odd stain on plaster of closed pool

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chrisa

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LifeTime Supporter
Feb 13, 2008
163
California
Pool Size
45000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Autopilot Digital PPC4 (RC-52)
I just went out to check our freezing pool. I got one corner of the cover off (wanted to add some chorine) but, I started to notice a strange tan/brown stain around our new plaster (done last July).

Is this normal??? I don't remember seeing a stain like that last year, when it was painted. the stain is about 2" wide (maybe water mark??) just below the tiles...I tried to rub it off but, the water was so cold it was to painful :(
we had our pool guys (that took care of the plaster job) close the pool this year. I just wanted to check with you guys to see if this is normal...would hate to see the new plaster ruined. Can't really do anything now about it (to much ice on the cover still). Other than that it looked pretty good (from what I could see)...some nice crawly worms on the bottom :(

any thoughts?

thanks,
chris
 
its kind of hard to tell since the cover is on and its so cold out. At first i was going to say maybe a leaf had sat, but then you said its on the side of the pool.

whatever it is, im sure it can be taken care of, and isnt anything very serious, or that the new plaster is ruined.

why not give one of the pool guys a call and see if he could stop by and take a peek. tell him you just concerned and you would feel much better if he could just look and make sure its nothing thats going to get worse over time.

if it were me and i had just did the job less then a year ago, id take a ride out no charge and take a look.

sorry, i know that wasnt much help
 
update:
I did call the pool guys and they also thought metal stains...so he came out and added some metal out.

4/2/09:
well today I decided I was so sick of looking at our ugly black cover. I started pumping off the extra water that was on the cover and finally got that huge cover off (by myself, I know crazy...husband is in Iraq) anway...those darns stains are even on my stairs (they are a light tan/brown color)

all my numbers looked good (using TF kit) by my PH was still high 8.2 (new plaster last july), will pick up muriatic acid tomorrow

so did the high PH cause the stains??? and what should I do now?? I tried to scrub it but, I might need to scrub harder.
I guess I shoud do the vit C test to see if the stains will go away with that but, we are talking lots of staining....any thoughts????
will lowering the PH down to 6-6.5 and heavy brushing help with the stains??

pool is almost done filling and I already shocked and got everything put back on and started up.
water temp is a chilly 51

chris
 
The high PH might well have contributed to the stains. If there is iron in the water, high PH can cause the iron to form stains.

Do lower the PH to the normal range. Do not lower the PH below 7.0 (except as part of an ascorbic acid treatment). Low PH will not remove the stains. It is not at all likely that brushing will help.

Yes, do the Vitamin C test to see if it affects the stains.

There are several possibilities. It sounds like they are iron stains, which means doing an ascorbic acid treatment. Do the Vitamin C test to be sure. Two other possibilities, both less likely based on your description, are that they are organic stains of some kind or discolored calcium scaling. If the Vitamin C has no effect we can explore these possibilities.
 
well today after shocking last night...the stains are magically gone. the water is still alittle murky but, the stains on the steps and the ones that went around the pool seem to be gone.
very odd...Jason any thoughts?

glad to see them gone, I was scared it was going to be some major acid wash or something :)
now if the weather would just warm up :)


chris
 
Most likely they were actually organic stains, which are removed by high chlorine levels (though not usually that quickly). I suppose they could have been metal stains. When metal stains are very new, they can be removed simply by adding some metal out.
 
I have 3 rose bushes close to my pool, and with high winds, some of the leave will go into the pool and eventually end up on the bottom, if they stay there a couple of days it will produce a tan/brownish stain, at first I was upset because I had numerous stains on my plaster but after 2 days the stains where gone.

So as Jason said, probaly organic.


Rob
 
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