Please help with calcium buildup

[Marts99ss]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I would appreciate it if some one can help me. I've just build a brand new 19000 gallon salt pool and spa from ground up. Finished on September 2015. Quad DE Filter. For couple of months it was ok, but in the last 3 months it has been It has been crazy for the last three months.I've been getting large amount of calcium buildup on the glass tiles around the pool. It's like salty flaky and it builds up like a Christmas tree starting from the grout between the tiles. If you leave it on long enough I will get hard and stick to the class also, but you can flick it off with your finger when fresh. We live in Granada Hills California. It's very windy here. For 6 months out of the year the wind blows from the north and the pool water constantly moves up and down on the tiles. I also have a bubble cover on it now. when I brush and clean the tiles it will just take four days for that Christmas tree crust calcium buildup to form again. The glass tiles I can clean but the grout is hard because it's more porous. Gray color grout turning white. Please see attached photos. Please help I've been brushing like every week with calcium cleaning soap.

On a normal pool how often do you need to add the muriatic acid?
Do you add it to enough to keep it in the range 7.2 - 7.8?
Does the grout have anything to do with the calcium, or the wind or other things?
Dose the pump speed matter?
Can it be the wrong grout?
What am I missing here?


Summary of test results.
Free Chlorine 2
total chlorine 2
salt 2650
Calcium 230
Cyanuric acid 70
PH 7.2
Total Alkalinity 90 After acid
Copper 0
Iron 0
phosphate 350

 

[bdavis466]

That looks more like efflorescence than scale. If your water chemistry numbers are typically kept in the range above, there is little chance scale could form.

Is this all the way around the perimeter of the pool or just in certain spots? Effervescence is caused by moisture getting behind or leaching through a porous concrete surface and leaving the mineral deposits behind. There is little you can do to prevent it but It can be removed with diluted muriatic acid 4:1.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! To help answer your question, you'll probably want to start HERE. Good basic info. In a nutshell, two factors really play immediately into scale: the hardness of your source water and/or chemical levels of pH, TA, and CH which drive CSI. CSI can be managed effectively even when your local water hardness is through the roof. Your test results above seem to indicate that was from a pool store. Am I correct? If so, you'll want to consider getting the proper test kit to manage the pool on your own. We can help, and there are tons of TFP members from your area that will attest to hard water management. Stay close for more replies. Welcome!

 

[gwegan]

I'm going to tentatively agree with Brian. I don't think that is water chemistry. Get ma and cut it 4 to 1. Spray on the tile You need chemical gloves or thick dishwashing gloves.

Rinse.

You should get a reliable test (drop based) and test the calcium level in your pool. Your pool is new so it's probably releasing calcium in the water and the ph is rising. That's generally normal. Have you been testing for ch in the water?

 

[duraleigh]

I think efflorescence as well but there would have to be a source of water ABOVE and BEHIND that tile.....is there?

 

[Marts99ss]

Thanks for your replies. There is no source of water behind the pool and the spa is above 12 inches and the level of build up is all around the pool and all around the spa which is raised.

Yes you are correct the test results are from the store. I just thought that they would be more accurate than mine. I have a Talar K 2006. I tested the CH It was 240, The store tested it it was at 210.

I talked to my friend about this three weeks ago my TA was at 90 he told me to raise it because every time when I added the acid the TA would drop. Now the TA is at 120 before acid and 90 after acid. I was having a really hard time keeping the pH down. After I tested it every week it asked me to add 2 quarts of acid. Is this normal to add 2 quarts of acid every week to keep it below 7.8? I don't know what's going to happen now. I just finished adding the acid four days ago when (TA was at 120 and after acid TA is 90) and waiting to see if it's going to go up again. What is the acceptable range for pH?

Some of the white build up is not even on the grass. The base of it is on the grout and it grows up and away from the glass.

Thanks

Martin A.

 

[Texas Splash]

Definitely trust your K-2006. It's a great kit. Your TA is running high which in-turn keeps pulling-up the pH as well. Let the acid lower them both. You can let your TA go down as low as 80, and if that doesn't help the pH stay down, let the TA go to 70. It's a balancing act but it will work. Eventually the lower TA should help keep the pH down. Keeping those two lower will also help keep the CSI down (more neutral) as well which can help when local water hardness is a problem.

 

[duraleigh]

There is no source of water behind the pool and the spa is above 12 inches and the level of build up is all around the pool and all around the spa which is raised.

That's a little bit confusing but I can say that, unless you have water (from a leak or anything) that can work it's way from behind that tile out onto the surface, then you do not have efflorescence.