very bad scaling in vinyl liner

[henken1771]

Please help. Im at a loss and not sure what to do. got the pool started this year after I had the cover fall in over the winter. Extremely dark green and a mess. I put shock in the pool and it cleared up a bit, but still cloudy. I can see the bottom of the low end and starting to see the mess of leaves on the deep end. But I felt the walls and they are like sandpaper I was told that it was because of calcium. how do I get it off?

I went to the local pool store and they tested

PH 7.6
Hardness OVR 396ppm
Alk 43ppm
Cyanuric Acid 1ppm
copper 0ppm
iron 0.1ppm

By the way, my pool is 20x40 inground pool

Please help!

Thanks

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome!

If that TH is correct, then you don't have much CH (Calcium Hardness). With scaling and that level, I would guess your pH is/was Much Higher. If you have scale that would be my assumption. There is more going on here though, so my suggestion is getting one of our recommended kits, and start reading in the ABCs of Pool School. The links to all this info is in my signature. If you need help deciding on a kit, come back and ask.

 

[henken1771]

thanks for the quick reply. but excuse me for my ignorance but what is TH? the pool store said to add 9lbs of stabilizer which I did. they also said to add 20 lbs of baking soda which im starting today. once I get the pool chems at ok levels should the scaling re-dissolve? or will I be scraping the walls? and replacing the water?

 

[Patrick_B]

Total hardness. Total hardness is CH plus Magnesium = total hardness. We really only care about CH in pools. Please add your pool details to your signature. If I could see the volume, I could tell you what that 9 pounds of stabilizer did. Personally, I would get my own kit and results before adding much of anything else. Those results are highly suspect. Meaning that you have 43 TA and 7.3 pH according to them. I would want to be sure before trusting those numbers.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You need your own reliable test kit. I prefer the TF-100. Link to order in my siggy line. Your own test results are always preferable to the often incorrect pool store results.

 

[henken1771]

ok I updated my sig....

 

[Patrick_B]

Thanks for doing so!

That should get you about 35 PPM Cya. Pretty good place to start. Don't add any more, or any products containing DI Chlor or Tri Chlor. You need to SLAM your pool.

 

[henken1771]

ok I will SLAM. but what should I do if I cant really see the bottom in order to clean out the leaves. if I use a leaf rake all it does is stir up the bottom and get cloudy again. I bought a leaf bag that uses my garden hose to lift the leaves and trap them into the bag.

 

[Patrick_B]

First, don't begin until you have the proper kit. Rake out all you can blindly. Just try as best you can to remove every piece of debris possible. For your situation the TF100 is the best deal. With XL option. You are going to need it. Click my signature links once again.