Strange white powder/dust in pool after closing

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Rich D

Rich D

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Aug 3, 2018
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My PB closing tech has again recommended I go without a cover this winter Wich is fine by me as in my opinion it is not needed. However just after the closing we got 6" of snow that turned to slush on top of the water, so I could not see the pool bottom after closing. Now that the slush is gone I have alot of powder or dust along the edges and coating the bottom. I contacted the tech and he said they did add powdered Chlorine and brushed it in, but it could have settled out. I tried brushing again but it does not seem to dissolve. Could this be the chlorine not dissolving in the cold water? Any ideas what else it could be or ideas on how to get it out?


Thanks, Rich
 

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Was the 'powdered' chlorine Cal Hypo? Good chance the calcium is not dissolving.

Do you have a full set of test results?
 
mknauss said:
Was the 'powdered' chlorine Cal Hypo?
Click to expand...

Waiting to hear back from tech.

Good chance the calcium is not dissolving.

Do you have a full set of test results?
Click to expand...

The 11-12 test was just before the closing.

Would the high FC level be affecting the PH or should I be concerned with the low PH ?

I just re - brushed and the entire pool turned cloudy. I will re-post once it settles and I see if the amount of powder seems less.

------------------------------------------
Test Results 11-18-2018 @ 03:19 PM
------------------------------------------
Free Chlorine: 14.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.0
Total Alkalinity: 70
Calcium Hardness: 250
CYA: 40
Temperature: 47°F
CSI: -1.08


------------------------------------------
Test Results 11-12-2018 @ 06:33 PM
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Free Chlorine: 6.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.5
pH: 7.5
Total Alkalinity: 80
Calcium Hardness: 325
CYA: 40
Temperature: 49°F
CSI: -0.41
 
FC greater than 10 does effect the pH reading. Normally to the high side. A pH test of 7 is concerning. Your CSI is very aggressive partly due to low water temperatures.

I would assume with those test results the calcium would get dissolved quickly.

- - - Updated - - -

Your CH should not have dropped between the tests. You might consider re-testing that. Let the pool water sample get to room temperature before you test it.
 
mknauss said:
FC greater than 10 does effect the pH reading. Normally to the high side. A pH test of 7 is concerning.
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That's what I thought. Is it normal to lower it that low in anticipation of it going up over the winter? I added about 1/2 gal acid per week in the summer but I also ran the waterfall at least few hrs every day.

I would assume with those test results the calcium would get dissolved quickly.
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He must have put in some acid to bring down the PH, would that affect the Cal Hypo ability to dissolve?

- - - Updated - - -

Your CH should not have dropped between the tests. You might consider re-testing that. Let the pool water sample get to room temperature before you test it.
Click to expand...

Will do.. We did get some heavy rains after i had tested and before the closing, I drained about 3" out of the pool. So that could have something to do with both the CH and TA being lower now.

The tech just texted me back. He is not sure if it was Cal Hypo. It is just part of there winter kit. I have to call office in AM to get a list of chems in the winter kit.
 
In future do your own chemistry. Let them do the mechanicals. They added too much acid.
 
mknauss said:
In future do your own chemistry. Let them do the mechanicals. They added too much acid.
Click to expand...

I will do that at some point, but for now I have a outstanding white spotting issue that needs to be resolved (probably not in my favor unfortunately ) so I want to stick to there procedures as much as possible. I have some Ph increaser so I can get it back up to 7.5-7.8 range once I get this dam powder off my floor. That's all I need is for this to impact the plaster as well...

Aaaand I just ran out of 0010 reagent .... The retest will have to wait'' :(
 
Rich D said:
The tech just texted me back. He is not sure if it was Cal Hypo. It is just part of there winter kit. I have to call office in AM to get a list of chems in the winter kit.
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Always a good sign when the service person doesn't have any idea what they are adding to the pool.:suspect:

Maybe there's some secret logic to dumping in a bunch of random chemicals, but I'm not sure that I understand the reason.
 
JamesW said:
Always a good sign when the service person doesn't have any idea what they are adding to the pool.:suspect:

Maybe there's some secret logic to dumping in a bunch of random chemicals, but I'm not sure that I understand the reason.
Click to expand...

Yea, that one took me by surprise. It's funny because this pool Co Has always preached to me to use all liquid chems whenever possible as they just simply mix in better, which made a lot of sense to me. Seems pretty concerning that if they had put the cover on, whatever this powder is would have been sitting on the floor all winter.
 

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Pool co says all they put in for powder was Dichlor . I pumped out a small sample of the powder that collected on the edge. I can visually see the granules in the sample. I tested this sample for Chlorine and came up with 12. It was 14 yesterday from a reg sample pulled from top of pool. I also warmed up the sample to room temp and the powder did not seem to dissolve. I tested the sample for Chlorine after warming it and it was at 11.5

Is there any other tests that I could do to find out what this could possibly be?

The amount that settles at the base of the walls seems odd. Would it be possible this could be dust from the plaster because of the low ph?

Ph is now at 7.2
 
Dichlor should have dissolved. It is CYA and chlorine.

If you can get more of the 'dust' put a drop of acid on it.
 
mknauss said:
Dichlor should have dissolved. It is CYA and chlorine.

If you can get more of the 'dust' put a drop of acid on it.
Click to expand...

Trying to get a dry sample of dust/powder now.

After warming up a sample and trying to stir in the mystery dust I am almost certain this stuff will not dissolve in the pool water. I am still looking for answers on what it is but now I need to figure out how to get it out since the pool has Been closed. Any ideas on how the get this stuff out? I think I could re-open the pool and use my filter even leaving it at the low level but this of course would be expensive as I would need to close the pool again. If I can confirm it is a result of something they did at the closing I believe the pool Co. Would cover those costs, however this is still a total mystery...
 
Did you try the acid test? Is it possible the pool guy added D.E. to the filter out of his bag of tricks? It's possible it would have drained back into the pool during the closing process. Just a thought...
 

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