Stains in 1yr old pool

[puravida305]

Hello everyone, I have a 15,000 gallon saltwater gunite pool, that since early on had some uneven coloring. The company that did the pool told me that it was due to the way the plastering was done and offered to acid wash it, but we decided it not to do it to prolong the life of the plaster. The thing is that it seems to be getting worse. I am wondering if by looking at the pictures you can tell if what I am looking at is some sort of algae on top of the plastering issue. My pool guy claims all the chemicals are correct, but I am not so sure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Oly]

Stains are difficult to diagnose with pictures alone. It is best to look at pool water test results over time. For example your stains may be due to calcium scale resulting from maintaing a high CSI over time. Do the stained areas feel rough when compared to the non stained areas?

A quality test kit and regular home testing are the foundation for balanced pool water and protecting your pool system and equipment.
Due a search here for "plaster stains" and you will find some basic diagnostic tests you can perform to guide you.

Test Kits Compared
Recommended Levels
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

 

[borjis]

The second photo, it looks like it could be iron staining. Try a few crushed vitamin c tablets in a sock, on the stain for 5-10 minutes. If it's gone, then you have trace iron in the fill water.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Do you have any mineral system or cartridge in your equipment?

Please create your signature with details of your pool and equipment.

 

[puravida305]

Thank you all for your feedback. I have let go of my pool guy and hired a new company. The new person that came by tells me that what I am looking at it's the plastering issue I mentioned on my original post.

Glad I let go of the first company, when the new company removed the pool filter to clean it it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for months. Need to learn how to check this stuff on my own to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. I don't have a pool testing kit, but I will purchase one and try to learn how to read it.

oly: The stained areas do not feel rougher than the rest of the pool, the entire pool floor feels the same

borjis: I will try the vitamin c tablets just in case.

ajw22: I do not have a mineral system installed, my pool uses a Jandy Pro Series TruClear SWG

 

[anthonypool89]

it looks like it could be iron staining.

I'd say iron, based on my experience when I first got my pool and was not notified by Anthony (until it was too late) to add "pool magnet" to tie up metals, etc. I had iron stains at each point when a load of water was added at initial fill. It was honestly sort of heartbreaking to have seen that happen with the brand new white plaster. Those stains were there, to varying degrees (due to partial fading), for the next 25 years.