Hello Everyone,
First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone in this community for providing such an invaluable wealth of information! I’m a first time pool owner. I’ve been a little bit of a lurker since last season, but I’ve now gotten to a point where I need some guidance. I purchased a home from the estate of a relative that had passed away. Forgive my long winded post, I just want to give context to the situation. This is my first pool ownership. I closed on the home at the end of august 2018. The property has the pool listed in my sig. It’s a 36,000 gallon plaster pool originally built by Anthony and Sylvan and includes a spa. The property is located in northeast PA, so we have long and often bitter cold winters. The pool hadn’t been opened in many years, and as a kindness, my family agreed to have the pool refurbished prior to my purchase. They contracted a local pool builder to assess what the pool needed and perform the work. The pool was re-tiled, re-plastered, new heater, new pump motor, new blower. Therefore, I “inherited” the pool builder and did not choose him. The re-plaster was complete in early August. The remainder of the work was completed in late September. I was given very high level instructions verbally. Thankfully, this site and Pool School gave me a LOT more information. I maintained chemistry in the pool per recommended levels. I brushed the pool every day (sometimes multiple times). I kept the PH down and in check every day. In retrospect, there were a number of things this pool builder did and did not due that I found questionable (at one point he was using test strips and said “it’s good enough for gov’t work). Given the huge investment made in refurbishing the pool, I used the same builder to close the pool for the season at a cost of almost $500 because I wanted to ensure that everything would be in great shape when I open in the spring. The ONLY direction I was given by the pool tech(s) who closed the pool was to keep the water level 4-6 inches below the tile line so ice and freezing didn’t pop them off. It has a mesh safety cover, so the water rose several times over the winter. They never mentioned anything about watching chemistry and I had assumed they treated the pool accordingly. As I mentioned, it’s my first pool. In retrospect, I should have known better. During my 3rd “pump-out” sessions a few weeks ago, I noticed the dirt built up on the sides of the pool. I reached into the pool to see how easy the dirt would come off and all of the surfaces below the water line are rough. Like sandpaper. Everything above was still smooth. At this point, I’ve done a bunch or reading and realize this is scaling due to the pH getting way too high in the pool. It introduces a whole host of questions. The pool is still technically “closed”, but I have been pulling sections of the cover off to access it. Also, there is no bypass for the new heater, so I plan to plumb one in.
I can scrape away the “bumps” with my finger. However, I’ve brushed small sections briefly with a combo brush and it had little impact.
Additional info:
Source water at fill – 25,000 gallons from tank trucks from pool fill company, remainder from hose / municipal source.
Chemistry at close – not provided by pool builder / service tech. Last entry I had for personal log as:
Date – 9/24/18
FC – 4
pH – 7.4
TA – 80
CH – 200
CYA – 25
pH when issue was first noticed – 10
I have since knocked it down to 7.4 by adding 4.75 gallons of Muriatic acid and using a drop in sump pump to circulate water and drain + fill spa with treated water.
Current Chemistry
Temp = 50F(ish)
FC – 0
pH – 7.4
TA – 20
CH – 275
CYA - 25
Info I have found that is influencing my questions:
My Questions:
Again, I can’t thank this community enough for all of the help and wonderful information provided on this site. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!!
First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone in this community for providing such an invaluable wealth of information! I’m a first time pool owner. I’ve been a little bit of a lurker since last season, but I’ve now gotten to a point where I need some guidance. I purchased a home from the estate of a relative that had passed away. Forgive my long winded post, I just want to give context to the situation. This is my first pool ownership. I closed on the home at the end of august 2018. The property has the pool listed in my sig. It’s a 36,000 gallon plaster pool originally built by Anthony and Sylvan and includes a spa. The property is located in northeast PA, so we have long and often bitter cold winters. The pool hadn’t been opened in many years, and as a kindness, my family agreed to have the pool refurbished prior to my purchase. They contracted a local pool builder to assess what the pool needed and perform the work. The pool was re-tiled, re-plastered, new heater, new pump motor, new blower. Therefore, I “inherited” the pool builder and did not choose him. The re-plaster was complete in early August. The remainder of the work was completed in late September. I was given very high level instructions verbally. Thankfully, this site and Pool School gave me a LOT more information. I maintained chemistry in the pool per recommended levels. I brushed the pool every day (sometimes multiple times). I kept the PH down and in check every day. In retrospect, there were a number of things this pool builder did and did not due that I found questionable (at one point he was using test strips and said “it’s good enough for gov’t work). Given the huge investment made in refurbishing the pool, I used the same builder to close the pool for the season at a cost of almost $500 because I wanted to ensure that everything would be in great shape when I open in the spring. The ONLY direction I was given by the pool tech(s) who closed the pool was to keep the water level 4-6 inches below the tile line so ice and freezing didn’t pop them off. It has a mesh safety cover, so the water rose several times over the winter. They never mentioned anything about watching chemistry and I had assumed they treated the pool accordingly. As I mentioned, it’s my first pool. In retrospect, I should have known better. During my 3rd “pump-out” sessions a few weeks ago, I noticed the dirt built up on the sides of the pool. I reached into the pool to see how easy the dirt would come off and all of the surfaces below the water line are rough. Like sandpaper. Everything above was still smooth. At this point, I’ve done a bunch or reading and realize this is scaling due to the pH getting way too high in the pool. It introduces a whole host of questions. The pool is still technically “closed”, but I have been pulling sections of the cover off to access it. Also, there is no bypass for the new heater, so I plan to plumb one in.
I can scrape away the “bumps” with my finger. However, I’ve brushed small sections briefly with a combo brush and it had little impact.
Additional info:
Source water at fill – 25,000 gallons from tank trucks from pool fill company, remainder from hose / municipal source.
Chemistry at close – not provided by pool builder / service tech. Last entry I had for personal log as:
Date – 9/24/18
FC – 4
pH – 7.4
TA – 80
CH – 200
CYA – 25
pH when issue was first noticed – 10
I have since knocked it down to 7.4 by adding 4.75 gallons of Muriatic acid and using a drop in sump pump to circulate water and drain + fill spa with treated water.
Current Chemistry
Temp = 50F(ish)
FC – 0
pH – 7.4
TA – 20
CH – 275
CYA - 25
Info I have found that is influencing my questions:
- I’ve found some very similar posts, unfortunately most of them are older and none of them have any follow-up that discusses what people actually did to address the problem and the ultimate outcome.
- Some advice was lower pH to 7 – 7.2 and brush every day with a combo brush and run the filter to catch debris.
- Some advice says you can go lower if you bypass or don’t have a heater.
- Some advice suggests attempting / using a no-drain acid wash such as “No Dran” from United Chemical Corp.
- A more recent post suggest doing a Zero Alkalinity Acid Treatment. This post seems to make an argument against “No Dran” type products as they call for too much acid.
- Some posts suggest using a combo brush, others say use 100% stainless, and others still suggest a pumice stone.
My Questions:
- Given the age of my plaster, and the fact that I’m able to scrape the scaling away with my finger nail, what is the best method to address this roughness?
- Should I run my equipment at all when treating the pool?
- What else am I missing?
Again, I can’t thank this community enough for all of the help and wonderful information provided on this site. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!!
