Plastered 1 Month ago, Thinking on not Covering to Monitor & Adjust PH

[Neto]

My pool was plastered about 1 month ago, unfortunately the project got delayed and was supposed to end a month earlier.... I keep reading about pools that where plastered in the fall and quickly closed then opened up to calcium scale on spring and the plasters feels very rough. There is no easy fix for this and I would 100% try to avoid having to drain the pool and do an acid wash... I have been brushing and maintaining the water, my numbers where as follows from reading them yesterday:

PH: 7.6
ALK: 80
CAL: 300
CYA: 40
FC: 3.5
WATER TEMP: 57F
CSI: -0.18

The PH does go up almost every day as expected due to the new plaster curing so I was thinking that maybe I should close the pool but not cover it and monitor/adjust my PH? I live in Maryland and we do get below freezing every now and then but still with a cover water will probably stay the same temperature than without a cover right? I dont have any large trees around and the pool will have a 4' safety fence like this one for safety reasons until my kids are old enough to swim by themselves. This fence will also protect it from some unwanted animals, leaves, etc. I will close the equipment and blow out lines, and if I need to add any acid to control the PH then I will dilute it and pour it around the pool, then brush the walls to create slight water movement. If temperatures are not that high, I can probably put in my robot cleaner to move the water...

Am I acting crazy?

 

[duraleigh]

but still with a cover water will probably stay the same temperature than without a cover right?

If you are talking about a cover to close, then, yes. You are not talking about a solar cover, right?

I think your idea is pretty good. I would consider keeping the pool open and operating normally until you were expecting temps cold enough to freeze the exposed pipes. You may even then get by with draining the filter and the exposed pipes and continuing to keep the pool uncovered.

That's a bit of a risk and others that close their pools in your climate may have a different idea.

 

[ajw22]

I would not be adding acid without the pump running. Acid is heavier then water. Without circulation it will drop to the bottom and pool on the plaster and create localized areas of low pH. You will need to be very diligent in manually mixing the water.

Low pH will damage the plaster more then the high pH you are trying to prevent will.

I would keep the pool open as long as possible, not add acid while it is closed, and open it as early as possible. Cover or not, the issue is water circulation and chemical mixing.

 

[Neto]

I would not be adding acid without the pump running. Acid is heavier then water. Without circulation it will drop to the bottom and pool on the plaster and create localized areas of low pH. You will need to be very diligent in manually mixing the water.

Low pH will damage the plaster more then the high pH you are trying to prevent will.

I would keep the pool open as long as possible, not add acid while it is closed, and open it as early as possible. Cover or not, the issue is water circulation and chemical mixing.

What if I dilute the acid in several 5g buckets and dump them slowly around permieter?

 

[Neto]

One thing I noticed in the poolmath website is that if I add salt to the pool, that helps the CSI to give more flexibility. I am planning on converting to salt in spring, I already have all the equipment, just need to install it.

 

[ajw22]

What if I dilute the acid in several 5g buckets and dump them slowly around permieter?

There are no guarantees and I think your cure can has worse consequences then the disease. You have no way of knowing what the water mix will be and if there are localized areas of low pH.