Calcium Deposits?

[GJBenn85]

I let the water balance slide during the winter and white deposits formed throughout the pool and spa. They're quite hard and I suspect they're calcium deposits. Calcium dropped down to about 120-140 ppm during the winter and it is currently at 180 ppm.

For our pebble finish pool, these are today's readings:

Chlorine: 1 (salt was low, added it and the chlorinator is running now)
Calcium: 180
TA: 100
pH: 7.4
CYA: 40
Salt: 3000

What is the most efficient way to remove these deposits? Like I said, I assume they're calcium but am not positive. A Scotch pad and a plastic scraper have removed most of the deposits in the spa but I simply cannot use the same process in the much larger pool.

Deposits on a bench:


Deposits on wall:

[dalparadise]

I've been told that the calcium levels you describe are not necessarily the problem. I asked the same questions you have about a month ago and was told that calcium levels up to about 400 are manageable and will not cause scaling. I'm currently experimenting to see if I believe this.

I, too have these kinds of deposits on my pool. I'm told the problem arises from allowing Ph levels to creep up and go unchecked for a couple of days. My fill water is city water supply and is hard to keep below 8.0 for very long.

Your Ph seems good now, but does it run high? I'm currently watching my Ph levels much more closely and will focus on that for another month or so to see if that helps. Perhaps we could compare notes via this forum to see if this is the root of our calcium deposit problem.

[GJBenn85]

Yes, the pH tends to rise over 8 within a couple of days. Like I said before, I went a couple of months during the winter without really balancing the water and I know the pH ended up being too high. If a high pH can contribute to these deposits, what can aid in removing them short of scrubbing the entire pool by hand? I simply do not have the time or desire to do that, LOL.

When we had a pool company maintaining the pool, deposits like I'm dealing with now formed but on a much greater scale. The entire pool was littered with deposits and I have no idea what they used to clean the pool. I know for a fact they did not drain it, nor did they have someone go in the pool to scrub by hand. The relationship with the company went sour because they allowed a major algae bloom to occur, poured an entire gallon of muriatic acid in the pool at a time (dropping the pH far too low, my test kit couldn't even measure it), etc., so I am reluctant/unwilling to contact them to find out what they did to remove the deposits.

[PatL34]

Start using some regular bleach or even shock to help the CL move up and calcium hardness to go up slightly. The SWC does not have to be increased, just adding more bleach will save on cell life.

The CYA at 40 ppm could be increased slightly up to 60 ppm.

Use Muriatic acid to keep at 7.2 -7.6 pH and no higher.

Follwing these initial rules will help to start removing the Calcium deposits. If the TA starts to rise start some aeration to help bring it down.

Hope this helps and keep us posted.

Pat

[GJBenn85]

I have been maintaining a pH of 7.2-7.4 and I see no sign of the deposits "dissolving." If keeping a pH of 7.2-7.4 will remove the deposits, how long do you think it will be before I start to notice the deposits disappearing? I have someone on my case daily because of these deposits and I keep telling her it may take as long for the deposits to disappear as it did for them to appear. Of course, this person wants instant results.

Any other suggestions or input?

[PFlynn]

My expectation is that it will take awhile and to keep up with the brushing. I'll bet they loosen up and finally flake off.

I had the same problem and it took about three weeks to completely clear up. I had some scale on my tile bad enough that I needed to drop the water level and clean it off with acid.

I'm not going to let the ph stay high this coming winter - it's just too much of a mess.

[GJBenn85]

I had the same problem and it took about three weeks to completely clear up. I had some scale on my tile bad enough that I needed to drop the water level and clean it off with acid.

I need to tackle scaling on the tile next. Oddly, it is only in a few areas that do not even touch the water. What kind of acid did you use?