My husband added the calcium powder, this time, and he must not have divided up per the directions, dividing a lil bit in each 5 gallon bucket of water, at least 4, and stir it then pour around edge of the pool.You can see he only did 2, 5 gallon buckets of water and it didn't dissolve. I can see where not dissolved powder hit the pool floor and I can't get it to come off with scrubbing it. Is there a way to get that to come out? We just refinished the pool last summer with Hawaiian Blue, huge mistake, and you can really see this white powder where he dumped it. now this calcium powder has ruined my pool. I just want to cry! Its never happened to me. I wish I had went behind him to double check! Please someone have a miraculous fix to my issue. Thank you so much. Pics don't really show what I see is it's 20x worse and all you can see.
Calcium powder
- Thread starter Litlefeistyredhed
- Start date
- Nov 23, 2014
- 217
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I'm not sure I can be of much help, perhaps others will have more info and there are many related threads on TFP starting here or with clever search terms. True that the calcium must be mixed well. I put small amounts (maybe a pound or two, I don't recall exactly) in the 5 gal bucket and stir thoroughly. Then while pouring I pour "from the top of the bucket" always watching to ensure no undissolved calcium reaches the top of the bucket - the pouring part. If some is still undissolved, stop, dip bucket to get more water and re-stir. You kinda get the hang of how much calcium will dissolve in 5 gallons. But your bigger question is the calcium stain. I do get calcium buildup around water features (spa waterfall) sometimes and what I do get is not easy to remove. Wearing PPE (rubber gloves, preferably a chemical mask, safety glasses), I use an old toothbrush and dip into a plastic cup of muriatic acid, scrub, repeat, seems to work - if slowly. But that's not in a submerged area.
You may notice the calcium mixture heats up when stirring in the calcium in the bucket. I'm wondering if the heat reaction solidified on the bottom of the pool such that scrubbing won't remove it. There is a trick offered by a commercial pool guy and I've tried it - I caution that it might be a bit risky. Muriatic acid is heavier than water, so if you take a 6 foot length (or so) of 1/2" or 3/4 PVC pipe and place the pipe on or just above the spot, you can then pour the muriatic acid into the pipe - above the waterline - and in 10-30 seconds you can see the acid leave the end of the pipe and distribute into that spot/area. PPE again important, and try only a very small spot at first. I have tried it and seen it work on certain other stains in a cement/aggregate/gunite pool. Not sure what the acid might do to yours, so perhaps you can find a less observable test location first to ensure it's not doing damage. If it works and you're trying to expand the operation to the larger stained area, pay close attention to how much acid you're adding to the pool and test ph a lot to ensure you don't get it too low. You'd have to look up what ph value is actually "too low". So you might need to do this in steps over a period of time, perhaps weeks.
You may notice the calcium mixture heats up when stirring in the calcium in the bucket. I'm wondering if the heat reaction solidified on the bottom of the pool such that scrubbing won't remove it. There is a trick offered by a commercial pool guy and I've tried it - I caution that it might be a bit risky. Muriatic acid is heavier than water, so if you take a 6 foot length (or so) of 1/2" or 3/4 PVC pipe and place the pipe on or just above the spot, you can then pour the muriatic acid into the pipe - above the waterline - and in 10-30 seconds you can see the acid leave the end of the pipe and distribute into that spot/area. PPE again important, and try only a very small spot at first. I have tried it and seen it work on certain other stains in a cement/aggregate/gunite pool. Not sure what the acid might do to yours, so perhaps you can find a less observable test location first to ensure it's not doing damage. If it works and you're trying to expand the operation to the larger stained area, pay close attention to how much acid you're adding to the pool and test ph a lot to ensure you don't get it too low. You'd have to look up what ph value is actually "too low". So you might need to do this in steps over a period of time, perhaps weeks.
