New white grout turning YELLOW! Help!

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JenniferJuniper2

JenniferJuniper2

0
Mar 2, 2015
142
sacramento, ca
Hello all,

We recently had our pool replastered and the waterline tile replaced. The grout was white when installed (like 3 weeks ago). Now, wherever it's exposed to water, it is yellow! Please see pic. Any ideas as to what's causing this? It started to look very slightly yellow right away, but I figured maybe that's just what it's supposed to look like when wet. Now it's REALLY yellow.

If it matters, we've had a pool guy doing our start up (regular start up, not a hot start) and he was coming out a few times per week for the first 2 weeks. No one came last week because our guy is on vacation. The water turned a little green, and on his advice (we texted him) he said to add algaecide, which solved the water problem. I understand algae can stain, but this is yellow, not green, and when we scrub it nothing happens. Our water wasn't even very green, just a little bit. And our water has been back to blue for a week now, but the grout is still yellow! Help!

See pic:

kagqw8.jpg


This is a pic inside the mouth of the skimmer. The parts underwater are yellow and the parts out of water are white. The yellowing is not confined to the skimmer though. It appears to be anywhere the grout is under water.
 
I bet we can help! Someone on here will know what to do! Lets start with the basics-how do you test your water and what were the last test results? The answer to this will really help us help you.

Kim:cat:
 
kimkats said:
I bet we can help! Someone on here will know what to do! Lets start with the basics-how do you test your water and what were the last test results? The answer to this will really help us help you.

Kim:cat:
Click to expand...

I sure hope so!

34q90k6.jpg


It looks like the chlorine is about a 1 and the "Br" is about 2. The Ph looks like 7.5. I took this pic immediately after taking the sample. If I let the test kit sit for a few minutes the chlorine side looks more like a .5. Not sure how long I am supposed to let it sit or how old my test chemicals (or whatever they are) are (the kit was under the sink when I moved in 2 years ago...looked like it had never been used tho).

I'm not sure what you mean by how I test the water...lol usually I don't test it at all! Because the pool guy does it. But the kit I have (which I only used for the 2nd time ever today) is a little kit that comes with droppers of some kind of colored stuff that you add to the sample water.

If it helps, the yellowing is not confined to any one area. It appears to be everywhere that the grout is under water.
 
No ideas? My pool looks horrible, I am ready to cry. Now we are getting greenish splotches everywhere. The water is crystal clear and the green does not budge at all when you brush it, so I don't think it's algae. The color started out bright blue, almost TOO blue. Now it's teal-ish and blotchy and I hate it.

I really can't get a good picture of it but this is the best I could do. You can kind of see the streakiness, but not much of the green. You can kind of see it in the bottom 3rd of the pic, near the middle. Its much worse in real life.

mtwjo5.jpg


Pool guy was not much help. He said the grout could be due to the start up chemicals, and that the greenishness could be because it's not done changing color. But none of the pics I've seen online for this color look green, and that doesn't explain why splotches would turn green while others are still blue. If it helps, the greenish splotching seems worse in the sunny side of the pool.
 
That chlorine level of 1 ppm and green stuff is telling me you have algae in your pool. You may have read enough here to know the drill. Get a good test kit, fire the pool guy, don't go to the pool store, take care of your own pool and it will look much better than what the pool guy does.
 

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Update! My husband read somewhere to rub vitamin C on it and see what happens. Guess what? The grout turned back to white and the plaster turned back to blue where we rubbed it. I think that means something about metals in the water?

It does not seem like algae at all. First of all, it got worse after we tried algaecide (the water cleared up but the finish kept in turning green). Secondly it's not slimy and if I scratch it with my fingernail it doesn't budge. The vitamin C (Asorbic acid) took the yellow off without any scrubbing...I just rubbed it for like 2 seconds with my fingertips.
 
Do remember what algaecide you used? Let us know. I bet it has copper in it :(

We CAN help you get and keep your pool clean and pretty again. BUT to do so you have to help us help you by getting a good test kit. Without it you are spending way too more money than you need to and adding stuff to your pool that is doing more harm than good (yellow grout and green pool).

Look in my siggy for the best test kit.........it has more of the stuff we use every day.

Kim:cat:
 
It is safe to swim when
Chorine is above minimum and below shock level for your CYA, Chlorine CYA Chart
PH is between 7.2 and 7.8
The water is clear

Algaecide won't hurt you, it can just add copper which can turn blond hair green, fingernails green and even a white dog green. :) Funny right!

Cloudy water and chlorine below minimum for CYA are the only safety concerns from a pool sanitation standpoint and preventing person to person disease transmission.
 
Thanks everyone! I will look at those kits for sure.

UPDATE: For now, since we don't have a decent kit, we took the water to the pool store to test.

There were zero metals. But the calcium hardness was super high at 900. (Should be 200?) The pH is also way high-- above 8. Can calcium stain yellow? There is a bit of white staining too which I already figured was calcium, but there is barely any white staining.

If it helps, the algaecide we used was Poolife Super Algaecide 60.

ETA: when we used our kit to test yesterday it said the ph was 7.5. So I am not sure why the pool store results would be different? Our kit might be old, would that make a difference? It was under the sink when we moved in but it looked really new.
 
Age does mess with the test regents as well as how the it is stored. It should be kept in a cool, dark place.

I will also tell you your tests will be MUCH better than the store when you get your good test kit. P$ do not use the greatest care or procedures. Things such as not cleaning the equipment in between the tests to the machines not being calibrated properly.

I ruined my first pool doing what the P$ told me to do :( I now spend LESS all summer then what I used to spend in ONE month using the pool store.

Kim:cat:
 
The metal doesn't always show up on a test when it is either sequestered or in stains in the plaster. You already proved that there is metal in the water when Vit C removed the stain.

No, CH cannot stain yellow. Although, the pool is at risk of calcium scale with CH that high. Maintaining your CSI slightly negative, -0.1 to -0.3 will prevent scaling. Poolmath will calculate CSI for you. More here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling and here, Langelier and Calcite Saturation Indices (LSI and CSI)

Neither PH test is particularly reliable hard to pick which might be more wrong, or least wrong.
 

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