Name the stain

[stevodevo]

Hi all,

It's probably a bit hard to tell from this pic, but I'm just wondering if anyone can have a guess at what might have caused this stain... animal, mineral, vegetable? I have 3 of them now and my best guess is it might be either bat droppings or maybe a small leaf or seed pod that sat on the floor for a bit too long (although I don't recall seeing either). The spot in this pic is about 1cm in diameter and the other 2 are a little smaller. Colour is like rust I suppose. I've tried a vitamin C tablet on it but it didn't really do anything. I'll try a bit of dry acid in a sock next. What's the best method to get one down to the floor... stick it on the end of a pole or something?

One thing I'm wondering is whether it could be caused by minerals/metals? I'm switching to plain salt, and with all the recent rain I'd reckon I'm pretty much there. but as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the pool was originally started up with a "mineral blend". My gut feeling is that mineral stains would be bigger and be situated more where the returns blow water onto the plaster (I've seen this at a friends house). Also, I really doubt the mineral blend had much other than plain old sodium chloride which is another reason I'm leaning towards animal or vegetable.


Thanks as always,
Steve.

[attachment=0:t389gu1h]IMG_1675-1.JPG[/attachment:t389gu1h]

 

[Bama Rambler]

If the vitamin C didn't do anything to it, it's most likely organic. You can try holding a trichlor puck on it and see what that does. If it lightens it, you can raise your FC a little higher and hold it there and it should disappear.

 

[waste]

What I do is put the powdered chem in a lady's knee-high stocking with a rock. tie off the top and tie a string to the nylon. Use your pool brush to place it over the stain. With the string, you can remove the packet periodically to check the progress and then use the brush to replace it.

I would not! use a trichlor puck, too much risk to the liner I'd use cal- hypo.

With the nylon being on a string, you can accurately place a small amount and check regularly - you want to lift the stain, not harm the liner

 

[Bama Rambler]

I would not! use a trichlor puck, too much risk to the liner...

Sorry about that! I read Concrete in his sig and thought it was a plaster pool.
No trichlor on a vinyl liner pool.

 

[stevodevo]

yeah it is a plaster pool, so is the tri-chlor puck an option? I was a bit confused about the liner reference?

 

[stevodevo]

actually to clarify something else I've wondered... we call it a 'pebble-crete' finish (over a concrete shell) in Australia. it's been many many years since I've come across a smooth plain plaster pool over here so its my assumption that pebble crete is basically in the same family as a 'plaster' pool as opposed to vinyl or fiberglass. is that correct?

 

[stevodevo]

by the way, thanks for the good suggestions. I let you all know how I go

 

[Butterfly]

actually to clarify something else I've wondered... we call it a 'pebble-crete' finish (over a concrete shell) in Australia. it's been many many years since I've come across a smooth plain plaster pool over here so its my assumption that pebble crete is basically in the same family as a 'plaster' pool as opposed to vinyl or fiberglass. is that correct?

Yes, you are correct.

And, yes, you can use the trichlor puck method.