Possible Chemistry issue.

[daddyoh]

Since I installed my SWG I have small white particles that are accumilating in my spa and pool. They look like a white gel or soft flake substance. They are not floating freely but settle to bottom of step or spa and accumilate in a pile. I dont see them in my main pool possibly due to the floor cleaner.. Any ideas on this on what this might be. I took a sample top Leslie pool and they said it could be the saly is removing the calcium at the water line..

 

[Butterfly]

Hi diy,

Posting a full set of test results will help responders give good info .

You could do a google search (bottom left) for "white flakes" and find some info.

It could be calcium coming off your cell when it reverses polarity, but the test results will fill in the blanks. :-D

You might also want to check out Pool School for Water Balance Tips for SWGs.


Welcome to the forum

 

[polyvue]

I took a sample top Leslie pool and they said it could be the saly is removing the calcium at the water line..

Really? The salt removing the calcium? Well, give them credit for some imagination... this seems to me a novel suggestion, but I wonder if Leslie's thought they were looking at salt crystals or calcium?

By posting test results (including Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness) it will give responders a better sense as to whether water balance (chemistry) is a contributor to this material. Just based on your description it sounds like cyanuric acid (CYA) or residue from some other type of combination shock powder or tablet, but that's only a wild guess. Without knowing the pool chemistry I could also conjecture space dust that prefers to aggregate in little piles inside spas! :-D

 

[daddyoh]

I went to the LPS and had water tested since I only have a basic test kit which I will replace very soon with a more extensive kit to perform all test needed to track my pools chemistry. The water here where I live is as hard as granite I am contemplating installing a water softener just for the pool. I drained 3 feet of the pool in July/Aug.

FC= 3.0
TC= 4.0
PH= 7.4
TA= 110
CH= 450
CYA= 25
Phos= 100
Salt= 3200 by test strip
Salt =3100 reading on SWG display

 

[polyvue]

Here are the Recommend Levels for a plaster pool using a salt water chlorine generator:

FC 3-5
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 60-80
CH 250-350
CYA 70-80

If the test results provide by LPS are correct, they would indicate that the water is not too far out of line. Unfortunately, you can't always depend on pool store test results; their methods of testing and precision greatly vary. In any event, there is nothing here that would to me be indicative of a problem that might produce the white flakes you've noticed accumulating in the spa.

Is the water otherwise clear? If the Combined Chlorine (CC) is actually 1.0 ppm (TC - FC = CC) you may want to consider adding liquid chlorine in order to shock... of course, this may or may not have an effect on the white flakes.