Is this calcium scaling?

[tkbutler4]

Ever since I bought the place the pool had had these grey marks in places. I thought it might be calcium scaling so I bought this to use. I haven’t used it yet because after having yellow algae back in June I didn’t want to decrease my chlorine level to zero for a while.

We’ve just been through Hurricane Ian where I drained about a foot out and have refilled, and we’re back at zero now I thought I’d a good time to take care of it. Plus we’re not using it.

First question: is this the right stuff to use to get rid of it?

The directions say to add a pulp based filter aid before using it. Is that completely necessary?

CL: 0 CYA: 40-50 AK:90 CH: 350-400

 

[reggiehammond]

Highly doubt anyone would recommend that stain remover. Wait for more feedback.
But you need chlorine ASAP - add at least 5ppm of liquid chlorine now and maintain.

 

[ajw22]

You should identify the source of the stain to determine the appropriate treatment.

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

Without knowing what chemicals are in the bottle I would not put it in my pool. We never recommend tossing in random chemicals.

 

[tkbutler4]

You should identify the source of the stain to determine the appropriate treatment.

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

Without knowing what chemicals are in the bottle I would not put it in my pool. We never recommend tossing in random chemicals.

It’s straight citric acid.

 

[tkbutler4]

I have a cartridge filter. What’s the difference between putting it on filter and circulate? I’m not sure how to do that exactly. I just flip the on switch. Otherwise it automatically comes on at the times I set it up. That being said it’s fall in Central FL so how many hours do you recommend I run it?

 

[ajw22]

It’s straight citric acid.

Citric acid is only effective for iron stains.

Citric acid is not as effective as ascorbic acid if your stain is from iron.

Ascorbic Acid Treatment - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ajw22]

I have a cartridge filter. What’s the difference between putting it on filter and circulate? I’m not sure how to do that exactly. I just flip the on switch. Otherwise it automatically comes on at the times I set it up. That being said it’s fall in Central FL so how many hours do you recommend I run it?

Post pics of your pool equipment showing what you want to put between filter and circulate?

Show us what ON switch you flip.

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[pjt]

@tkbutler4 Your skimmer it missing its weir door.

 

[tkbutler4]

@tkbutler4 Your skimmer it missing its weir door.

Oh really? It never had one since I bought the place. How important is that?

 

[tkbutler4]

Post pics of your pool equipment showing what you want to put between filter and circulate?

Show us what ON switch you flip.

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

It’s mentioned in the absorbing acid treatment article you linked. Didn’t know there was an option to circulate and not filter. Would that mean I just turn the tube off that goes to the filter so it avoids it altogether? I’ll send pics later.

 

[ajw22]

Oh really? It never had one since I bought the place. How important is that?

Do I need a weir door? That, and a few other questions...

We are new owners of an old pool. Thanks to help from this site, we've gotten the water under control in the last few weeks, and now are trying to fix other issues. One thing that I noticed is that the skimmer does not have a door on it - does it need one? My husband doesn't seem to think...

www.troublefreepool.com

Yes, you need the weir. It assists greatly in skimming by creating a current in to the skimmer.

A skimmer will draw in water just fine without a weir door, but it won't skim debris off the surface any where near as well.

The door is to increase the amount of water taken from the top of the water where the floating debris are. Without the door on, most of the water is taken to the filter from beneath the surface and would leave a lot of the floating stuff on your water.

Does the skimmer weir (door) have any purpose?

So I have a hayward standard skimmer. When I bought the house the skimmer weir was missing. I bought a new weir and placed it in. I noticed it requires a higher water level. It seems it dose something to the water, almost like restricts water coming into the skimmer?

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ajw22]

It’s mentioned in the absorbing acid treatment article you linked. Didn’t know there was an option to circulate and not filter. Would that mean I just turn the tube off that goes to the filter so it avoids it altogether? I’ll send pics later.

DE and sand filters have an MPV valve with that setting. Cartridge filters do not.

 

[tkbutler4]

Oh really? It never had one since I bought the place. How important is that?

Ok I just read this thread. Is it like a one size fits most situation or how do I go about finding the right one?

Does the skimmer weir (door) have any purpose?

So I have a hayward standard skimmer. When I bought the house the skimmer weir was missing. I bought a new weir and placed it in. I noticed it requires a higher water level. It seems it dose something to the water, almost like restricts water coming into the skimmer?

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[tkbutler4]

Do I need a weir door? That, and a few other questions...

We are new owners of an old pool. Thanks to help from this site, we've gotten the water under control in the last few weeks, and now are trying to fix other issues. One thing that I noticed is that the skimmer does not have a door on it - does it need one? My husband doesn't seem to think...

www.troublefreepool.com

Yes, you need the weir. It assists greatly in skimming by creating a current in to the skimmer.

A skimmer will draw in water just fine without a weir door, but it won't skim debris off the surface any where near as well.

The door is to increase the amount of water taken from the top of the water where the floating debris are. Without the door on, most of the water is taken to the filter from beneath the surface and would leave a lot of the floating stuff on your water.

Does the skimmer weir (door) have any purpose?

So I have a hayward standard skimmer. When I bought the house the skimmer weir was missing. I bought a new weir and placed it in. I noticed it requires a higher water level. It seems it dose something to the water, almost like restricts water coming into the skimmer?

www.troublefreepool.com

THANK YOU! I’ve always wondered why I had so much Crud on top and had to manually skim! You’ve saved me so much time!

 

[tkbutler4]

OH NOOOOO! I’ve completely screwed up. I should have listened. So I ignored you guys and added a half a bottle of the citric acid and the stains on the steps went away. The stains in the deep end did not so I added the rest of the bottle in the deep end. It wasn’t cloudy until I started trying to rebalance the pool. Currently I’m sitting at CYA:40-50 CL: 2.5 CH: 350 AK: 120 PH: 7.2
It’s all cloudy! HELP ME!

 

[tkbutler4]

OH NOOOOO! I’ve completely screwed up. I should have listened. So I ignored you guys and added a half a bottle of the citric acid and the stains on the steps went away. The stains in the deep end did not so I added the rest of the bottle in the deep end. It wasn’t cloudy until I started trying to rebalance the pool. Currently I’m sitting at CYA:40-50 CL: 2.5 CH: 350 AK: 120 PH: 7.2
It’s all cloudy! HELP ME!

Please help. I’m freaking out.

 

[mknauss]

The citric acid consumed all the FC. How did you test the FC you show above? Had you added liquid chlorine? What other products did you add?

The stains may have been removed, but unless you exchange out all the pool water for fresh water without iron, the stains will return.

Do an OCLT.

 

[tkbutler4]

The citric acid consumed all the FC. How did you test the FC you show above? Had you added liquid chlorine? What other products did you add?

The stains may have been removed, but unless you exchange out all the pool water for fresh water without iron, the stains will return.

Do an OCLT.

Drop test. The thing is there wasn’t any chlorine in the pool when I did the citric acid. It only turned cloudy once I added the liquid chlorine 10% back in.

 

[mknauss]

Nothing else added but chlorine?

 

[tkbutler4]

Nothing else added but chlorine?

Ah yeah I added about 10 cups of baking soda to increase the AK