white flakes

[lancer1991]

Okay found my last step loaded with white flakes yesterday with some more on the floor after the pump shut down last night. My pool is approx 12,200 gal. grey plaster pool with a SWCG that we finished at the end of April of this year. Called the builder and he said the CH is probably high and to drop the PH down to about 7.0 and grab some CH reducer from the pool store.

Since my wife was off today I had her go to the pool store and tell them what I needed, of course she got the only way to remove CH is via draining, which I understand, but she did give her BioGuard's Scale Inhibitor to add to help keep issue in check.

When I got home tonight here are my reading prior to any chemicals:

FC 5.5
CC 0
TC 5.5 (was 3 on Sunday)
pH 7.8 (added 40 oz. on Sunday as it shot up to 8.2 on me again and I must admit I've been a little lax the past few weeks on the acid addition, but had it 7.5 yesterday)
T/A 80 (90 on Sunday)
CH 420 (not extremely high - it did read 490 back in beginning of June)
CYA 20
Temp. 86 (rained all day but usually upper 80's to low 90's)

Now I can't get a pic at the moment because it is raining, but shortly after the initial fill I did start to develop white areas to the floor and upon inspecting from the pool these area were actually solid grey with no aggregate present. This is primarly on one side of the pool only and predominately near my waterfall. I asked the builder to look at it back then and he said it was the cream rising to the top and we could take care of it in the fall when we stop using it by giving it an acid bath for about 4 days. I also mentioned the CH when I got the 490 and he said it wasn't super bad and wasn't overly concerned then.

Other than that I haven't had any issues. I guess I'm at a loss as to what is causing the flakes with these readings and why now and not sooner with higher numbers.

I haven't backwashed yet as the startup guy said to call when the PSI hits 25 and they'll go through the whole process with me. Photos can be seen here.

Sorry for the length, just trying to cover everything and figure out what my next step, other than bringing my pH down and maybe the T/A up this evening.

EDIT: was able to get a photo of the white spots, but the flakes shot wouldn't come out (I did add to the link above though). Also, checked my SWCG and looked pretty clean, one fin on the end had some junk, but looking down it looked clean and shiny

 

[JasonLion]

With high CH levels it is very important to keep the PH at 7.8 or lower. When the PH goes up you are at risk of calcium scaling. The SWG is usually the first thing affected by scaling. Most SWGs will put off small flakes of calcium when they are just starting to scale. There generally isn't any lasting problem at that point. Raise the PH just a little more and you will start getting calcium scale on the pool surface.

 

[lancer1991]

Added 28ozs of muriatic acid again last night which should have brought it to 7.2, but it at 7.5 again this evening. After pool shut off, still a bunch of flakes around. The bag of the Polaris was loaded with the flakes and some of the aggregate of the pool.

Should I be concerned about the aggregate in the bag? It's nothing new, I usually have it in the bag every time I dump it. Not a lot, maybe the size of a quarter.

I haven't added this Scale Inhibitor as I'm not sure if it really will do anything or not.

EDIT:

Sorry forgot to add also this evening I noticed the concrete just near my steps has a white film to it. I haven't been in the pool since Sunday and didn't notice this yesterday.

 

[ehorn]

I'm currently trying to fix the same problem. I have an 18,000 gallon pool with hot tub. I had major calcium scale around the water line of the pool and from the spa spill over feature. I just had the scale removed professionally by guys who blast it off using a non-abrasive type crystal. Well it looks great now and still trying to get my calcium under control so it won't happen again. My neighbor has the exact same issue... he also has a pool like mine. We both also have a salt system.

Currently we're adding the BioGuard Scale Inhibitor and see how well it works to keep the calcium under control. Yes these pools use a lot of acid too. I will let you know how well it works.