Rescue Water Balancing after Pool Replaster

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El Matarife

0
May 22, 2018
47
READING, MA
Hi all-

We recently had a gunite pool replastered. We were told by the replaster company to not do any water balancing for the first five days. I specifically asked why since the sheet they gave me from the Pool Plaster Council mentioned starting immediately. His answer was that it was due to the specific type of plaster we selected (Quartzscape I believe). The pool is now green tinted.

After reading through some of the posts here, its clear that we should not have listened and started balancing immediately, but I was following instructions so the warranty wouldn't be voided. I've balanced the alkalinity and PH, but how do I get the pool back to the appropriate color without shocking? Total FC is now at 3, but the problem doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Hoping we didn't somehow flush $20,000 the drain.
 
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EDIT: I tried attaching pictures as a file. but not seeing anything show up? Also getting a parsing error when I try to insert a picture. Is there a trick im unaware of?

Thanks for responding and I apoloigize for the delayed response. I've taken the two pictures below, unfortunately some weather moved in and the sky is now gray so the pool color isn't as visible.

Before the weather came in I retested my pool chemistry and came up with the below. I'm assuming this is going to fluctuate based on the rain we're experiencing.

FC: 1
CC: 0
TC: 1
CH: 500 (this clearly needs to get down asap, should I wait to do it after the rain moves out? Wondering if this is causing some of the discoloration)
TA: 70
CYA: 0
PH: 7-7.1
 
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Why is the CH so high? What is your fill water CH?
You should be adding some CYA by now.

Your pictures did not post.
 
mknauss said:
Why is the CH so high? What is your fill water CH?
You should be adding some CYA by now.

Your pictures did not post.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your first question. This is my first experience with a plaster pool startup and I did not test the initial water dump, I foolishly assumed that the builder had it handled. I can retest again to ensure that's the correct answer, but both tests I ran earlier came back with the same result.
 
Pictures below. Note that this was taken in an overcast sky because we have bad weather coming in.

I am using the TF-100 and K-1000 test kits from Taylor and the TFP PoolMath app. We had a vinyl pool in our old place and I was quite comfortable maintaining the proper water chemistry there, and frankly would still be fine if there wasnt this five day gap.

As for water, it came from a company called Currier Water Wagon. I don't know much other than that, it was organized by the builder.


F2FC2279-B83A-451D-9544-F0D1146AF411.jpegE679BA8C-91C0-4C00-AD1E-8AA420763569.jpeg
 
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OK -- that does not look to be algae. More likely some iron. Did the plaster company add any sequestrant when the pool was filled?
 
mknauss said:
OK -- that does not look to be algae. More likely some iron. Did the plaster company add any sequestrant when the pool was filled?
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They did not, but I added some on my own Monday because after being concerned with the no balancing for the first five days i started looking through TFP and it was recommended. As of yesterday the water was still blue but getting a little cloudy, I used some bleach before going to bed and woke up to a greenish pool. Should I be adding more sequestrant?
 
I am not a new plaster expert. Normally once you get the water chemically correct, the green tint goes away. Adding chlorine with no CYA caused a burst of hypochlorus acid and that likely aggravated the iron. I would get some CYA dissolving and maintain a FC of 3ppm.
Let's ask @ajw22 for his input.
 

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mknauss said:
I am not a new plaster expert. Normally once you get the water chemically correct, the green tint goes away. Adding chlorine with no CYA caused a burst of hypochlorus acid and that likely aggravated the iron. I would get some CYA dissolving and maintain a FC of 3ppm.
Let's ask @ajw22 for his input.
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Sincerely appreciate the help and the tag for someone to set me straight. I thought I had this whole pool balancing thing down ok, but this has completely shocked me, no pun intended.
On a separate note, there are clearly some issues with the plaster already following his instructions, so this may be a lost cause. I'm not looking forward to having this conversation with the guy. He came highly recommended but his customer service skills could use some work...
 
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Ask the water supplier for a water quality report.

Contact the plaster manufacturer and ask them for their opinion about what you need to do.

Register the plaster with the manufacturer for warranty purposes.
 
You are understandably concerned about the quality of the plaster, so it is best to have the plaster manufacturer involved so that you get the full warranty.

The water supplier should be able to provide a water quality report including metals like iron so that you can know exactly what you are dealing with.
 
@JamesW @ajw22 Appreciate the replies. Woke up this morning and the pool was no longer green and essentially looks perfect. I think I've avoided that particular issue, however I'm still not clear why it happened.

What I'm now concerned about are the consistently high Calcium Hardness readings, ranging anywhere from 525-600 based on eyeballing the color change of the CH test. From my understanding the only way to lower is to replace pool water. I tested the water coming out of our outside faucets and they have low CH in the 50-100 range. The issue is that the water is run through a water softener since its well water and uses salt as part of that process. From my understanding you are not supposed to use salt for the first 28 days (we have a SWG but have only been using liquid bleach). Is the "do not use salt" edict because of the crystals themselves sitting on the floor of the pool or does the salt itself, no matter how dissolved, affect the plaster? I would really prefer to not have to spend more money to bring in yet another outside water source.

Thanks you again.
 
El Matarife said:
What I'm now concerned about are the consistently high Calcium Hardness readings, ranging anywhere from 525-600 based on eyeballing the color change of the CH test. From my understanding the only way to lower is to replace pool water.
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Continue with your startup and see where your water chemistry lands after about 2 months.

You are correct that to lower CH you will need to drain water and replace it with lower CH water.

Your high CH may be due to lots of plaster dUst in the water that your filter will remove in the coming days.

Be patient.

El Matarife said:
I tested the water coming out of our outside faucets and they have low CH in the 50-100 range. The issue is that the water is run through a water softener since its well water and uses salt as part of that process. From my understanding you are not supposed to use salt for the first 28 days (we have a SWG but have only been using liquid bleach). Is the "do not use salt" edict because of the crystals themselves sitting on the floor of the pool or does the salt itself, no matter how dissolved, affect the plaster?
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Your water softener salt has nothing to do with warning of not adding pool salt into the water. Water softener salt does not get into the water in significant amounts.

Plaster Installation and Maintenance - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

When Should Salt be Added? In our industry, there seems to be some consensus to wait 30 days before adding salt to new plaster pools, yet some say it is okay to add salt within a couple of days of filling the pool. Who is right? This thread describes why it appears that the recommendation to wait 30 days before adding any salt is appropriate for most plaster pools, including quartz and pebble pools.

El Matarife said:
I would really prefer to not have to spend more money to bring in yet another outside water source.
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Post a complete set of water tests for your pool...

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
SALT
WATER TEMP
CSI

and your fill water...

pH
TA
CH
 

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