Calcium build up on new 5 month old pool?

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ps0303

ps0303

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TFP Expert
In The Industry
Jul 6, 2011
4,177
FL
I have a good friend that just had a new gunite pool installed in Feb of this year. The contractor never really told the owners what to do once the pool was filled with water and they have done their best to keep chems in check but now it appears that they have a major calcium issue. He called me the yesterday to look at his filter and it looked like cement and was heavy as heck. He called the contractor and the company that did the finish and they both said calcium. The company that installed the finish said it's common on dark colored finishes, not sure how true that is. He also suggested they drain half the pool and refill and balance chemicals.

Seeing that the calcium is on much of the tile, that needs to be removed as well as anything stuck to the walls and floor as I'm sure it's on there. I've researched and it looks like maybe a no drain acid wash would clear up the problem. I also found a product Beautec that is supposed to help as well. I have searched and see others here have used this product in the past but wanted to see if others are still currently using it.

As for their chems in the pool, well they took their water samples into a store that has penny's in their name and they never really helped them other then selling them baking soda at high price.

They want me to help them out as the contractor and finish company aren't doing much. So is an no drain acid wash a good idea? I don't want to be too aggressive but they need help with this.

Anything I should keep my eye on during this process? The pool is about 7,000 gals.
 
A no drain acid wash requires that you either not have a heater, or can completely bypass the heater. It also gives you very little control over the process, unless the scaling is unusually uniform, you are just as likely to remove good plaster as calcium scaling. And finally, it takes a long time to work, if it ever works, think weeks at a minimum. A full drain acid wash is much faster and gives you much more control over what happens.

If you are doing a no drain acid wash you want to minimize the CH level in the water before hand, and also add a sequestrant that is optimized for calcium (of which there are many). Also, keep in mind that the calcium scale will all end up in the water, and you will need to have a plan for removing it from the water or it will just re-deposit as scale again later. So you are often talking massive water replacement both before and afterwards.
 
Jason,

The CH as tested by the pool store is 350. As I tested it was 373.

If they went and did what the finish installer said, drain part of the pool and refill, won't the calcium still be on the walls and tiles? Any chance of fixing this issue without draining the pool? If not, then I think the contractor should be doing it. So I'm just trying to figure out how to help these folks. Doesn't seem like the contractor really cares much about their problem.

This pool is only 5 months old and there is no heater.

I'm going to get their other chems in order, PH 8.2, TA 53.
 
What city are you in? Just curious. I have no heater either and don't want one.

That CH doesn't look bad to me. But, if you have pH of 8.2, that's an issue. Time to get some muriatic acid in there, quick.
 
Calcium scaling is the result of letting the PH go up way too high, most likely for an extended period of time. Maintaining the PH at appropriate levels is almost always the responsibility of the home owner.

A partial drain and refill might greatly reduce the odds of future calcium scaling, and it might be the first step in a no drain acid wash, but it isn't going to do anything by it's self to remove calcium scale.
 
I had a lot of scale on my pool. When I found this forum and learned how to balance my water chemistry, I just kept my CSI in the -.1 to -.6 range and it disappeared after a bit. Now I watch my pH and CSI carefully and am able to avoid scale even with very high calcium levels.

The pool owner needs to read and follow the info in Pool School. Introduce them to the web site. There is no substitute for knowledge.
 
Yes it's a cartridge. When they first had the pool turned over to them they had never been told to brush the pool to get rid of the dust from the finish. So I think it went a while without a brushing as well as possibly no chemical checks past the first time the guys came to adjust and add salt, salt cell installed. Although she did show me chem check sheets from the pool store as far back as March. And I do agree that the PH has been off way to long. As I looked at the pool stores sheets, almost every time she went it was in the low 8's. She says she added the chems as they suggested.

They are on their second cartridge as the first one just got destroyed. Of course they were never really shown how often to clean. The second one was bad when I went there and showed them how to properly acid wash it and that helped them out as they didn't want to buy yet again another new filter.

I'm going to get the chems inline and see what happens with it. However the tile is messed up with the calcium deposits.

Would Beautec help any? I spoke to a person from the company and of course they say its the thing to use to clean up the mess without draining.
 

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Calcium build up on a new or freshly replastered pool is a fact of life. As the plaster cures it emits calcium chlorate (hence the need for frequent brushing and the addition of acid). All filters will pick up this material and need to be frequently cleaned and, ultimately, acid washed. An underwater acid wash may help, but the original problem goes back to the builder for not explaining the process to the homeowner.
 
We spoke to the rep for the pool finish and he said it happens often. He emailed instructions on how to fix it and guess what, it is basically the no drain acid wash. Of course he is taking credit for the process. He said he came up with it long ago after so many complaints. He also stated it's more common with salt system pools. Not sure if that is true or not.
 
It would be more common with salt pools only because they have a bit more pH rise than other pools. Maintaining proper water balance is the answer for all pools.
 
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