Still shocking...PH and CA???

[curlyfry22]

I have been in the opening/shocking process for about a week and a half now. On June 1st these were my test results:
FC-6
CC-.5
TC-6.5
TA-100
CH-160
PH-7.3
CA 20 (30 when I started, had lots of rain and had to lower the water level in the pool)

I have had trouble with what I believe to be calcium scale this year. I was advised to drop my PH down to 7.0 and keep it there for several weeks to help the scale work loose.

With a CA of 20 my shock level is 10 so I have been shooting for 12 just to be safe. This morning my FC was 13.5 and now, at 4:44 it is 6.5. I happened to think that my PH readings are not necessarily accurate with my FC so high and that maybe I should have left it alone until I was done shocking?

My last test with my FC at 6.5 shows my PH at 7.0. My water was clearer a few days ago then it is now. It has turned more cloudy. As I mentioned I have had trouble with scaling on the walls. My husband spent 2 hours scrubbing the walls to help work the stuff loose (it was cloudy before he did this). I am going to vacuum the pool floor in a little bit, as much of it has settled to the bottom. Do I need to make an adjustment to my PH and CA again? We are leaving for a week long trip on Friday and I was really hoping to have this pool cleared up for the kids before we leave.

 

[Richard320]

If you can only dose twice a day, then raise CYA to 30. With super low CYA, the sunlight degrades the chlorine really fast, so the algae may be staging a counterattack as the FC drops, which causes the cloudiness. Then just keep adding bleach, noting that the new shock level is higher with the new CYA level. pH is acceptable. With your TA, it will bounce back up soon enough. Just concentrate on clearing the algae and passing the tests for the end of the shock process. pH is easy to fix once the water is clear. Measure and dose it and in thirty minutes its fine.

 

[curlyfry22]

Re: Still shocking...PH and CA??? What is this stuff!!??

I vacuumed a bunch. I put a nylon sock in the skimmer basket to catch some of the stuff we have been brushing off the pool walls, with great difficulty. I still assume it is Calcium scale. Here is a photo of it. It looks gritty, white, sand-like on the pool walls. In the skimmer sock it looks like the photo.

I had to backwash half-way through vacuuming. I vacuumed more, again added bleach to shock level. Normally I can add bleach several times a day. Today I failed to get to it in time. I plan to keep a better eye on the FC the next few days and vacuum more. I will probably raise my CA to 30 as I fear it is getting too low with having to backwash do often.

This "stuff" is a pain. Could someone confirm whether it is calcium scale for sure? It is going to take weeks to scrub it off the walls unless I can get it to soften up a bit.

 

[Richard320]

Re: Still shocking...PH and CA??? What is this stuff!!??

This "stuff" is a pain. Could someone confirm whether it is calcium scale for sure? It is going to take weeks to scrub it off the walls unless I can get it to soften up a bit.

The test is easy. Put a drop or two of muriatic acid on that pile of stuff. If it foams up and fizzes like alka seltzer, it's Calcium.

It actually looks more like pollen. Check this picture from a recent thread:

 

[curlyfry22]

Why didn't I think of that? It immediately fizzed and reacted like the photo. It's calcium. Thanks!!!

 

[Richard320]

Why didn't I think of that? It immediately fizzed and reacted like the photo. It's calcium. Thanks!!!

You're so lucky. Scale doesn't like to let go of a plaster wall the way it let go of your vinyl wall.

 

[curlyfry22]

I don't consider myself lucky...we still have a ton of it on the walls. We had a wet winter, no snow really. This spring it has rained and rained and rained. I only added about a foot of water when I was ready to get the filter running. I know numerous others in NE OK who have calcium problems this year. Could all that rain have contributed to the high PH/calcium scaling?