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I forgot to respond to your earlier question on this; sorry. I did tap around the nodules but I didn't notice any audible changes in the sound of the tapping. Also can you help me understand why I am only seeing this in the spa but not the pool? The same company did the plaster job for both...

Where can I find his articles?

Here is the response from my pool builder. As expected they're blaming pool chemistry. How should I respond?

Where does the PB think my pH should be?

Thank you everyone. I've reached out to the PB, we will see what they say. In the meantime do I leave the spa drained? I'm guessing not. Because the pool has too much water in it right now.

I drained the spa and took a closer look. I noticed significant plaster damage under one of the waterline tiles. Other than that, I was able to get much clearer pictures of the nodules. I don't think my eyes or phone camera magnify enough to see any cracks, but I do see what appear to be...

Would you (or anyone) please recommend a lab I can send a sample into? I assume once I have that, I can figure out what kind of sample they need and how I should obtain it. I know to get it from under the drain cover but I don't know what tools to use, or what size of a sample to obtain.

Is it worth it to have the plaster analyzed? I'm not sure how painful or costly that is. I also am not sure how to find a cement lab near me. Any tips there would help. I did read the article and the formations pictured there do seem very close to how mine looks. For example I do see a few...

Thank you for this explanation it really helped. I heat the spa usually to 100F. Water temps have been in the mid to low 50s. So it's definitely heating up quite a lot. The thing is, though, I haven't used the spa that much this winter. Maybe 3-4 times since november. I didn't keep track of it...

I probably heated up the spa intentionally 2-3 times since november. I didn't keep track. I usually heat it to 100F. There were 1 or 2 times the spa ran at night because I didn't realize the heater in standby mode will still kick on during freeze protection. When running it intentionally, the...

Thank you for confirming that. Makes me feel much better about this test now. I also want to try the 5 drops of R12 at the start with the diluted 10ml to see if that makes the endpoint even easier.

Ok got 9 drops this time which comes out to 450ppm. MUUUCH better. Thank you.

Ah, I see. So do the 20ml sample and pour 10ml of it for the test. Could I do 5ml each instead?

And for educational purposes... calcium carbonate is the same as calcium hardness? Is that what forms when the CH is too high? If 950 is indeed an accurate measurement, should I drain the pool to lower the CH?

I apparently put too much acid in so pH is 7.5 right now (I was aiming for 7.8). CSI with 950CH is -0.25. Would be closer to 0 I think if I was on target for pH.

This is from a different thread started in Jan, but I had some difficulties with my CH test and so another member suggested a different approach to the test involving dilution with distilled water. I posted the results here, but my CH came out to 950ppm which is a wildly higher number than I'm...

Just did this and yep it bubbled/fizzed right away and then completely disappeared.

I still need some help here. How much acid do I pour into a cup for the crystal? I assume this is relevant to avoid dilluting the 300mg of acid in the next step... I could use my coffee scale to measure 300mg of acid I guess. I don't have any other tools. So just to make sure I understand: Pour...

I added 10ml of distilled water. Then I added 10ml of pool water up to the 20ml mark. I added 10 drops of R-10 Then 3 drops of R-11L Then I got up to 19 drops of R-12. I do feel the shift to blue was quicker this time. If I am doing the math right... 19 drops times 25 time 2 is 950ppm of CH...

How do I rule out calcium carbonate? Is that what the phosphate test is for?

I will go ahead and buy one. You also mentioned sulfates, is that something that needs to be tested separately, and if so how should I test for it? Any reading material you recommend to understand more about what sulfates and phosphates are as it relates to pool care?

Any thermometer recommendations you'd like to share? Currently, pool temp is 54F, spa temp is 57F. CSI is calculated at pool temp since I do not sample water from my spa nor do I test it separately. I heat the spa when the family uses it occasionally. This winter, it has had almost no usage...

Can I use a steak/cooking thermometer to measure the spa temp? yes I will run my full suite of tests today since it's been about a month since my last full set. Do you want me to sample water from the spa or the pool for this round?

Here's a few more pictures. If you look close you can see the pin-sized white flakes on the plaster. I checked the pool and I'm not seeing it. Seems to be the spa alone.

I haven't forgotten about the first post you made for this test. I can probably test for TA and CH but not the other two. I am not comfortable handling acid beyond opening a lid and pouring it in a pool. Happy to try, though. What tools do you use to do this testing? I have a qt sized measuring...

The picture is blurry because the thing is about the size of a salt grain. I set it on top of a table in as much sunlight as I could. I had to really get close to get a good picture. I can't even see the things in the pool through the water. So I can't take a picture that way. If you can let...

Yes the spa and pool are connected. I run spillover 2-3 times a day to ensure that it gets chlorine. I tested the spa once a while ago just to make sure the chlorine levels were high enough, but after that I don't test in the spa anymore. The pool might also have those crystals I just haven't...