Chickened out on the Acid Wash

[Pepperdinegal]

Husband and I were all set to acid wash our drained pool today but we chickened out at the last minute. Instead, we gave it a light power wash. We have moderate blue/green staining (almost certainly from the heater, as it’s significantly worse in the spa). I’ve read that we can address those stains after the pool has been filled without causing any damage to the plaster, so hoping that’s true! They don’t really bother me and to be honest, I would never have guessed they were even there with water in the pool. There is only one spot (under the spa overflow) that you can see when the pool is filled.

So, my plan is to start filling in the morning and then address the chemistry. I’m waiting on my kit to arrive. Any advice on cleaning up some of those copper stains would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ajw22]

Read...

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Copper in Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

Removing copper stains entails using sulfamic acid. But once you use it to release the stains, you must drain the pool water to remove the copper from the system.

 

[Pepperdinegal]

So, after reading, let me make sure I’m understanding this correctly....

The spa and pool heater probably has some responsibility, but the biggest culprit is me using pucks and shocking our pool once per week during the summer.

Now that we have fresh water going in, we can limit further metals in the pool by switching to liquid chlorine (and maybe eventually a SWG) and keeping the chemistry in check.

Let me ask this...if we attempt to remove the stains with the no drain acid wash or using the Jack’s product, will that “release” the stains into the pool and increase the metals in the pool? If the stains aren’t a huge bother and only slightly awful to look at, is it best to just leave them alone?

 

[mknauss]

.if we attempt to remove the stains with the no drain acid wash or using the Jack’s product, will that “release” the stains into the pool and increase the metals in the pool?

Correct, when the stains are released from the surface, they then are in the pool water. To keep them from staining again, you need to drain the pool.

If the stains aren’t a huge bother and only slightly awful to look at, is it best to just leave them alone?

Correct. They are aesthetic. They will not effect the pool water chemistry or the enjoyment of the pool water.

 

[Pepperdinegal]

Sounds like we will be “suffering” though! Plan is to have the pool resurfaced in 2-3 years so my focus will just be keeping it in the best shape possible until then! I’m really looking forward to refilling and my testing kit arriving Wednesday! I’m sure I’ll have dozens more questions and really appreciate everyone’s kindness and sharing their knowledge.

 

[cowboycasey]

So happy you did not do an acid wash, it may have taken a couple years off your plaster

 

[zea3]

I'm guessing since you are in Las Vegas that you also have very hard water. When you get your kit post the results here and we can give you better advice on maintaining your pool in hard water environments. Since you are considering a re-plaster, how old is the current plaster and how does it feel/look?

Also if the heat exchanger on the heater is corroded and releasing copper into the pool you will want to either replace it or take it out of the plumbing loop so you don't have the same problem again.

 

[Pepperdinegal]

I will def post results when I get my kit. The pool was installed in 1996 and we bought the house in 2012. My guess is that the plaster is original. It actually feel good (not rough at all, no visible cracks or gouges). Other than having some bluish tinted stains, it’s in pretty good shape. We do have some of these little hairline superficial veins on the top step, I’ll try and post a photo...