Gunite spa plaster won’t clean up

[Jordinary4]

Hi all,

I’m on my 3rd season of ownership, and after opening my in ground pool and spa, the spa plaster will not get clean. In prior seasons I did not have this issue. I’m looking for any recommendations of what to try. I have already tried:

- SLAM for 1 week, CYA @ 40, FC @ 16, pH @ 7.5, brushing at least daily
- Rubbing vitamin C tabs
- Setting a chlorine puck on the stain

All of these have had no effect whatsoever. My FC does appear to be dropping quickly overnight. The water itself looks nice and clear, it’s just the brown-ish stains that appear to be the problem. Any advice?

 

[reggiehammond]

Any use of copper algaecide or items with "blue" in the name? Looks like it might be metal staining...

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

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[duraleigh]

What is your CH? This is just a guess but it looks like calcium scale with imbedded dirt.

Solution would be to lower water level to expose it and clean with a wire brush or muriatic

 

[ajw22]

When you opened your pool what was your initial water chemistry before you added any chemicals?

 

[Jordinary4]

Any use of copper algaecide or items with "blue" in the name? Looks like it might be metal staining...

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

No use of algaecides by me, I doubt the conpany opening the pool did either.

 

[Jordinary4]

What is your CH? This is just a guess but it looks like calcium scale with imbedded dirt.

Solution would be to lower water level to expose it and clean with a wire brush or muriatic

CH was 250 last I measured. Draining and scrubbing was my next option, but i didn’t think CH+dirt would explain the rapid FC loss. The FC loss has stabilized somewhat by now though

 

[Jordinary4]

When you opened your pool what was your initial water chemistry before you added any chemicals?

I had a company open it and I was out of town until the next day. I believe they only added shock. The build up on the plaster was like this from the get go (or at least the day after when I got home)

 

[ajw22]

High high your pH was and how much MA it took to get pH into the 7's is key to understanding if this may be a scale problem.

without data all you can do is guess and try the fixes suggested above.

 

[Jordinary4]

High high your pH was and how much MA it took to get pH into the 7's is key to understanding if this may be a scale problem.

without data all you can do is guess and try the fixes suggested above.

pH has been 7.5 continuously with nothing added. The only things added are liquid chlorine and stabilizer. I’ll probably try to drain and scrub as mentioned. Thanks all.