White Line

Jump to latest Follow Reply
U

Uncle Flappy

LifeTime Supporter
Jul 28, 2015
252
Tucson, AZ
Hi there. I am starting to see a white line around the perimeter of my pool and am not sure what it is. I've been managing my pool chemistry and am dumbfounded as to the cause. Any thoughts?

line.jpg

FC 6
CC 0
Ph 7.8
CH 375
TA 60
NaCl 3000

I appreciate your advice.

Thanks!

- Flappy
 
YippeeSkippy said:
My vote is on calcium scale.
Pool School - Calcium Scaling

Since it seems to be on tile, I'd try to brush it out using diluted MA and see if that helps. And keep your CSI between 0--0.3 (see Pool Math).

Yippee :flower:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Yippee. I suppose calcium scale is certainly a possibility. Given the cold temperatures, how do I best adjust the CSI? Raise the TA? Pool temp is currently 61F; CSI -0.56 when including the borates.
 
Hey Flappy,

Waterline scale can happen pretty easily as the water near the tile surface typically isn't the same chemistry as the bulk.

One slow way to try to clean it off is to raise the water level above the scale, keep the pH and TA low so your CSI is less than -0.6 and add something like ScaleTech scale remover (calcium sequestrant). It will take several weeks to see any results.

Fast method - dilute MA in a spray bottle with a Tampico brush and some elbow grease....have fun swimming in 58F water :D


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the reply, Matt! Hope things are groovy-cool on your side of town.

No way am I getting in that cold water! I'll either try your suggestion of raising the level or wait until I can get the teenagers in there to scrub away.

Any thoughts on my CSI? No doubt it will be below -0.6 with the temperature falling overnight. Think I should increase the TA from 60 to 80 to avoid the risk of etching or leave it as-is and raise the water level? I went to Safeway and bought some baking soda just in case. Also picked up a Boston Butt :pig: so that I can fire up the smoker tomorrow while working out of my home office (that is a topic for a different thread). The afternoons sure are nice these days.

As always, I appreciate your advice.

- Flappy
 
Don't worry about the pool plaster, it would take months of sustained, negative CSI of less than -1.0 before any damage would occur. A few weeks at -0.6 really won't matter.

If you're going to tease with a smoked meat product, then you must post over in the BBQ thread -

***Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Cooking, Baking thread*** - Page 10


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Overfilling the pool. Thanks to Amazon prime, ScaleTech will be here tomorrow.

Interesting note about the white line. It appears to be exactly the midpoint in the tile and at the same level as the spa overflow. This is about an inch higher than I normally keep the water level. Is it possible I have some effervescence going on? Note that in the photo I posted, the coping in that area is flagstone...
 
Efflorescence would show up on the grout, not the tile. Tile is a dense, non-porous ceramic, there's no way for water to penetrate it to cause efflorescence.

Did the pool fill up recently due to rain?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Often times you see that kind of ring when a pool fills and then is allowed to evaporate to its normal level. The result is a constant deposition of on the tile and a white "bath tub" ring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Often times you see that kind of ring when a pool fills and then is allowed to evaporate to its normal level. The result is a constant deposition of on the tile and a white "bath tub" ring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks, Matt, I appreciate the explanation. This exercise is also helping me better understand my weather station logs. Releasing my inner nerd.

Recorded Rain (in)
1/01 - 0.14
1/14 - 0.52
1/15 - 0.36
1/20 - 0.27
1/21 - 0.5
1/23 - 0.11
1/24 - 0.02
2/18 - 0.26
2/19 - 0.02
2/20 - 0.02
 
I got one for Christmas year before last. The wife bought it at Costco. Not too thrilled with the prepackaged software, I researched other options and found some compatible open source packages available on Linux. The fun part was tethering the weather station to an old Raspberry Pi and getting the data to Weather Underground.
 
If you aren't doing it now, brush the sides of your pool at least weekly, twice a week is best. I walk around pool with brush on pole have had no white line by maintaining my pool this way. However I continue to have areas with effervescence dispute my regular brushing.

Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
 
Good news and bad news. The ScaleTec seemed to do the trick. No more white line.

Bad news - the Agave next to the pool is starting to bloom. It is gong to be a big job getting that plant out of there.
7aeaeca7a98b8d5dd4ec5ce094219d74.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oh man, that stinks! I hate those things....would not plant one anywhere in my yard.

For those not familiar - 99.9% of the time, when an agave sends up its shoot, it immediately dies after the flower(s) open and are spent....it's truly an annoying plant because there's no easy way to predict when it will happen and then you have this big giant dead succulent to deal with.

I say plant some smaller cacti there.

- - - Updated - - -

by the way, love your ocotillo in the background. they are beautiful!
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Oh man, that stinks! I hate those things....would not plant one anywhere in my yard.

For those not familiar - 99.9% of the time, when an agave sends up its shoot, it immediately dies after the flower(s) open and are spent....it's truly an annoying plant because there's no easy way to predict when it will happen and then you have this big giant dead succulent to deal with.

I say plant some smaller cacti there.

- - - Updated - - -

by the way, love your ocotillo in the background. they are beautiful!
Click to expand...

We had a similar-sized agave in the front yard that bloomed last year. It took three of us and an ATV to remove the carcass. I have to admit the ATV part was fun but it sure left a mess.

Far as the agave now blooming, it couldn't be in a worse spot - a semicircle of soil between the kool-deck and the pool edge. Don't know how I will get it out. Why the previous owner planted it there is beyond me.... Whatever we put there, it won't have thorns. Too many punctured beach balls...
 
I wouldn't even let it bloom. Chop the sucker down NOW!

Get yourself a spade shovel or, if you can find it, and ice-chopper. Take off each arm with the ice chopper and then use a small chainsaw to cut the stalk. Then, using a trenching shovel and pick-axe, dig around the perimeter of the carcass and cut off the roots. Just keep digging until you can get under the tap root and knock it over.

Or, do what they do with annoying and overgrown Teddybear Cholla's - douse them in lighter fluid and set them on fire....though, being that close to the pool, you may have a mess on your hands.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply