CH to skyrocket, creating a never-ending cycle of high CH. I know I need to drain a lot of water to bring CH down. We are beginning our 8th year of having our pool, and I have never had algae (thanks to TFP!), I clean my filter cartridges regularly and have not had to replace the original ones, and I have also never done a complete water change, have only changed 1/4-1/3 of the water to try to bring CH down. I would love any insight you all have with how to end this cycle of high CH, how to stop the large amounts of residue on my pool cover due to evaporation, and finally should I do a complete water replacement?

 

[mknauss]

Do you have a water softener for your home? Using softened water for the make up water due to evaporation will greatly reduce the CH rise you see in your pool water.
You will always have solids on the cover if pool water evaporates from it.
If your CH is above 800 ppm, it is time for a complete water exchange.

 

[JamesW]

I’m having trouble with water from the pool resting on top of the cover, the water evaporates, leaving a lot of calcium/sodium (I believe) residue on top of the cover.

How is water getting on top of the cover?

What is the fill water CH?

If the water is from the pool seeping through the cover, it won't increase the CH because the CH came from the pool in the first place.

The cover should be mostly watertight.

Does water begin to accumulate as soon as the cover is closed?

How old is the cover?

How much fill water do you add per day or per week?

Do you have pictures?

 

[Arizoniann]

I did do a complete water change, then had a guy come out and clean the tile. The cover isn’t watertight, and we replace it every October, the pop ups on the Baja step are pretty powerful and often the cover moves a bit when the popups come on at the steps. I’m very happy with the tile cleaning, and doing the complete drain was easy (and long overdue!). I will keep up on my water parameters and be sure to do partial refills to help keep CH down. Right now, with new water, CH is 200 (yesterday’s test said 300). Thanks so much for the advice!