CH Level with Painted Concrete Pool

[Synergy2]

Hi everyone.

I am now the owner of an 18x38 inground concrete pool that I've gotten back up and running after 5 years of just sitting, uncovered.

The best info on have on age is at least from 1978 as it shows up on my septic drawing. It was originally plastered but then has been painted over a few times. This spring I installed 4 new 2" return lines, installed new skimmer with 2" suction as well. There were multiple cracks that had to be repaired which have all been take care of. Due to timing and incredible back up of pool plasterers in my area, I chose to blast off as much of the old paint and then repaint this season. This allowed me to at least use the pool this year and also to verify that all of my repair work will hold up.....so far so good. I've been using the TFP method for the last few years with my vinyl pool so am pretty well versed in the process.

My question is with CH. Does it matter as much with a painted pool as the concrete is not exposed? It is currently sitting pretty low and I'm wondering if I should get the levels up to the suggested amounts. My TA is also high at the moment.

Current readings:
CYA - 40
FC - 7
CC - 0
PH - 7.4
CH - 110
TA - 220

Appreciate any input.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes, I would get the CH closer to about 300 to be safe.

 

[Synergy2]

Yes, I would get the CH closer to about 300 to be safe.

Thank you Texas, appreciate it!

 

[Sanford35000]

Hi everyone.

I am now the owner of an 18x38 inground concrete pool that I've gotten back up and running after 5 years of just sitting, uncovered.

The best info on have on age is at least from 1978 as it shows up on my septic drawing. It was originally plastered but then has been painted over a few times. This spring I installed 4 new 2" return lines, installed new skimmer with 2" suction as well. There were multiple cracks that had to be repaired which have all been take care of. Due to timing and incredible back up of pool plasterers in my area, I chose to blast off as much of the old paint and then repaint this season. This allowed me to at least use the pool this year and also to verify that all of my repair work will hold up.....so far so good. I've been using the TFP method for the last few years with my vinyl pool so am pretty well versed in the process.

My question is with CH. Does it matter as much with a painted pool as the concrete is not exposed? It is currently sitting pretty low and I'm wondering if I should get the levels up to the suggested amounts. My TA is also high at the moment.

Current readings:
CYA - 40
FC - 7
CC - 0
PH - 7.4
CH - 110
TA - 220

Appreciate any input.

My pool is also painted concrete.

The Pool Math site and the PoolMath app don't have painted concrete as a choice for the pool surface type (the choices are plaster, vinyl or fiberglass). I've been following the recommendations for plaster, but am wondering if this is correct. I've seen a couple of places that recommend a pretty high TA level for painted concrete - 80-120 ppm (min) to 160 -180 ppm (max) - which is higher than what the PoolMath app specifies.

Does anyone have any idea why the TA should be higher for a painted concrete surface?

Should I be using vinyl or fiberglass instead of plaster to get the proper recommendations for my pool in the PoolMath app?

 

[Texas Splash]

Does anyone have any idea why the TA should be higher for a painted concrete surface?

It really shouldn't. More times than not those higher levels are simply due to generic industry recommendations generated from the overuse of acidic products like chlorine tabs as the primary source of chlorination. The pool store sells buckets of tabs that consistently lower pH, so to compensate they have a higher recommended TA level. I think plaster is still the correct selection since it what the main structure is made of.