My first post in this forum. I read in one of the old threads that maintaining Calcium levels in a pool with a vinyl liner is not necessary. Can anyone tell me why this is so?
Vinyl Liners and Calcium
- Thread starter Roger K
- Start date
Hootz
Bronze Supporter
- Feb 5, 2018
- 374
- Pool Size
- 24000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Welcome to troublefree pool! The methods that we use here do not always conform to the mainstream but are science and time proven.
Calcium levels need to be maintained in a plaster or stone type surface and to some extent fiberglass due to pool water with low calcium levels will draw calcium from the surface and eventually erode the surface. Vinyl liners do not contain calcium so the calcium level in vinyl liner pools is not near as critical. High calcium levels (above 500) may cause some scaling issues with a vinyl liner.
Calcium levels need to be maintained in a plaster or stone type surface and to some extent fiberglass due to pool water with low calcium levels will draw calcium from the surface and eventually erode the surface. Vinyl liners do not contain calcium so the calcium level in vinyl liner pools is not near as critical. High calcium levels (above 500) may cause some scaling issues with a vinyl liner.
Thanks for your reply - makes sense! Do you have a recommended level that I should maintain in the pool, or does it not matter at all. Previously I was maintaining calcium between 200 & 300 ppm.
Hootz
Bronze Supporter
- Feb 5, 2018
- 374
- Pool Size
- 24000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
It really doesn't matter until it gets above 500 or so...my calcium level has been around 75 for the last 3 seasons....that is where I found it and have not added anything to raise or lower it.
My calcium level was 250 at the end of last year. The target levels were given to me as 200 - 300. It does make you wonder if these pool stores really know what they are talking about! Guess I will just leave it where it is. I have enough calcium on hand for the rest of my life!!
Hey Hootz, I notice you have a heater. While calcium for a vinyl pool is not necessarily needed, your heater likely has a manufacturers recommendation to keep your calcium somewhere between 200 - 250ppm. I recently asked about this myself and I got an excellent response from the chemistry guru (Joyful Noise) on this site.
Calcium Hardness Vinyl Pool with Heater
I posted this in the everything else thread, but didn't get a response. Figured all of the chemical experts hang out here. My CH has been consistent in the 100-125 range for 2 years now. (Sometimes I get 4 drops until the color change, sometimes 5). I am having heater issues and I dug up my...
www.troublefreepool.com
Mine is currently sitting at 50 right now. Based upon his advice, I will be bringing my levels up to about 200 or so once we're fully open just to ensure I don't unnecessarily shorten the lifespan of the heater in any way.
Hootz
Bronze Supporter
- Feb 5, 2018
- 374
- Pool Size
- 24000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Hey Hootz, I notice you have a heater. While calcium for a vinyl pool is not necessarily needed, your heater likely has a manufacturers recommendation to keep your calcium somewhere between 200 - 250ppm. I recently asked about this myself and I got an excellent response from the chemistry guru (Joyful Noise) on this site.
Calcium Hardness Vinyl Pool with Heater
I posted this in the everything else thread, but didn't get a response. Figured all of the chemical experts hang out here. My CH has been consistent in the 100-125 range for 2 years now. (Sometimes I get 4 drops until the color change, sometimes 5). I am having heater issues and I dug up my...
Mine is currently sitting at 50 right now. Based upon his advice, I will be bringing my levels up to about 200 or so once we're fully open just to ensure I don't unnecessarily shorten the lifespan of the heater in any way.
I read that thread. I believe the issue would be much more pronounced with a gas heater than a heat pump. My heater is an electric heat pump.
Similar threads
