Is this a chemical issue?

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swan771

Active member
May 2, 2019
32
Palo Cedro, CA
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we have been using a pool service since last fall because the pool maintenance manager (ie me) started traveling a lot for work. Well with all of my new found time at home I decided to check in on the chemicals because I discovered that my pool guy doesn't even brush the pool when he is here. I watched him dump in a gallon of chlorine, turn on the pump and leave 3 weeks in a row. I noticed the front of the spillover had hard build-up on it that my dad thinks is efflorescence but was REALLY hard to get off, and the beginning of some yellow algae in a few corners of the spa. So I broke out my trusty pool map app and found calcium was at 200, Ph 8.0 TA 110, CYA 20 FC 1.0 and CC 0 the morning after he had been here. I was adding 1 gal liquid chlorine myself 2X week at night but not doing any water tests. (I know -shame on me!) I followed app directions and added calcium, stabilizer, and acid and am now sitting at Ph7.5, TA120, CH 375, CYA 30 and CSI is 0.14 and am keeping the FC 3-4 consistently. Since it seems the algae is dealt with now I added some Algaecide 60 Plus from In the Swim. Pool water is crystal clear. FWIW, Lime Away and a 6" putty knife did the trick. Just curious if this nastiness was related to the high Ph/Low calcium?
 
Since your test results look quite good (even with the CH "oops" addition :hammer:), if that stuff is limited to that one area, I think we can rule-out a widespread scale issue. Interesting pattern that would be somewhat reminiscent of efflorescence. Awful thick though. Makes me curious about how much water from the spillover was running down that exact area. Now that you have it cleaned-up and your water is being maintained better, you shouldn't see it build-up like that again. Try to keep the CSI slightly negative though - zero to -0.3 if you can. If it does return, it may be seeping-in from behind which would point back to the efflorescence issue.
 
Texas Splash said:
Since your test results look quite good (even with the CH "oops" addition :hammer:), if that stuff is limited to that one area, I think we can rule-out a widespread scale issue. Interesting pattern that would be somewhat reminiscent of efflorescence. Awful thick though. Makes me curious about how much water from the spillover was running down that exact area. Now that you have it cleaned-up and your water is being maintained better, you shouldn't see it build-up like that again. Try to keep the CSI slightly negative though - zero to -0.3 if you can. If it does return, it may be seeping-in from behind which would point back to the efflorescence issue.
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should I have not added calcium? The pool math app told me to add 58 lbs, which I thought was insane. So I added 25 to see what would happen and that brought it up to 375. The app is still telling me to add another 17lbs! The pool is only a year old and is white plaster. I would like to keep our plaster in good condition. The area is to the left of the spillover.
 
swan771 said:
should I have not added calcium?
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It's fine. You are still well within the recommended ranges. Future thinking about CH:
- How hard is your local water? If it's hard, CH will increase slowly over the season from refills.
- The CH range is quite wide. That's because each pool can easily manage a CH from 250-650 by manipulating TA and pH 365 days a year as the water temp changes.
- I wouldn't add anymore calcium at this time. Just monitor for a while. As water temp increases, your CSI will grow and you'll be glad the CH isn't too high.
- Run the spill-over only when you are at the pool for enjoyment or when you need to for chemical mixing. Too much aeration will increase the pH which has a drastic impact on your CSI.
 
Texas Splash said:
It's fine. You are still well within the recommended ranges. Future thinking about CH:
- How hard is your local water? If it's hard, CH will increase slowly over the season from refills.
- The CH range is quite wide. That's because each pool can easily manage a CH from 250-650 by manipulating TA and pH 365 days a year as the water temp changes.
- I wouldn't add anymore calcium at this time. Just monitor for a while. As water temp increases, your CSI will grow and you'll be glad the CH isn't too high.
- Run the spill-over only when you are at the pool for enjoyment or when you need to for chemical mixing. Too much aeration will increase the pH which has a drastic impact on your CSI.
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the spillover runs whenever the pump is on unfortunately as our spa and pool share a water system and it sits just right above the waterline on the spa. We have a VSP and run it 12 hours a day at low speed though for energy conservation. I could bump it up and reduce the amount of time the pump is on but our PG&E bill is crazy high as it is. I certainly wish I had known that regarding the Calcium, that was basically $50 wasted. I guess I should have clarified before trusting the app. Oh well. Our local water is moderately hard. We have bronze fixtures and don't really get build up on them like we did when we were on well water and no water softener. It looks like adding a little more acid to get me to a Ph of 7.2-7.3 will take my CSI into the negative range. I bought a few gallons already because I know last summer I needed to add it pretty frequently to keep Ph in range (that darn spillover). I guess it just didn't occur to me that CH would be low because it has been winter and the pool has not been experiencing water loss like it normally does. Lesson learned and I am glad I only listened 50%. Ha!
 
swan771 said:
the spillover runs whenever the pump is on unfortunately as our spa and pool share a water system and it sits just right above the waterline on the spa.
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Rats. So there is no adjustment or ability to manipulate water suction/return from the spa at all huh? If not, then I guess the only alternative would be adjusting pump run times to control spillover. Remember, water turn-over is a myth (pool store jargon), so as long as you have adequate pump time for mixing chemicals and/or moving surface debris to the skimmer, you can adjust the pump run time as you wish. I doubt you ever really need to be at a high rpm unless perhaps for a cleaner.
 

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