is my liner fading normal?

[abfab]

I had new liner installed two years ago. It looked fine when I opened this year, however when I closed I noticed some fading at the water line. After wiping the top with water it didn't look quiet as bad as the photo but still noticeable.
I follow tfp guidelines - keep my ph 7.4-7.6, chlorine level as per cya. I did get a new pump with more hp in the spring so it did take a while to adjust my swg lower to get chlorine levels back in line, plus took a three week vacation with no chem adjustments. Pool gets full sun all day.
I've been told that dark liners will fade faster, but am surprised it has happened already. Did I do something wrong to cause this? Anything I can do to slow down the inevitable?

 

[TinFoilHat]

Any liner parts in the sun will fade faster than the parts in the shade. You could try a pool cover.

 

[Newdude]

+1. I'm seeing alot of fade with a wide open yard at the new place. The walls which never shade themselves are noticably worse, and the floor is worse than that. The bench is near pefect near the wall and corner which shades itself late in the day and really really faded at the outside edge.

 

[SecoSteve]

A solar cover rubbing on the walls could also cause fading.

 

[ajw22]

Like many things they don't make them like they used to. Liner inks are not as UV stable as they used to be.

 

[Mdragger88]

You didn’t do anything wrong- uv fading just happens
I had my steps in one spot for a while then decided to move them - the area where the steps were was noticeably darker.
Same with my robot. It lives in the pool 99% of the time. The outside is faded but the inside looks brand new. That tells me its the sun not the water. I now rotate where I put my steps to attempt to even it out lol may be futile but makes me feel better!

 

[Mdragger88]

Here’s mine new

And 5 years later

 

[abfab]

Thanks all. We don't have a solar cover. No trees near us. The shallow end where pic was taken does get some shade starting around 3pm. The pool gets so little debris that I don't need to use the robot very often.

We went with a grey backed liner in hopes that it would retain more heat than our white backed liner but haven't noticed much of a difference. Didn't think about fading. Do lighter liners fade less quickly?

My main concern is that I am doing something wrong with my chem levels to cause this. I test it weekly and other than lowering ph rarely need to do anything.

 

[TinFoilHat]

As stated, you're not doing anything wrong.

 

[SJPoe]

I have some fairly significant fading - the pool is in direct sun pretty much all day - although we do use a solar cover. I find the worst fading tends to be in the high-traffic areas, the deep end is less affected (you can see in the bottom of the picture the color difference) and I can see where the previous owners used to 'hang' on the side of the pool at the deep end near the tiki bar, probably chatting with guests etc - there is a patch right there that is more faded than anywhere else, and I originally thought it was a chemical spill...but now the traffic theory seems to fit better. I too did the step-move-color shuffle - so hard to believe its the water itself.

I have no idea how old the liner in the pool is - we're guessing somewhere around 6-8 years, no idea on make or quality, but based on other 'fixes' the previous owner did, it's probably the cheapest one they could find at the time. At some point, we're just happy it holds water, and I kinda figure there isn't much I can do about it. It doesn't really affect us using the pool, so I try not to obsess about it



p.s. I secretly obsess about it

 

[SJPoe]

I captured this while the pool was being closed. The water is pumped down below the skimmer, and normally sits just below the second screw from the top on the skimmer plate.

You can absolutely see where the waterline was, and where it has faded, and given that it's at the normal waterline, there is definitely a component due just to the chlorine. As other places are faded so much more, especially where there is traffic, I'm not overly concerned, and given the estimated age of the liner, it doesn't seem overly excessive at this point. Of course, once the water is at the normal level, you can't really see the 'line' anyway...

 

[Mdragger88]

Not saying chlorine isn’t a factor, but I wonder if the water also acts a magnifying glass for the uv a little? I’m sure the combo of chlorine and uv is the key as they are both great oxidizers as is noticeable by my bot’s exterior fading and the areas where my steps are not.
I would be curious to see some differences in indoor liners that have no uv exposure.