Plaster Trouble?

[parksb16]

Hello all!

I need some information from the experts, and I know I can find it here. I recently bought a house with a pool. With the help of this site, I have been able to correct A LOT of the issues that were not addressed by the previous owners. Thanks for that!

Here is what I am dealing with now- I keep finding what looks like blue sand in the bag of my Polaris vac. The pool was built in 2005, and it is blue plaster with a quartz finish. Is something wrong with my plaster? I found one little spot on my steps where you can see that the finish has eroded. Besides that, the pool looks good.

Here is my latest round of test results:
FC- 6
PH- 7.7
TA- 120
CH- 750
CYA- 80

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ben

 

[susa]

Based on poolcalculator.com, your CSI is 0.61 (plug in your numbers and see recommendations)

 

[zea3]

Do you know for sure that your CH is 750? That is very high and with a pH of 7.7 and TA of 120 you may be developing scale in the pool.

 

[onBalance]

I would suggest that the current water balance is not the issue. The quartz finish is deteriorating (perhaps has been etched in past) and the quartz aggregate is becoming loose and being caught in cleaner bag. If the steps are the only affected area, is a trichlor floater is getting stuck on the steps? Or is undiluted acid is being added directly over the steps? If other areas have deterioration, then that may suggest a problem with the plaster itself.

 

[onBalance]

I would also add that the deterioration or perhaps the etching of the cement portion could have increased the calcium hardness to as high as it is. Just a guess.

 

[parksb16]

I tested the CH a couple of times to verify. I am not sure what the reasoning would be do such a high reading. I just drained about half of my pool a few weeks back to get the CYA to a reasonable level. I don't use any sort of floaters that could get caught on the step, and have never added anything corrosive to the area of the steps personally ( can't speak for the previous owners).
Overall, the pool finish looks good. I can't see any other erosion spots. I obviously want to sustain the life of my plaster. Any recommendations of what I should be doing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Check your fill water too. As your pool evaporates and you replace it, the calcium level builds.

No more using Cal-Hypo.

Adding my support to onBalance's reply.

Scott

 

[onBalance]

Well, if you can't see any other erosion elsewhere, then perhaps it is confined to just that location, and that would be a good thing. If it is a plaster application or material problem, the pool is beyond the warranty, so there isn't much you can do about it.
Your pool water is fairly hard, (which btw, has nothing to do with the quartz plaster problem), but you might want to drain partially again to lower the calcium hardness. And as PoolGuyNJ stated, your tap water may be very hard, so avoid using cal-hypo as much as possible.
The bottom line is that I doubt your chemical maintence has anything to do with the quartz aggregate becoming dislodged.

 

[parksb16]

Thanks for the info. I greatly appreciate the insight. I am still new to this, and it can be a bit overwhelming. I don't want to do anything that can harm the pool. I don't use any cal-hypo, which is good. The only sanitizer I use is bleach. What are the long term issues with the quartz becoming dislodged? Premature plaster breakdown? Shortened lifespan? Is there anything I can do to slow or stop the problem?

 

[onBalance]

No, there is nothing you can do to stop it, except for just keeping the water balanced and avoid making the water aggressive, or in other words, a negative CSI.