Finding Calcium Chloride in the Desert

[phxdesrochers]

A question for my fellow desert rats, what do you use for calcium chloride in a place where snow is a tad scarce in order to increase calcium hardness? I haven't seen something like dowflake which is mostly all calcium chloride, which seems to be preferred reading some old posts, at homedepot or ace. I've seen Roadrunner or SafeStop which seem to have alot magnesium and sodium.

I think I need somewhere around 12lb of Calcium Chloride.

TA: 100
FC: 5.5
CYA: 40ppm
pH: 7.6
CH: 225

 

[ajw22]

Pool Stores should have high priced calcium increaser.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

You have likely have plenty calcium in your tap water, so CH level will increase quickly during swim season. Test your fill water for CH. Your current CH level is manageable.

 

[TinFoilHat]

You don't need to add any calcium to a Phoenix area pool. Your tap water is already high in CH and over 3 years or so you'll find your CH is too high. This is why we recommend using an auto fill running from softened water. You say your CH is already at 225. What's your goal? 250 in a gunite pool is fine.

 

[Lake Placid]

Concrete suppliers will have calcium chloride, if you can find one in your area that sells to the public. As others have stated typically in your area, there is no need to increase CH as it will rise through fill/evap.

 

[Newdude]

Concrete suppliers will have calcium chloride, if you can find one in your area that sells to the public.

Or one that doesn't. A case of beer for the workers goes a long way.

What did you do to your pool today?

I buy puritech on Amazon for $2/lb in the big bags. It's a happy medium of the ice melts and the fancy pool store stuffs. I ended up getting some from a local concrete company. When I called them on the phone yesterday, the man told me they don't sell concrete supplies, they pour concrete...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[proavia]

No reason to add calcium since you are already above CH 200. Evaporation and refill using tap water will allow the CH to rise given that you are in the PHX area.
What is the pH, TA and CH of your autofill water?

When you did both the TA and CH tests, did you continue adding drops until there was no further color change and then subtract the last drop that didn't further change the color?

 

[phxdesrochers]

You don't need to add any calcium to a Phoenix area pool. Your tap water is already high in CH and over 3 years or so you'll find your CH is too high. This is why we recommend using an auto fill running from softened water. You say your CH is already at 225. What's your goal? 250 in a gunite pool is fine.

I was going to shoot for 250, figuring the PHX tap water would take it from there. I was just afraid of the water taking calcium from the finish while I wait if I was a tad 'low'. My home has a soft water loop, but the builder didn't have it as an option to pull from the loop vs hose bib for the auto filler.

 

[phxdesrochers]

Or one that doesn't. A case of beer for the workers goes a long way.

What did you do to your pool today?

I buy puritech on Amazon for $2/lb in the big bags. It's a happy medium of the ice melts and the fancy pool store stuffs. I ended up getting some from a local concrete company. When I called them on the phone yesterday, the man told me they don't sell concrete supplies, they pour concrete...

www.troublefreepool.com

View attachment 627867

Haha. In building there always seems to be a way to find a workaround to a problem.

 

[phxdesrochers]

No reason to add calcium since you are already above CH 200. Evaporation and refill using tap water will allow the CH to rise given that you are in the PHX area.
What is the pH, TA and CH of your autofill water?

When you did both the TA and CH tests, did you continue adding drops until there was no further color change and then subtract the last drop that didn't further change the color?

I will test the fill water this weekend, didn't think to test for exact numbers; I just figured it was 'higher'.

It depends on how close the color is when I add the last drop. Sometimes I count it if was more solid of a color and don't if the test water is just a hue off.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

You should find a way to include your pool fill line in the water softener loop. You may never need to drain due to high ch levels.

 

[proavia]

I will test the fill water this weekend, didn't think to test for exact numbers; I just figured it was 'higher'.

It depends on how close the color is when I add the last drop. Sometimes I count it if was more solid of a color and don't if the test water is just a hue off.

Keep adding drops (for CH and TA tests) until the color no longer changes and then subtract the last drop.
Hold the reagent bottles perfectly vertical, let the drop fully form on the tip, dispense one drop per second and don't squeeze to hard or force the drop off the tip.

An exact number for fill water pH, TA and CH is important. I'd suggest testing fill water a few times a year as sometimes our water source changes.
I'd expect to see a CH in the 200-250 range and TA of 110-140 for most of the PHX area.

Are you using PoolMath?
Be sure to sign in to PoolMath using the same email and password you use in the forum. Then link PoolMath to your forum account in PM settings. This way, your log will show here by clicking on your username and PoolMath Logs.

 

[phxdesrochers]

Keep adding drops (for CH and TA tests) until the color no longer changes and then subtract the last drop.
Hold the reagent bottles perfectly vertical, let the drop fully form on the tip, dispense one drop per second and don't squeeze to hard or force the drop off the tip.

An exact number for fill water pH, TA and CH is important. I'd suggest testing fill water a few times a year as sometimes our water source changes.
I'd expect to see a CH in the 200-250 range and TA of 110-140 for most of the PHX area.

Are you using PoolMath?
Be sure to sign in to PoolMath using the same email and password you use in the forum. Then link PoolMath to your forum account in PM settings. This way, your log will show here by clicking on your username and PoolMath Logs.

I have started using poolmath, I didn't know about the link capability. Thanks for the tip!

 

[phxdesrochers]

You have likely have plenty calcium in your tap water, so CH level will increase quickly during swim season. Test your fill water for CH. Your current CH level is manageable.

After testing this morning, my CH is 175, pH is 7.7 and TA is 120

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

That is relatively high for fill water. Your CH level will increase over time. No need to add CH now.

Take a look at the article on Calcium Saturation Index (CSI). CSI takes several factors into consideration to measure the aggressiveness of your water on calcium. Maintaining CSI in the range of of 0.0 to -0.30 will avoid calcium etching while mitigating scale. You should have no issues maintaining that range with a CH of 225.

Calcium Saturation Index (CSI)

How is CSI calculated? Very simple – use our PoolMath tool. To ensure long plaster life and save money, click here to learn more.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Obecalp86]

Phxdesrochers,

Fellow desert rat here. Just to echo everyone else -

I replastered and refilled my pool March 2024. My CH is already 450, and only 25 ppm of that is because I unwisely added CH increaser after the fill. Don’t add any CH.

 

[proavia]

After testing this morning, my CH is 175, pH is 7.7 and TA is 120.

Don't add any CH increaser. With evaporation and refill with your tap water, CH will increase.

Use PoolMath and link it to your forum account.
Be sure that track CSI is on and keep the CSI in the 0.00 to -0.30 (negative 0.30) range. This will help protect your plaster from excessive calcium scaling.

If you have a water softener, consider plumbing it to your autofill.

 

[phxdesrochers]

Phxdesrochers,

Fellow desert rat here. Just to echo everyone else -

I replastered and refilled my pool March 2024. My CH is already 450, and only 25 ppm of that is because I unwisely added CH increaser after the fill. Don’t add any CH.

Thanks for the guidance. I'll leave it be and let let it increase when the summer evaporation and refill hits.

 

[phxdesrochers]

Don't add any CH increaser. With evaporation and refill with your tap water, CH will increase.

Use PoolMath and link it to your forum account.
Be sure that track CSI is on and keep the CSI in the 0.00 to -0.30 (negative 0.30) range. This will help protect your plaster from excessive calcium scaling.

If you have a water softener, consider plumbing it to your autofill.

I'll keep an eye on CSI. Think I set up the link correctly. Thanks again!