New house, new pool - Algae or damaged plaster?

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M

Mathyou

0
May 17, 2016
17
New Orleans, LA
Hello!

We just purchased a new house that has a pool. I've never had a pool before so I've been reading all I can about maintenance here on TFP.

I've managed to get my green swampy water to be crystal clear, but now I can see stuff stuck on the plaster (I'm guessing it's plaster, but I've heard/read something about it being gunite somewhere in the paperwork or discussions).

Here are a couple of pictures of the steps area of the pool. There's this stuff that to me looks like it could be algae or something, but I can't scrub it off even with a brush or my hands, so it makes me think the plaster could be damaged and that's just how the pool is?

On the blue tiles, it definitely looks like something stuck on there. On the deep end of the pool it looks like darker stuff stuck on the bottom, seems to congregate around the main drain on the bottom.

Help!

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:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Can you post up a full set of test results?
Kind of looks like calcium scaling.

I think the tiles on the stairs are supposed to look like that, if you were asking about them ;)
 
Thanks for the reply!

Since you mentioned calcium scaling I Googled it and that's definitely what it looks like. I do live in a hard water area (water provided by the city), maybe that could be a cause?

I'll definitely post a set of test results (the weather is bad right now, got to wait for a nice day).

I did a test a few days ago and got these results though:

FC 0.5
pH 7.5ish
CYA <20 (possibly 0)

I didn't have time to do the tests for TA and CH, I'll get those soon.

I did add some liquid chlorine and some (9oz) hth brand stabilizer (CYA) from Wal-Mart.
 
If the CH is high and the pH was left to get high for a significant amount of time, that would certainly point to scaling. Does not hurt anything, just not nice to look at.
 
Welcome to TFP!

While you are waiting for it to (never) stop raining read this. :)
Diagnosing Pool Plaster Problems

If it is scale, more here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling

To get rid of it slowly keep your CSI, in Poolmath, -0.5 to -0.6 and brush it as often as you can stand to. The will help over the course of weeks to months depending on how long it has been building up. And it will stop it from getting worse. Once you are happy with it then keep your CSI between -0.1 and -0.3 to avoid scaling in the future.
More here, Langelier and Calcite Saturation Indices (LSI and CSI)
 
Oh man, that doesn't sound good. There are some spots that appears like the previous owners attempted to "patch" the plaster.

I haven't been able to get in the pool just yet. I've only recently been able to get the pool clean (it was a total swamp). Now I have to get the water balanced.

Replastering the pool seems like the best option (if it is damaged plaster), but is probably extremely expensive.
 
Mine cost $10,000, but that's for a very large pool and I did not use basic plaster. Yours should probably be more in the $3,000 range. Maybe someone that's had it done recently in a small pool can chime in.
 

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It is not a must do right now. Lets see what happens when you follow the procedure given above for getting it balanced then working on the scaling. That will give you time to look around plaster people to get bids from.

I LOVE those steps!

Kim:cat:
 
If those test results are typical then it is not scale. Those numbers are on the other end of the spectrum which is etching. Caused by low PH and low CH and leaching calcium out of the plaster. There is nothing that can be done about it now. No hurry to replaster though as long as it isn't leaking. Keep your CSI between -0.3 ans +0.3 to prevent further issues.
 
I don't know what is typical for my pool, this is the first test I've done on it.

Any tips on manipulating the CSI? From what I understand pH and CH are the main determining factors.

So if I wanted to raise the CSI, I could just raise the pH for instance? I suppose I could just play around with PoolMath and see.

Thanks for the help!
 
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