White deposits in pool

[Turbokamil]

Hello I recently switch to saltwater on 18000 gallon pool using RJ60. Recently I am getting white solids. Not sure if this was inside the salt or from 1 year ago pool construction previous plaster or chemical issue. I attached some photos. My levels are a bit high so I decided to drain 25 percent and refill with fresh water

salt:4400
Fc:5
Ph:8
Alk:130
Cal :300

 

[IceShadow]

Put some of it in a pile on a glass plate (away from the pool, no glass near the pool) and put a little muriatic acid on it. See if it fizzes.

 

[Turbokamil]

Put some of it in a pile on a glass plate (away from the pool, no glass near the pool) and put a little muriatic acid on it. See if it fizzes.

there is no really glass anywhere. I can check again. I will check the muratic acid trick

 

[IceShadow]

Right, I’m just saying when you bring out a glass plate to put the flake on (to pour acid on it without it staining concrete, etc) don’t keep the glass by the pool.

I’m thinking it’s probably calcium scale.

 

[mknauss]

You are right Dustin. A CH of 300, TA of 130, and pH of 8 with a water temperature of 85F will give a CSI of 0.34. Anything over a CSI of 0 with a SWCG will generally create calcium scale on the plates and then they shed that calcium at polarity reversal.

 

[Turbokamil]

You are right Dustin. A CH of 300, TA of 130, and pH of 8 with a water temperature of 85F will give a CSI of 0.34. Anything over a CSI of 0 with a SWCG will generally create calcium scale on the plates and then they shed that calcium at polarity reversal.

Plates you means titatnium pleates? Please let me know what shall i do to fix it. I dont want to mess up my new swg

 

[mknauss]

You will not mess it up, but you do need to lower your CYA and TA some and then the flakes will go away. It is best to not operate a SWCG in the chemistry region that allows the creation of the flakes as it can eventually plug up the cell with scale and then you have to clean it with acid. Cleaning the cell with acid, even though some manufacturers say you should do it on a regular schedule, degrades the coating on the generation plates and thus the life of the cell.

 

[Turbokamil]

You will not mess it up, but you do need to lower your CYA and TA some and then the flakes will go away. It is best to not operate a SWCG in the chemistry region that allows the creation of the flakes as it can eventually plug up the cell with scale and then you have to clean it with acid. Cleaning the cell with acid, even though some manufacturers say you should do it on a regular schedule, degrades the coating on the generation plates and thus the life of the cell.

Got it. Thank you so much today I drained like 20-30 percent. I refill some and its raining now it should lower all levels

 

[Turbokamil]

You will not mess it up, but you do need to lower your CYA and TA some and then the flakes will go away. It is best to not operate a SWCG in the chemistry region that allows the creation of the flakes as it can eventually plug up the cell with scale and then you have to clean it with acid. Cleaning the cell with acid, even though some manufacturers say you should do it on a regular schedule, degrades the coating on the generation plates and thus the life of the cell.

so the cell has reverse polarity and calcium shedding self cleaning function ? I worry now if i screw up the cell already. Its 2-3 weeks old

 

[Texas Splash]

As bright as those things look , they would seem to be salt. But salt should've dissolved a long time ago. Curious, what kind of salt did you buy? Have you been able to grab any of it? If you put it in a pile on the grass and put a little muriatic acid on it, it should bubble r fizzle if it's calcium. Have you looked in your filter lately to see if there is more of that stuff on top of the sand?

 

[Turbokamil]

You are right Dustin. A CH of 300, TA of 130, and pH of 8 with a water temperature of 85F will give a CSI of 0.34. Anything over a CSI of 0 with a SWCG will generally create calcium scale on the plates and then they shed that calcium at polarity reversal.

I drained and refilll and here are the new numbers and still getting calcium deposits on reverse polarity I guess. Any help would be appreciated.

salt:3400
Fc:6.5
Ph:7.4
Alk:110
Cal :225
Cya:70-80 I cant be so sure. Its tricky to get a good reading

 

[mknauss]

Your current tests do not look like you should be creating calcium scale.

Has your pH been much higher recently?

 

[Turbokamil]

Your current tests do not look like you should be creating calcium scale.

Has your pH been much higher recently?

It keeps creeping up towards 7.8 ish and I knock it down with muratic acid towards 7.4 and most recently lowered all the way to 7.2 to lower the alkalinity.
My goal is to lower alkalinity to 80’s and maybe boost calcium up towards 400’s. Is it a good game plan. But yes pH keep creeping up almost daily.

 

[Turbokamil]

Its hard to have a good reading on cya. It was 100 and I drained and refilled to lower to 70-80 but i am having a hard time to reading it correctly.does cha play a role in csi? I guess it does since its part of pool math. I played with pool math numbers to see the impact on csi change it didnt effect much

 

[Turbokamil]

I also see bubbles coming from jets but i guess these are bubbles generated by swg? Am I correct?

 

[mknauss]

CYA has a slight effect on CSI, but very slight.

The SWCG is working when you see the bubbles of chlorine and hydrogen gas been created.

 

[Texas Splash]

Nothing in those (new) numbers seem indicative of calcium issues. They actually look very good. So maybe whatever you were seeing was from previous water conditions? Were you ever able to collect some of those deposits and test with acid for fizzing?

 

[Turbokamil]

Nothing in those (new) numbers seem indicative of calcium issues. They actually look very good. So maybe whatever you were seeing was from previous water conditions? Were you ever able to collect some of those deposits and test with acid for fizzing?

Yes they fizzed but to be honest anything i throw in acid fizzes lol. Issue remains still. Its hard to stabilize ph. Keep creeping upwards. I am planning to add calcium and add more acid until alk drops to 90 ish

 

[Turbokamil]

I installed an swg for about a mont. i am constantly getting white flakes that foams in muratic acid so I assume this is calcium. When i touch it it has sandy feel. Some white sand consistency and some larger flakes
water chemistry is good i thought i test daily now.
Ph:7.6
Alk: 90
Cal:275
Salt 2800 (just added some salt to bring it to 3200)
Fc 7.5

please help. Csi looks good but calcium flakes mistery is ongoing.

 

[ajw22]

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Get your water chemistry towards ideal levels. Lower your TA to 60-70 and increase your CH towards 400. While your CSI looks good it is not good inside your SWG cell. That is why the water chemistry recommendations are different if you have a SWG.