My Deep Blue Water is Now a Light Green-Blue???

[waterbear]

You have a pebble tec finish and the contracted started it up by dumping in acid. This is fairly normal and the acid startup is used to expose the aggregate. Because of the low pH the TA will be virtually non existent.
Acid start ups are one of the three ways to start a new plaster pool and are the most common for aggregate finishes. Hopefully, you have not damaged the finish in your quest for 'blue water' before the pool had been started properly.

Also, to the best of my knowledge Jandy (owned by Zodiac) does not make mineral/ozone systems but do have mineral/salt systems (Fusion Soft) which is basically the same as their parent company's Duo Clear (Zodiac). These combine a SWCG with a Nature 2 cartridge. The N2 puts silver and copper into your water and the salt generator is undersized so it really cannot produce enough chlorine for the size pools it is recommended for. Running low chlorine with copper and silver will NOT give you sanitized water. Period!

[Spike]

Thanks for taking the time for the detailed replies. All very helpful info.

On the acid startup, I understand this is an accepted practice. However, the contractor said the water typically clears in a few hours and it was still a green swamp over 24 hours later.

I think he just over did it and I was concerned that the stained water could stain the plaster that was still curing.

So it was left heavily acidic (and swampy green) for over a day before I brought the alkalinity and hardness levels back up.

It actually looks pretty great right now...despite heavy rains over tje past sever days.

I should have also added that the PebbleTec was acid washed prior to the pool being filled, so most of the literature I have read says there is no need to maintain a low pH acidic chemistry in tje water after tje acid wash is done.

Do the experts here agree with this?

[PoolDoc]

For Pebble Tec start-up, your best bet is to ask Pebble-Tec (the company, not your dealer). They are the ones who know what's actually in Pebble Tec, and how it might react: http://www.pebbletec.com/service_support.aspx

However, their pool chemistry instructions are pretty much industry boiler-plate, which means they (a) really don't know or (b) just want to CYA by saying the "OFFICIAL" 'right stuff'. If I were you, I'd call (and then recall) till you happen to luck onto a support phone tech who actually knows something besides what's in their phone script.

BTW, the Jacks Magic product line is not bad, but it is seriously over-hyped and involves some deceptive elements. For example, the "Blue Stuff", "Pink Stuff", "Purple Stuff", "Step Stuff" and "Blue Vinyl Stuff" are all the EXACTLY same thing (HEDP) except for the dyes.

[Spike]

Pebble Tec just confirmed that the acid wash should be done before the pool is filled, and after filled the objective is to keep the pH and alkalinity balanced...no need to keep the water acidic after its acid washed and filled.

So I did what should have been done...balanced everything...whew!

Thanks for the feedback.

[PoolDoc]

I'd encourage to still do the metal checking I suggested (back of the toilet), ID the actual units on your pool (per Waterbear), set yourself up to do REAL testing yourself, and SERIOUSLY consider just saying NO! to metal ("mineral") treatment of pools.

Metals, concrete based pool finishes (like Pebble-Tec) and pool owners who are particular about finish appearance are NOT a compatible blend. But, by the time you realize that the problem is IN the finish, and not just in the water, you will have a hard time ever getting back to the starting point you're at right now. If you actually have ozone, and want to continue using it, that's fine, as long as you stay on top of your alkalinity. But, there's no way to do metals -- from cartridges, ionizers, pellets, algaecides or what-not -- and maintain a pristine finish.

[Spike]

Just for arguments sake, if I do away with the mineral. Cartridge, what ate the implications for a system originally configured this way.

Just need to use more chlorine than I would otherwise need with the mineral cartridge?

[PoolDoc]

We've never seen any evidence that they do anything but cause trouble. Keep in mind, that's in comparison to a BBB operated pool.

With the hit-or-miss system most home owners use under instruction from pool stores, the mineral cartridge creates a sort of belt-and-suspenders approach to keeping pants up. It's just that it's a rotten leather belt, backed up by a pair of suspenders that are hanging by a thread! We think it's better to ditch the suspenders, and use a good belt, so to speak.

My illustration may not be clear, so I'll state it differently.

The pool-store chemical treatment method produces a world of problems AND frequently leads to algae. A mineral system creates a weakly algicidal residue, that can help a badly managed pool turn green fewer times. We thing the better option -- easier, cheaper, more effective -- is to use a GOOD management system that doesn't need to be backed up by a weakly algicidal mineral system that brings a new set of problems along with it.

Regarding your specific system, without model numbers I can't be completely sure, but as a rule, you can disable them, try life without it, and revert to the 'as-built' process with no problems (other than the ones inherent to the mineral process).

[waterbear]

Just for arguments sake, if I do away with the mineral. Cartridge, what ate the implications for a system originally configured this way.

Just need to use more chlorine than I would otherwise need with the mineral cartridge?

If you have a combo system (SWCG and N2 cart) then you probably won't be able to generate enough chlorine unless they oversized the unit for your pool. The bad new is that even with the mineral system you will not be able to generate enough chlorine since you really cannot run lower chlorine levels and have trouble free water with a mneral cart. You need to run normal chlorine levels. If not too late have the builder replace the unit with a plain SWCG.