Blue Surf pebble sheen turned grey

[bluesurfturnedgrey]

Hi! Hoping someone may have some insight. We live in Austin, TX and built our pool in 2021, water was filled in September of that year. We chose Blue Surf pebble sheen for many reasons - we wanted a true blue (not teal), we didn’t want grey on the first step, and it matched our preferred waterline tile). So Blue Surf it was. It turns out, we have been dealing with extremely high CYA levels. Simultaneously, we noticed the surface of our pool was grey and the blue was literally gone. Due to high CYA, we were advised to drain the pool, refill and then the pool company came and added chemicals, shocked the pool, etc. Our pool looks completely mismatched now and the color is actually quite a bright teal. We have been told that the CYA has literally eaten away the blue from our pebble finish and there is no turning back. Has anyone ever heard of this or experienced this? The photo attached is the pebble sheen finish in our pool after water was drained where you can clearly see zero blue color. Apologies for the long post, and appreciate any feedback!

 

[Mdragger88]

The cya is likely not to blame.
do you know what chems & what amounts the people added to the pool?
How are you testing your water?
Without knowing what your levels were during the time of the change its hard to speculate what happened.
When you drained the pool did you immediately refill it? Was the plaster allowed to dry out in the sun?

 

[Mdragger88]

Calling @ajw22

 

[bluesurfturnedgrey]

I have weekly reports, but to be honest, I am not the most knowledgeable and don’t know what I would be looking for. I am aware of very high CYA levels and how those levels could have impacted other chemicals. Is there something I should be looking for in the reports? Are you aware of what else could have made our blue basically disappear? Yes, we did let it dry but the pool company also encouraged us to refill fairly quickly. It’s been very hot temps here (close to 90) so it at least appeared dry.

 

[Mdragger88]

We don’t really trust pool store testing and recommend that you have your own kit & use it regularly & follow What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?
See
Test Kits Compared

You ideally always want the plaster to stay wet - not let it dry out in the sun. When exactly did you notice the change in color?

 

[bluesurfturnedgrey]

Okay got it. Let me clarify. The pool was dry just long enough for the water to drain which definitely took several hours. After that, the hoses went in and water was refilling.

We noticed the change in pool color last summer but didn’t really give it much thought at the time. Thought maybe algae was making it look more “green” or teal. But when the water drained, we were able to get a good look at the surface even in the deeper areas and saw it was grey throughout.

 

[Mdragger88]

Plaster pools lighten over time -

Pebble Sheen Blue Surf vs Prism Blue??

Hi, we are in the middle of building a gunite pool and are struggling with color. My husband likes Ocean Blue, but I vetoed it for being too dark. I want to see the bottom of the pool and children. We went through all the other colors and narrowed it down to Blue Surf or Prism Blue. I’m having a...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

I am aware of very high CYA levels

Very high isn't a value. Do you have a # ?

how those levels could have impacted other chemicals

If anything, high CYA would help keep the pool finish not bleached out. They would have had to bring it to an absurd FC level (like 100 or more) to risk any damage.

But we just saw it yesterday where a pool store was recommending 30 bags of shock *and* 36 gallons of bleach. So they definitely do absurd.

 

[bluesurfturnedgrey]

They said CYA levels were over 100. That’s all the info I got, their tester only went as high as that so they assumed it was considerably higher.

Here are the levels on the most recent report, not sure if this helps. I appreciate your patience as for better or worse, we have had a company manage the chems in our pool (but recently switched to a company we have much more trust in).

PH 7.6 ppm
CHL 0 ppm
ALK 100 ppm
CAL 420 ppm
CYA +100 ppm

 

[HermanTX]

Do you know what type of chemicals or shock or algaecide that may have been added over the past 2.5 years?
See questions ask in your other post on same subject.
Post in thread 'Hello from Austin, TX'
Hello from Austin, TX

 

[Newdude]

They said CYA levels were over 100. That’s all the info I got, their tester only went as high as that so they assumed it was considerably higher.

Ok. They just like to scare you into expensive treatments. Or to drain to cover their foul ups. a 110 would peg the machine the same as 400.

we have had a company manage the chems in our pool (but recently switched to a company we have much more trust in)

Don't shoot the messenger but it's the methodology, not the service company or pool store. Everybody is on their Nth service company.

The sun consumes chlorine daily and it needs to be replaced daily. A once a week service company doesn't stand a chance, so they use stabilized chlorine in an attempt to have any FC left at the end of the week. The CYA is jacked in a matter of weeks and it only gets worse from there.

We'd love to show you how to do it on the cheap and easy. I don't want to hear about it being too hard. These guys taught me, and that's saying something.

 

[bluesurfturnedgrey]

I’d love to take you up on it and learn but full disclosure , I’m a bit overwhelmed by all of this and feeling unsure I could manage it. We do have a lot of direct sunlight and I agree, the sun coverage is a factor.

Can any of this explain why our blue surf pool isn’t blue anymore?

 

[HermanTX]

I’d love to take you up on it and learn but full disclosure , I’m a bit overwhelmed by all of this and feeling unsure I could manage it. We do have a lot of direct sunlight and I agree, the sun coverage is a factor.

Can any of this explain why our blue surf pool isn’t blue anymore?

The consensus is that CYA did not turn your plaster gray. However it indicates that pucks are used and also with a pool service, what else have they added?
Algaecides contain unwanted chemicals. Not positive that actually affected the color but poor chemical balance can discolor plaster.
It is probably impossible to know what has been added over the 2.5 years.
Others may have additional feedback.

 

[Newdude]

Can any of this explain why our blue surf pool isn’t blue anymore?

We see fading and bleaching all the time. I can't recall a finish that was erased completely, even with an acid wash.

You filled at the height of the shortages, when quality control went to crud. It seemingly didn't matter how bad any product was as long as the company got a product to the shelf. I'd personally blame that. I'm interested to see Allen's take when he is free.

 

[Mdragger88]

DIY Pool Care: The Benefits of Taking Charge of Your Pool Maintenance - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JJ_Tex]

Wait a second, blue surf doesn’t mean the plaster is blue. Grey plaster means blue water color. I have blue surf too and it looks a lot like your pictures. A nice blue water but you can see they grey in the shallow areas.

Also note, blue plaster tends to have greenish water. We hated our Blue Surf the first few weeks until the blue pigment faded and the water changed to a nice blue color.

 

[wireform]

Let's be real, there's nothing your going to do now that will revert it back to what you had or expected. My recommendation but it's your money is, get the recommended kit and do your own testing. No, it's not as complicated as one thinks besides, you have lots of free pool school here that will simplify the process with good understanding. Almost everyone here was in some predicament, bit the bullet and now is giving advice to others.

 

[JJ_Tex]

After I posted last night I got to thinking of the PebbleTec pictures on their website. Here is the link to a Blue Surf picture on their website that looks a lot like the pictures you and I both have of our pools.

I would chalk it up to its working as designed and there is not much you can do about it now without drastic measures like chipping out the old finish and redoing with another color which would cost $$$.

https://pebbletec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/PS-Bluesurf-WGP-19-8.jpg