Scaling flakes

[debuda]

Hi

I've noticed scale flakes develop this season.
I have been trying to figure out how to get the scale flakes to devolve without having to refill a third of the pool water.

FC 5.5
pH 7.2
TA 100
CH 550
CYA 70
Salt 3200
Pool temp 84

According to the Taylor wheel if my pH is kept around 7.2 the saturation index should be near 0.

Shouldn't that help desolve the flakes?

Is there an alternative way instead of draining and refilling?

 

[mknauss]

The Intellichlor is shedding scale at polarity reversals.

Track CSI in PoolMath. Keep the CSI between 0 and -0.3. You do that by managing TA and pH.

 

[debuda]

Thanks for the reply!

TSI at -.22 using pool math.
Playing with the numbers in pool math if I lower TA to 70 and keep pH the same csi barely moves (goes to -.4)

Is it better to try and get a lower csi to help dessolve the solids? How can I attain that without throwing the water balance off?

In your experience how long should I expect it to take?

 

[mknauss]

In my experience, as the CH gets higher than 500 ppm or so, the TA starts to predominate. So a lower TA will typically reduce the scale.

The other method is to add borates to the water using boric acid. 50 ppm of borates will reduce the localized pH rise that occurs in the SWCG cell. Do be ware that if you have pets that tend to drink the pool water, borates can be detrimental to their health.

 

[debuda]

I will try to lower the TA and post back about results.

Would like to stay away from borates if possible. I'll post back results.

Thank you!

 

[mknauss]

Great. Next winter, if a good rain is forecast, you should be draining off some water and harvesting as much rain water as possible. Your CH is getting to where it will be more and more difficult to manage.

 

[debuda]

Great. Next winter, if a good rain is forecast, you should be draining off some water and harvesting as much rain water as possible. Your CH is getting to where it will be more and more difficult to manage.

Great idea. Just hope we get some good rain storms this winter.

 

[debuda]

So far seems to have worked! I'll keep monitoring but if anyone is having a similar issue here is what did it for me...

First, I ran the robot through the pool a few times to clean up the flakes lying around.

With pH at 7.2 i ran the jacuzzi until the pH was at 7.6. Dropped it back down to 7.2 and did it again.

The TA dropped from 110 (retested right before I started) to 90. This brought the csi to .1

I then added more acid to bring the pH down to 7.4 to bring the csi down to -.09

So far seems to be working and haven't noted any flakes at all.