I'm new to pool ownership. I have a 16X32 vinyl liner pool. I have some stains and wanted to remove them, when I took my sample to pool store they said my calcium was to low 50 ppm and I needed to add some "calcium hardness increaser". They want me to add 25#'s of this not all at once but over a few hours. I started reading about this process and some people said never add calcium to a vinyl liner, I also spoke to a friend who has had a vinyl liner pool for 10 years and she said she never add calcium. Please help, thanks in advance Sue
Calcium adding to a vinyl pool
- Thread starter suebillie
- Start date
First, welcome to the forum!
It's optional in vinyl really. It won't hurt to have soft water in there, because the plastic won't dissolve or corrode like plaster can. Stains and metals are a seperate issue.
It's optional in vinyl really. It won't hurt to have soft water in there, because the plastic won't dissolve or corrode like plaster can. Stains and metals are a seperate issue.
Welcome! 
The only reason you need to add Calcium is to boost the pool store's bottom line. Your surface will not etch the way a plaster pool will. Take the money you just saved by not buying a bucket of Calcium increaser and buy your own test kit.
The only reason you need to add Calcium is to boost the pool store's bottom line. Your surface will not etch the way a plaster pool will. Take the money you just saved by not buying a bucket of Calcium increaser and buy your own test kit.
Thank you this is very helpful. Do you think I could move ahead with the stain treatment in the next few days?
Have you identified what kind of stains they are? If they're organic, time and bleach will fade them. If they're metal: Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains
You're gonna wanna use Jack's Magic test kit to determine the root cause of the stains.
Before spending money on a kit, if you have a chlorine puck sitting around that you could hold against the stain and see if it lifted it, and likewise some run of the mill vitamin C tablets held against the stain.
If the puck lightens it it is an organic stain. If the Vitamin C works, its a metal stain.
If the puck lightens it it is an organic stain. If the Vitamin C works, its a metal stain.
Thank you to everybody who posted, its so nice to know there are so many people out there willing to share there knowledge. Thanks again.