New to TFP

[smith21687]

Hi All,

We are first time homeowners this year w/ a pool, so I am trying to learn and absorb as much as possible. We have a 15K gallon gunite w/ plaster pool w/ connected hot tub. There was a reagent kit in the garage left for us but it looked quite old so I purchased a K2006C.

Measurements are as follows.

PH: 7.4
TA: 60
CH: 170
CYA: <30
FC: 5.0 (I just added chlorine last night).
LSI: -0.39

A few questions I had.

1) To bring the CYA up, would it be easier to add pucks or just add CYA? I've been using liquid chlorine once the pucks left in the garage for us ran out, and it seems like the CYA has been coming down compared to prev. measurement.
2) Our PH tends to drift higher (I'm adding muriatic acid 2-3x per week). Is there a way to slow this drift?
3) We have some scaling in the pool which I believe is a result of my lack of knowledge (the first month or two we moved in I wasn't testing PH, shocked the pool once with Xtra Blue, in over my head I guess, etc.). I've tried muriatic acid and it doesn't seem to have much luck scrubbing with pool brush. Should I just get some pumice stone and start working on it? Picture attached.
4) System is run by a ComPool 3400 and I was wondering if there is an optimal schedule to run each day? Right now I do the following beginning over night. I'm trying to understand how best to manage water quality between the two (hot tub spills into pool).

1) Pool Filter - 8 Hr.
2) Polaris Cleaner / Blower - 2 Hr.
3) Hot Tub Agitator/Cleaner - 10 Min.
4) Hot Tub - 1.5 Hr.

Very much looking forward to learning more and contributing to TFP community - thanks in advance.

Best,
Josh

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Good job on getting a quality test kit.
Always best to use CYA powder and add exactly what you need. The pucks are good for when you have to be away from the pool for an extended period.
Your CH is on the low side for a plaster pool. I would suggest getting that to ~250 ppm. Also, use CSI as calculated by Poolmath instead of LSI. CSI is for pools, LSI is for steam boilers.
Aeration drives up pH. What do you have that is aerating? Do you run the spillover from the spa a lot?
Is the 'scale' you show at the water line or way above it? Looks odd, and with your current water chemistry, you would not be creating scale.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

 

[smith21687]

Hi - thank you for the advice.

- CSI is -0.53
- I do run the spillover each day, should I stop doing that and run less frequently / ad-hoc as needed / not at all?
- The scale does run from about the target water line all the way up to the top of the pool. We had a month or so where PH was pretty high as I was not up to speed on what was needed to keep it balanced. We have also had a few intense rains here in TX where the pool has been close to overflowing and needed to be drained.

 

[smith21687]

Here is a close-up.

 

[mknauss]

Do you have automation to switch from pool to spa? Can you fill out a signature?
It does look like scale. But you said muriatic acid does not clean it off?

 

[smith21687]

Updated signature - thank you.

Can schedule pool / spa as needed. Currently I run pool filter for 8 hr, Polaris cleaner for 2 hr., spill over for 10 min., and spa for 1.5 hr. Should I cut out the spill over?

I used 1/16 diluted (2 oz. acid/32 oz. water) with soft brush. The acid seemed to react to the calcium when sprayed on but perhaps I need to use harder brush or pumice stone.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

It's gonna take lots of scrubbing and pumice stones to work through that scale. One option is having it media blasted with kieserite or glass beads. Cost is about $4 a linear foot (about $400 for my pool) where I'm at. Now that you've got the chemistry down, it may be the last time you need to do it. Here's a link outlining my experience with scale removal along with some great guidance from the experts...

Waterline Scale Removal

After a recent drain and refill and dialing in my chemistry and CSI, I'm ready to have the waterline calcium scale removed. I now understand how to avoid calcium deposits so I'm ready for a nice clean start. As I start my search of local vendors, I thought I would seek input that may help me...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

As Mike said, blasting is your best bet.

Why run just the spa? If you are not pulling in pool water, how are you chlorinating the spa? Run the spillover for ~30 minutes a couple times per day. No spa only.

 

[smith21687]

I'm sorry, perhaps I am misunderstanding.

You are saying to not run the spa? Our spa will overflow into the pool while running and I thought this was the desired way to circulate the water. The other function is the cleaner which removes water from the spa (both into the pool and outside onto the deck depending on how much water is in the spa). This cleaning function is what you mean by spillover, correct?

Thank you both for the advice on blasting.

 

[mknauss]

You said you can schedule pool and spa. So you must have automation. What do you have? Most have a setting called Spillover or Spillway. That pulls water from the pool and sends it to the spa. You can schedule that to run for 30 minutes a couple time per day and that will chlorinate your spa. All other times you run in Pool mode.

 

[smith21687]

Unfortunately from what I can ascertain there is no spillover function with this controller. There is.

Pool
Spa
Cleaner - this as mentioned churns the spa water and throws water into pool/onto deck
Blower - this is the mode used to move the Polaris cleaner

There is an in-line Rainbow chlorinator, which I assume was the method used to chlorinate the water previously via pucks.

 

[mknauss]

Bummer.

Guess you stay with what you are doing.

Take care.