Damaged Vinyl Liner

[NH Swamp]

When we opened the pool that came with the house, the water was black. I turned to this forum and over a month I turned the water Crystal clear. I can count the holes on the main drain cover. We are all amazed.

There are a few spots that look like a brain on my liner. I could feel the spots when the water was still black with a brush, but thought it was piles of sand. I'm assuming the previous owner let some type of shock or chemicals sit on the liner in these areas? Any help is appreciated.

 

[borjis]

Could be.

I can't tell in the picture, but is the white areas just sunlight doing that? With no sun, is the liner all blue?

If shock was left on the floor to cause that I would expect the blue to be washed away too and more of a white color.

It could be maybe ground water came up at one time and floated the liner a bit. then when it settled, the wrinkles happened.
Only way to fix that I know of would be to try using a plunger. BUT if it was chemical damage that would make it more fragile,
so unless you are ready to replace the liner, maybe not worth chancing it.

 

[JamesW]

That's almost always caused by very low pH from tab use.

Was the TA zero when you first tested?

 

[borjis]

doh! that was the other cause....low ph. Good one James!

 

[NH Swamp]

My pH was always pretty good, but I started slamming it almost immediately. I don't think you get the best pH readings during a SLAM but they were always ~7.5

 

[borjis]

Has your liner ever floated up from ground water in those areas?

 

[JamesW]

Regardless of whatever the pH was when you got the property, the pH was almost definitely very low for a long time.

There's really nothing that you can do to fix the problem other than replace the liner.

 

[NH Swamp]

I talked to the company that installed the liner (2016) and he did say they had an issue with ground water. Not sure if it ever floated up. It doesn't bother me much, but I've been wondering what it was for a while. Just want to avoid it happening anywhere else. Thanks!!

 

[JamesW]

A floating liner will usually leave a star pattern from a bubble forming and then receding.

The pattern that you have is not consistent with a floating liner.

Ask the pool company for any service history related to the pool especially if they ever had to treat for zero TA.