Culator -- Solution or Just Another "Pool Store" Product?

[mbar]

Just wanted to update on the culator. I have not gotten any stains back since I have it in my skimmer. This is the longest I have gone without stains. I have not put any sequestering agent in since then either. So far for me it works. I have not had to really shock the pool, because the water has been clear all summer, so I don't know what will happen if I do. The ph has drifted up, and still no stains. My fingers are crossed - it will save a lot of money in the long run if this really works.

[waterbear]

Marie, did you ever try increasing your calcium hardness to plaster pool levels to see if it has any impact on the staining? I know we discussed this once before and I have seen this lower the tendency to stain in several fiberglass pools that had very low calcium, including my own. I have not used ascorbic acid or seqestrant in about 3 years now since I brought my calcium up to between 350-400 ppm from the 180 ppm or thereabout I was running it at (natural water hardness when the water softener is bybassed). Before I would need to deal with the staining about twice a year. Water in the pool is still the same.

[mbar]

Yes, I have increased my calcium levels to 250 to 300. It has really taken the staining way down. However when I put in the stain treatment I get a milky mess - but once the pool clears the stains stay mostly away. I noticed one year that my pool water was tinted green, when I added the calcium the water turned blue. THat is when I started to keep calcium up in my pool. This year after the stain treatment my calcium level went from 300 to 175. I then added calcium to bring it back to 250. Do you think that the fallout of the calcium combined with the metals to filter out of the water? This is what I was thinking happened and that is why it may not be the culator that has prevented the stains?

[waterbear]

We might be on to something. When I increased my calcium and did the stain remover/seqeustrant I also got a milky pool for about a day, which cleared on it's own. Perhaps we did actually filter out the metals but needed the higher calcium hardness to do it. I did not notice such a severy drop in calcium harndess from what I remember, however. All I know is that I have been keeping my calcium between 350 to 400 ppm which, with my TA at 70 and my salt and baorates, gives me a calcium saturation index close to 0 (well within the +/-.3 range, actually close to -.1). When I has a lot of staining problems it was on the negative side and in the neighborhood of -.6. Not sure what might be going on here but, like I said, I have not used seqeustrant or ascorbic acid for a few years now and pool is staying white!

[mbar]

I really do think it has something to do with calcium too. The first year I had staining, the pool store had me dump in lots of calcium. I did a stain treatment and ended up with a pool full of milk. Then they had me use a flocking agent - and turn the filter off for 2 days. After the water cleared up I did not have any stains for the rest of the year. The calcium did drop a lot if my memory serves me right. Then I went a couple of years without using calcium as I thought it was not necessary. I had a lot of staining at this time, and learned how to get rid of stains very well!!! Then l read where a fiberglass pool needs calcium to keep something (I am not good at any chemistry as you know) from leaching out of the gelcoat, maybe cobalt? So I started using some calcium. Last year, I know I posted it, my pool was all balanced, the water very clear, but there was a greenish tint to the water that I could not get rid of. I put enough calcium to get it up to 300, and right before my eyes the water turned blue! I had no idea why or how it happened. I didn't think it was a coincidence, because it was an immediate reaction to the calcium. I did notice that when I added bleach to the water, I could see the water cloud. I think I even asked you about it. Once the bleach was circulated the cloud dissipated. Now this year it happens again - but I have not had one stain since I treated the water at the start of the season. My pool has been holding chlorine, the ph raises with the bleach so I add a puck because I hate the muriatic acid. I have not used anything else in my water and my pool is white! I have a couple of bottles of sequestering agent and some ascorbic acid sitting on a shelf - I love it. I do have the culator in the skimmer basket too - so I don't know if it has anything to do with it. We'll see next year when I open. My pool always opens with no cya, and low ph. I try to add bleach under the cover when we have a couple of warm days, but basically I am starting from scratch every year. I live in the middle of the woods so my water gets full of so much stuff I don't know where the metals come from. I also have a well and a heater- that's why I gave up trying to figure out where they came from and just concentrated on getting rid of them. It would be so great to just have a milky pool at the beginning of the summer and once cleared up not to have stains! Maybe this is it???

[JimK]

I realize this thread hasn't been active for some time, but I stumbled across it when researching less expensive/better options to prevent metal stains (iron I believe) on my vinyl pool. For the past several seasons I've been using Jack's Magic Purple Stuff and I've not had any staining since. However, it costs me about $200 a season (per instructions I add 2qts at the beginning of the season, then 12oz a week to maintain the recommended level).

I'm intrigued by the idea that maintaining higher calcium levels may prevent staining. Any updates on this? Has it been determined that higher calcium works? Any downside to this method?

Any further information on whether or not the CuLator actually works?

For reference, I have a 20k IG vinyl salt water pool, DE filter, and using a SWCG.

Thanks.

[waterbear]

The higher calcium is for fiberglass pools. There is some empirical evidence that it helps lessen iron staining and cobalt spotting which fiberglass pools are prone to more so than other pool surfaces.