Fired pool company and got a Taylor-K2006... problem with high CH

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sd122

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Jun 19, 2011
125
Miami, FL
I recently had my finish replastered with a pebble finish. Pool has been maintained by the company for about 3 months. Since I never saw them test anything and just see them dump loads of acid into the pool to control the white film I have been complaining about, I decided it was time to test myself. Well... tonight I have checked my CH and it is at 1070! My ph is registering at 8.0. Maybe higher but that’s the max and TA is around 40. I run a SWG and chlorine is within the TFP limits. The CYA is also low at 30. These guys have pretty much done nothing. Please give me advice to get back on track. Should I drain 1/2 the pool then rebalance? I will check my fill waters’ CH tomorrow. Thanks.
 
It would help us to know your location (profile update) as that tends to tell us what type of water you have locally. A CH of >1000 is up there, no doubt about it, but it's not the end of the world and not in itself reason to drain water - unless it's cheap where you are and want to. That's assuming the new water isn't too hard either. But if you chose to leave it as-is, then you absolutely MUST keep the pH on the lower end. Use the Poolmath Calculator to enter all your numbers. Your lower TA helps, and keeping your pH around 7.2-7.4 should help as well for now. On the calculator, look at the "CSI" number. You'll see how quickly that number changes based on the pH. That's key for you right now.

If you chose to exchange water, then of course re-test everything and go from there. You're armed with a great test kit now, so use it and trust it. Post all your numbers tomorrow and we'll be glad to help you from there. You should also update your signature as it still shows an above ground pool and probably old equipment. :)
 
Great advice above! You'll get your water very clear following Pat's advice, and also expend the least amount of effort getting rid of the calcium scale. Whatever you do, don't buy the snake oil a pool store will recommend.

If you decide to do a water exchange, I'm looking for opportunities to try a layered exchange - add fresh water on top - drain salty, calcium laden, colder water from the bottom. It's been proven by a top expert here, and I'd be happy to walk you through it.

The advantage of the option is that it uses just enough water, and never allows the plaster to be exposed.
 
sd122 said:
I don’t know why it’s showing that. I never had an above ground pool and have never created a sig. lol. Anyway, I will update. Thanks.
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Great. While you are doing that, can you add your city, state or country into your Location?

Take care.
 
I’ve decided to try a layering exchange of water. (Water leaving from drain only as water is entering from shallow end at same flow rate) I understand the saturation index but just feel more comfortable if I try and lower the overall CH since I see scaling happening already on the waterline.

I tested my fill water and it’s CH was surprisingly low at 60ppm. I plan on exchanging water for about 12 hours and tomorrow, I will post all the numbers from the new sample. Thanks for all the help.
 
How did your CH reach over 1000? That would have been a spectacular volume of cal hypo ------

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You also now have NO signature. Can you be sure the box in the lower left corner of the Quick Reply box is checked?

Thanks
 

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Idk how I reached over 1000. I had the pebble finish done and the company taking care of the pool. Makes sense since they were always adding high doses of acid to keep saturation in range. I don’t know how cal-hypo would have been introduced???

I am responding via phone. I don’t have access to checking anything I think, but I’’ll check. I’’ll sign on later and create a new sig.
 
Calcium had to be added for it to rise that far.

How did you measure it? Normally it is done with a 10 ml sample and is in increments of 25 ppm. And when you get up to 1000 you must be very careful how you test.

Read this - Pool School - Calcium Hardness
 
At first I did the 25ml route and multiplied it by 10. It took 107 drops to change colors. Then I did the 10ml and it took 44 drops. So I think that would be pretty reliable that both tests confirmed the same result.

I have also read that in some cases they add a lot of calcium to cure plaster faster. Maybe that is the problem???

Anyway, I have been exchanging water since 11am est, so I am hoping I can dramitically lower it.
 
Does seem odd alright. Anyway, here's a few tips from the method mas985 used for reducing calcium.

When doing the layered exchange, turn off skimmer(s) and put your fill hose in the skimmer box so the water gently flows out of the skimmer and onto the top of the water. You can put something in to hold down the skimmer weir flap, like a piece of wood wedged in, or something like that. At some point, use a bucket of known volume to calculate your fill rate per minute, and that will guide the amount of time to run for a given dilution. You want to do the full duration all in one go, because if you do it in multiple goes, the water will start to mix, defeating the intent.

Draw water from your main drain at the same rate if you can. It's always best to control flow by restricting it on the outlet side of the pump, but slight restriction of your main drain suction line is OK as long as the pump isn't laboring. If you can't restrict the flow, just let the pool fill up higher than normal, and then draw it down multiple times with the pump.

Anything you can do to keep the water still will help. For example, no swimming or brushing, no water features or spillovers, and covered if you happen to have a cover, things like that.

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If you let me know your pool volume, and the rate of flow from your fill hose, I have a calculator that will suggest a duration.
 
I have also read that in some cases they add a lot of calcium to cure plaster faster. Maybe that is the problem???
Click to expand...

That would not make sense --- so I certainly hope they would not do that!!
 
Thanks for the reply on the process. I have matched the flow rate pretty well. Water is remaining stable. Let’s see what the numbers are tomorrow. Hopefully I can be somewhat close to range. Thanks for all the help everyone!
 
Yeh it's wild. Just to put it in perspective, 900 ppm of calcium would require around 200 lbs of calhypo, 100 lbs of calcium chloride, or 140 lbs of calcium chloride dihydrate (very approximate and based on 12,000 gallons since we don't yet know the size of your pool).
 
Since a couple month past startup, I was at 560ppm according to pool store. It has almost doubled in 2 months. All I really saw them ever add was acid and chlorine. Even though I have a salt system every other week or so they would add a jug of chlorine.

I am going to take full control of this. The test kit seems really reliable and easy to use. I plan on testing weekly and using the calculator to maintain this to perfection.
 

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