Goals / getting rid of white flakes

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sgoldst26

Member
Mar 29, 2025
5
Charlotte NC
Hi all, I’ve been taking care of my pool for about two years. Up until this season. I was using Leslie‘s in-store water testing. I’ve never had issues with algae. I bought a TF pro salt test kit for this season. This is a saltwater pool in North Carolina. I do use Leslie’s perfect weekly to keep phosphates down, but otherwise just normal chemicals and a salt water generator. I’ve always had trouble with flaky white deposits coming from my return jets, even when the SWG is flake free. Would love some advice to reduce the flakes (see buildup in SPA, which overflows into the pool). Water currently looks good, but just wondering if I should have any specific goals for calcium hardness, ph, TA, and CYA to try to reduce the calcium flake. TIA.IMG_0486.pngimage.jpgimage.jpg
 
sgoldst26 said:
I do use Leslie’s perfect weekly to keep phosphates down, but otherwise just normal chemicals and a salt water generator.
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welcome to TFP.
Phosphates are NOT important if you maintain adequate FC levels.

I know that Perfect Weekly is expensive and it is somewhat diluted. Orenda makes a product (PR-1000) that is much better if you are really concerned about phosphates. I have a test kit for phosphates that I use twice a year. Mine stay around 100.

Also read

Phosphate Removers - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Welcome to TFP. We wondered when you'd stop by.😎 No need for the Phosfree. Phosphates aren't concerning, especially in TFP pools. I can vouch for that; 20+ years with weekly phosfree and alternating weekly "shocking" with SWG superchlorinate and Fresh n' Clear and monthly Beautec but not monitoring my CH. All that money spent that did nothing more than what I do now which is keep my chlorine on the hot side of my CYA range and monitor my PH. Good on the TF test kit, now switch to PoolMath and tie it to your login here to share your testing results. Read the following links for further explanations.

Pool Care Basics
FC/CYA Levels
PoolMath
 
Thanks everyone. I guess I’ve been told that “phosphates” are “algae food”, and I am quite busy so I use the perfect weekly to remove the phosphate so I don’t get a green pool if I neglect it for a week or 2. Maybe I’ll skip it and see how it goes!

Regarding the calcium flakes shooting out of my skimmers, do you guys have any sense of what that is and how to remove it? I usually just vacuum it up but I’m not sure it’s normal.

I will read all the links and switch to pool math! Thanks all.

Sam
 

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sgoldst26 said:
What are borates, and what exactly will they do for me! Thanks for the comment!
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Your cell is scaling because the pH in the cell is very high during the reaction and precipitates calcium carbonate because your LSI and CH are high. Given your TA, you cannot lower your LSI practically without lowering your CH.
The easiest answer is to replace some water and lower your CH to 250, which is just fine to maintain your plaster. Lowering your CH will lower your CSI/LSI, which you want to run slightly negative (-.3 to 0). It will be less long term work and expense. Trouble Free, some would say.

The benefit of borates is to buffer the pH rise in the cell. But again, they are not necessary if you lower your CH.

The chemistry:

Borates:

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
PoolStored said:
Your cell is scaling because the pH in the cell is very high during the reaction and precipitates calcium carbonate because your LSI and CH are high. Given your TA, you cannot lower your LSI practically without lowering your CH.
The easiest answer is to replace some water and lower your CH to 250, which is just fine to maintain your plaster. Lowering your CH will lower your CSI/LSI, which you want to run slightly negative (-.3 to 0). It will be less long term work and expense. Trouble Free, some would say.

The benefit of borates is to buffer the pH rise in the cell. But again, they are not necessary if you lower your CH.

The chemistry:

Borates:

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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Wow very interesting. I’m going to let the calcium hardness drift because it’s a bit of a rainy season here. I’m assuming a slightly lower CH will possibly decrease the amount of calcium able to flake?

The borates affecting the local reaction in the SWG also make sense. I have 13,700 gallons in my pool. What is the goal borate level? Should I expect any changes to my other chems after adding borates?

Thanks guys!
 
sgoldst26 said:
Wow very interesting. I’m going to let the calcium hardness drift because it’s a bit of a rainy season here. I’m assuming a slightly lower CH will possibly decrease the amount of calcium able to flake?
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Yes. I'd recommend you get pool math. Use your same login/password as TFP, enable track CSI, CC, Temp. Enable share with TFP...then we can see your logs. Link-->PoolMath
sgoldst26 said:
The borates affecting the local reaction in the SWG also make sense. I have 13,700 gallons in my pool. What is the goal borate level? Should I expect any changes to my other chems after adding borates?
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50ppm. Yes, borates do change the chemistry a bit. You won't add acid as frequently, but you will end up using the same amount. I would see if you can get your CH down and eliminate flaking before you go borates. You have to buy the Borates (use GRANULAR boric acid from Duda Deisel...nobody else). 55lb pail is $120 with shipping. Then you need a way to test borates, either strips (pffft, can believe I said that), or you have to roll with our home grown drop test. They are an added expense and hassle. They are also like CYA and CH, you have to replace water to remove them. You also end up topping Borates each spring and during the year.

Roll your own test:
Borates in pool - Further Reading
 
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