Thanks TFP and SWG Calcium problems

[RobertFolkes]

Firstly thank you Trouble Free Pool, I've pretty much taught myself how to run my pool by visiting your site as guest. Great no-nonsense answers.

Everything was going perfectly except I get tired of hauling Liquid Chlorine from the shop and now I need to make the pool operate when I am not at home to make daily manual additions, so...

I bought a cheap Intex SW Chlorine and Ozone generator - it's a nice unit at an excellent price albeit undersized for my pool (but I just want it to keep things ticking over while I am away). This was an experiment because I know I have high alkalinity and Calcium Hardness here (good truffle country but hard, hard water thanks to a huge limestone mountain nearby). My tap water, my borehole water and my pool water are all off the scale for Calcium, so it's no surprise that my SWG cell is clogged up, but I was hoping it would last for more than a week, especially since this SWG claims to 'self clean' by reversing polarity.

I don't think that trucking water in would be possible here, so is there any way to neutralise the Calcium (yes I know it's going to be difficult). I've seen products such as Salt Protector Plus advertised that claims to do this, which sounds like Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salt) to me. Does anyone have positive experience with this additive, would it cause any issues with my concrete pool?

Although it was a bit of a wild experiment, I would really like to keep going with the SWG if possible, even if I need to upsize the unit - the salt water seems to keep insects away which is a great bonus.

Thank you
Robert
Caromb, Provence, France
80,000L (NaCl 3100ppm) below ground concrete pool, 23m2 solar heating, electric cover closed when not in use

 

[mknauss]

There are no methods to remove calcium from water excluding reverse osmosis or a water softener.

You can manage keeping calcium carbonate at bay with your calcium hardness up to 1000 ppm or so by managing the CSI. You have to lower your TA and keep your pH in the lower end. PoolMath calculates CSI for you. I have a SWCG with CH 250 and TA 130 fill water and am OK until my CH goes above 1000.

List some test results and we can provide some guidance.

Take care.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

When we lived in Germany the hard water was like liquid cement. We used LimeAway like crazy to make the bathroom fixtures look normal, ugh.

I would suggest you try to capture as much rain water as possible in to your pool and let it dilute the calcium. It may take time but it can be helpful.

Also if you keep your pH on the lower end of desired goals it will help you avoid scale a bit.

Maddie