We just closed our pool for the winter season here in PA. I balanced the water as usual. I added some Polyquat and let it circulate for a couple days. I noticed some white/bluish marks on the bottom of the pool that were more noticeable than usual. When I lowered the water levels down, it became much more noticeable throughout the walls and most of the pool. Some areas are worst than others. Can anyone definitively tell me what this is from the pictures? I was going to leave it alone for now and address when we open the pool in April/May. Unless it’s something that needs to be fixed right away.
Pool scaling
- Thread starter Mattiaci
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,717
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Scale requires your pool chemistry to get pretty far out of balance. As you are not sharing any Poolmath logs, can you share your current pool water chemistry data from your own test kit?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,396
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Just looks like the way old plaster looks as it dries out.
How old is your plaster?
Is the surface smooth or rough?
How old is your plaster?
Is the surface smooth or rough?
I didn’t share any logs because I was closing it and already put the cover on it. Everything was in line in terms of pool math when I closed the pool. I just thought someone may know What it was just by looking at the pictures. I’ve been using pool math, the bbb method, for the past 2 seasons and typically everything stays in check. No issues with algae or cc at all. Our PH does like to climb up if I’m not careful. If we have any heavy rain storms, I have to stay on top of it. Outside of that, the pool has been great all summer. Last season, I commented that there was some bluish streaks in the bottom of the pool. I tried to figure it out but no one seemed to be able to diagnose it. We eventually gave up because they were more noticeable to me than our guests coming over to use the pool.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,396
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Sand an area of the plaster with 80/100 grit wet/dry sandpapaer and see how it changes.
Oly
Gold Supporter
I have observed this and you may be correct about calcium scale.
Test the water and post the results so we can determine your CSI. How was your water chemistry especially CH, TA and pH over the last year? Are these symptoms the same on all four sides of the pool? Any difference between the north and south walls? What is your water temp now? Is your source tap water high in calcium or TA?
Try the sandpaper and also try scrubbing a small patch with a scrub sponge and a 4 to 1 mix of muratic acid to water solution. If this is calcium scale you should see some release and observe a color difference.
Test the water and post the results so we can determine your CSI. How was your water chemistry especially CH, TA and pH over the last year? Are these symptoms the same on all four sides of the pool? Any difference between the north and south walls? What is your water temp now? Is your source tap water high in calcium or TA?
Try the sandpaper and also try scrubbing a small patch with a scrub sponge and a 4 to 1 mix of muratic acid to water solution. If this is calcium scale you should see some release and observe a color difference.