I decided to do a little science experiment. I swept up some of the dust and grit from the stone coping and added a bit of muriatic acid. It bubbled. I’m not sure that my experiment is conclusive, but I take it to mean that it’s likely there is at least some limestone dust in the stuff that gathers near the pool.

So maybe it is the dust that’s contributing to my high CH? Does that seem like a reasonable possibility?

So the more I brush, the faster it will die. Thanks!

With the pump running, take a garden hose and flood each joint. If the pump stops pulling air, that is your joint.
You can also try shaving cream.
You can also try saran wrap.

ajw22 said:

You must have missed that he is in Arkansas.

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OK, I finally have some more information. I have had company for a week now with more on the way, plus my pump sprung a leak, so I've been busy, to say the least.

I cleaned the pool again and collected more white stuff. The image shows the powder with and without vinegar after they both dried. The sample on the right got soaked with vinegar. When they dried out, they looked exactly the same as the photo shows. However, the video shows the vinegar mixture bubbling for a short time. I also added a photo of my modest water test kit, which is within the margin of error of the readings I got from Leslie's, which I posted above. However, I don't have a CYA home test kit. Here is a link to the video of the vinegar test. Remember that the sample also had detritus from the bottom of the pool mixed in, and the vinegar may have been reacting to some biological material.

Thank you agaon for your responses.



My test kit pieced together from various sources.



This was also found in the vacuum. I have no idea what this could be.

proavia said:

With all of the unions and low quality ball valves, you have a good possibility for multiple points of entry for a suction side air leak.

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Any tricks on trying to find out which one might be the culprit

PoolStored said:

I would do more research, and understand the EXACT requirements that you need to meet. Including any sort of permitting, inspection and approvals you need.

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You must have missed that he is in Arkansas.

A larger opening requires more flow to maintain the same pressure.

For a given flow the smaller orifice will give a higher pressure.

Bernoullis Principle - Bernoulli's principle - Wikipedia

ajw22 said:

Gurgling is the mixing of the air and water.

Does the noise stop if you close the valves?

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Nope. I can tighten as much as it goes and its still gurgling.

I understand some noise is normal. Was just hoping there was some kind of attachment that can muffle it.

jeepwm69 said:

From the little research I've done we need to turn the water over 3 times a day

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I would do more research, and understand the EXACT requirements that you need to meet. Including any sort of permitting, inspection and approvals you need. Then design the system around the requirements. This will avoid costly mistakes.

onBalance said:

The few white spots in your photos are NOT the same as what I wrote about in my article "White Spotting." Nor are they "calcium nodules." They are a minor plastering defect, which means they are not caused by unbalanced pool water, whether it be aggressive water or scale forming water. If there are only a few spots like that, then I won't worry much about them. Just unfortunate that they occurred and are there. And I doubt that those few spots would be the cause of the notable calcium increase.

You have grasped and understood the information provided to you very well.

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Thanks for the info! That does make me feel much better!

There are only a few little spots like that. I see 6-8 total, plus maybe some really tiny ones I can see from the pool deck that could be either a “spot” or just a larger chunk of white aggregate. Visually, they’re really not very noticeable, and if they’re a plastering defect, then I guess it’s possible they’ve been there all along and I just never noticed. I admit, I’m looking much more closely at the plaster job now that I probably ever have.

In addition to the small, very bright white spots, there are a couple others that are more mottled looking and do bug me visually because they are larger. The two in the photo are about 1” in diameter. The one toward the bottom of the pic is definitely a depression in the plaster, and the other one feels the same as the surrounding surface. Do these appear to be defects and/or normal color variations/mottling?

I am still completely at a loss to explain the high CH levels. I really don’t think my fill water is the culprit. Even before now, I had measured the CH of the fill water from time to time, and it was always soft. And in the past couple days, I’ve measured it at various times of the day and after varying water demand from the house, and it’s always CH 0.

The only thing I can possibly think of is that some limestone dust from the coping is falling into the pool and dissolving, but I’m not even totally sure whether any of the coping is limestone. The orangey rocks could be, but I don’t know for sure.

I will do a partial drain & refill. Is a CH target of 800 reasonable? That would be about 1/3 of the water being exchanged and assumes no softened water being added to the pool.

Welcome to TFP.

@Lake Placid maintains commercial pools. Let''s see what he suggests.

Algae has a biofilm to protect it. Brushing breaks the biofilm allowing the chlorine to kill it.

this stuff is resilient!

Does the brushing & stirring the algae up help kill it? Meaning, if its on the sides or bottom it wont be killed bc some of it is isnt in contact with the FC, but rather the pool finish?

PeteyPools said:

If it was plugged due to a leak I assume the main drain in the pool would also be plugged?

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Not necessarily. It is easy to plug the skimmer side. It is not easy to dive down and plug the drain side.

stacy78132 said:

free chlorine at 13 is okay since it seems so high

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Absolutely. Do it now.

Read this article:

How did you get 120? How are you testing your water. I would recommend that you retest starting at #8 here:

I just picked up Pool Essentials manufactured 25119.

Mdragger88 said:

@stacy78132,
can you post your latest results so we can ensure things are going swimmingly?
Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya
Salt (if applicable)

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I attached a screenshot with my numbers from yesterday. Yesterday I was told to add 1 gal and 3 cups of 10% liquid chlorine so I added that last night. Since it's was the 1st time I used liquid I t3sted only the chlorine and pH today. Free chlorine was 5 and combined chlorine was 0. My pH was 7.8. Yes cya is around 125...it was much higher about 6 months ago but I did drain some water several times. For the last 6 months or so I've be researching all kinds of stuff on here so that's why I'm finally deciding to switch over to liquid chlorine. I just paid for the app the other day so I could maintain my logs on here. Also I had phosphates at over 4000 but thanks to everything I read on here, I treated with orenda and now they are normal! Anyway, I just really want to make sure that having free chlorine at 13 is okay since it seems so high. Thanks again for your help.

PoolStored said:

Welcome to TFP!!!

99 times out of 100, the “chalkiness” you see is NOT calcium scaling. It the breakdown/hydrolysis/oxidation of the clear gel coat on the FG surface. There is literally nothing you can do about this to stop it. All gel coats will begin to breakdown from the oxidative stress of water, chlorine, and UV. It’s simply the physics and chemistry of water and polymers.

The only way to restore it is to have the pool drained, the surface lightly polished to remove the porous layer and then a fresh gel coat applied. It’s, at best, impractical to do and would be extremely costly as it is mostly back-breaking labor. Anyone that owns a boat or a classic car knows how hard it is to keep these types of surfaces polished and cleaned (gel-coats on fiberglass are very similar to clear coats on cars).

@Texas Splash may have more weight on the subject...

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Thanks for the information. Seems to be the general consensus with the pool people around here( Venice , Fl) as well. Not many companies do the work and a first guess was around $7k for a straightforward 10000 gal pool. Yikes . I just had to have a skimmer replaced 2 weeks ago and that was $2300. The pool mainatence company I use said most folks just live with it. That is also a problem as the robotic cleaner I use sometimes gets stuck in a corner and the rubber wheels will spin and rub the coating down to the fiberglass leaving dark patches.

You are using flow sensing with the SCG.

It looks like the IntelliConnect thinks RPM is 0 and thus not turning on the SCG.

Carefully check that the wire between the pump and the IntelliConnect is not damaged or nicked.

YippeeSkippy said:

Hey there Fred! This can be a common problem, we've heard. @Texas Splash seems to have a good grasp on it, so I've invited him in to give his story.

Welcome to TFP We hope you'll stick around.

Maddie

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Thanks for the information

I still can't figure out the metal valve on the left...why put in a metal valve...there should be no metal to pvc connections in a pool.

With the valve moved, does it still lose prime?