Calcium Hardness?

[mackeeg]

I went to Leslie's today and had my pool water tested. Everything is fine but they told me to put 8 pounds of calcium hardness in the pool. This will be my third season and no one has ever told me to do that to me before. Do I need to buy their 8 pound bucket or is there something cheaper to use to raise the calcium level?
I have a above ground 7500 gallon pool and live in Va. We fill it with city water.
Thanks

 

[JohnT]

You don't need it in a vinyl lined pool.

 

[waterbug]

I got this same message about our pool. The gal said we needed a bit of CH because, while it might not harm the vinyl, it can cause damage to the plumbing of the pool, metal parts etc. ???

 

[mackeeg]

Thanks, so they were just trying to sell me stuff, go figure!

 

[JasonLion]

I tend to think that CH is irrelivant for vinyl pools but there is some possibility that it is important if you have a heater. This has been debated on the pool forum for some time to no definate conclusion. ALso, some builders require it as a condition of the warranty, in which case it is worth doing for that reason alone.