Scale Problem

[cotorassiel]

Hello, this forum is awesome, learned a lot already, but I have a bit of a problem, we just bought a house with a pool YAY !!!

My problem is scale, I have been using a Taylor 5 way test kit and the AquaCheck test strips, when we first moved into the house the pool was green, due to lack of care during the closing of the loan, I got taken care of that by lowering the PH and adding liquid chlorine, since the water cleared up, I noticed several stains in the bottom as well as scaling of the ladders, the pool was just resurfaced by the seller and a whole bunch of plaster dust had settled on the wall and bottom, I actually cant tell if it was scale or plaster dust, fast forward a couple months I did a zero alkalinity treatment, the pool is a kidney shaped one an about 20K gallons, I added 10 gallons of muriatic acid for 2 days while brushing non stop (4 times a day) by day 2 the staining was gone and the water was a bit cloudy, quickly raised the PH by adding 3 lb of Borax, and raised the chlorine level to 5 ppm, ran the pump for 48 hours and took my water to get tested this are the numbers as of last Saturday.

PH: 7.6
FC: 3 ppm
TC: 3ppm
CC: 0ppm
TA: 100
Total Hardness: 500
Calcium Hardness : 500
Total Dissolved Solids: 4000

I will be draining some of the water and refilling with tap water, did not take the tap water to get tested but used the test strips and the total hardness its around 250, Will this tap water lower the CH without draining the whole pool? also should I add any chemicals to prevent the scaling after I lower the CH like ScaleTec or Beautec?

Thank You

[PoolDoc]

I would not drain and refill, till you have tested the tap water ACCURATELY. The problem is, it's very easy to TEMPORARILY clear up the problem by re-dissolving scale and stains into the pool water, but NOT actually removing anything from the pool. That's almost certainly what you've done, and what's likely is that scale and stains may REAPPEAR at the first chance. So . . . .

1. Lower your pH to near 7.0, and keep it there for now. That will reduced the chance of either stain or scale for the moment.

2. Use ONLY bleach or trichlor or dichlor to chlorinate. Do NOT use cal-hypo or any sort of 4n1, 5n1 or Xn1 blended chemicals.

3. Do NOT use any product, algaecide or otherwise, that has copper.

4. Order a K2006 testkit from Amazon. Once you get it, carefully go through ALL the tests 1 by 1. Then adjust your chlorine level to at least 5% of your CYA or stabilizer level (ie, 60 ppm of CYA => 3 ppm normal chlorine level)

5. Report all levels, including calcium and alkalinity, here. ALSO test your tap water pH, calcium, and alkalinity and report that. ALSO, report your pump and filter type / size

6. Meanwhile operate your filter at LEAST 2x per day for AT LEAST 6 hours. If your pump has a low speed, you can run on LOW, but 24/7

7. ALSO, adjust your 'jets' or 'eyeballs' do that return water from the pump is NOT directed against the pool walls or bottom OR at the surface. (I know, I know: you probably like to see the water 'riffle'. Later, you can. Now, you shouldn't! Reasons are complicated. Read the Alkalinity FAQ if you want to 'dig in'. )

Good luck!

[PoolDoc]

Upgraded membership and moved thread to the Pool Chemistry Problems section. You may need to log out and back in to see everything.

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Please note: the Super Search page does NOT search directly; it only CREATES special Google links, that enable a FOCUSED Google search!

[cotorassiel]

Well Im screwed now the pump motor went out and the new one is arriving by next tuesday any advice to keep the pool from building scale already bought the taylor kit and did all the tests numbers as of yesterday

Ph 7.0
TA 70
CH 690
FC 3ppm
CC 0

My filter is a hayward 120 sq feet cartridge filter the pump motor was a 1.5 Hp with a SF of 1.1

I do not have any sump pump or a battery operated robot the cleaner I have is a suction cleaner
I intend to brush twice a day and will be maintaining the FC around 5ppm did not test the CYA with the taylor kit but using test strips is around 20

[PoolDoc]

Sorry about the pump..

Keeping the pH around 7 should avoid scale. Since your CYA is probably low, add bleach in the EVENING, at the rate of 1/4 gallon of Walmart pool bleach, or 1/2 gallon of Walmart PLAIN household bleach, daily. If you find your chlorine getting above 5 ppm in the evening, skip that day's dose IF your pool is algae-free.

Oh, and don't swim. Without a filter, the pool will get really gross, even with chlorine present.

But if the algae is under control AND you dose with chlorine daily, your water should be fine till you get the pump replaced . . . if you don't swim, and keep the big trash removed.

Good luck!