concrete dumped into new fiberglass pool

[Tishabiondy@natlmail.com]

On Thursday afternoon they were pouring the concrete deck around our brand new fiberglass pool and accidentally shot about 1/4 yard of concrete into the pool. The mason scooped out most of the larger stones, but nothing has been done since then. Our pb says it won't hurt anything, but I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Tisha

[caustik]

They got some concrete on the plastic steps on my inground liner pool that is in the middle of construction and they just washed it off 3 days later. Seems to be fine. Not sure if fiberglass reacts much differently. I was freaking out when I came home and saw all the concrete all over the place too. But, as your builder told you, mine said the same and it all came off. Now the stairs and the coping/deck are covered in a mixture of dirt, sand and polymeric joint sand from the interlock and landscaping work so we will see how they clean up after this mess. I am not to worried. My builder and landscapers work together on jobs all the time. I'm sure they build many pools a season and know what they are doing. If its not right, hold back the final payment till they make it right. Simple as that.

Kevin

[Tishabiondy@natlmail.com]

Thanks for the reply Kevin. It doesn't seen to be doing anything except settling on the bottom, but it can still be brushed around. How do you think they'll get it out? It's a lot of concrete mix.

Tisha

[waste]

Tisha, he may be ignorant or he may be feeding you 'barnyard slush'. I had the same thing happen to one of my/ our pools a couple of years ago. The entire pool and spill-over spa 'calcified' (the surfaces took on a 'slightly yellow' color and had a 'sandy' feel, gritty peices that would come off when rubbed). The other posibility is that he knows chemistry well enough to dose your pool before you notice anything (I had to make some big adjustments to the chemistry - after draining 1/2 the pool - to keep the calcium in suspension).
What I noticed, when it happened to 'me', is that the pH shot up over 9 (on a ~35000 gal pool) and the calcium was very high (all from one load of 'crete' ). So after partially draining, I made the necessary adjustments to the water and all has been fine since.
Keep the pH on the low side and with 'usual' draining/ backwashing it will eventually dissapate.
Tisha, welcome to the forum!, you've found the best place for honest, money saving advice for caring for your pool. If you ever need any more help, please feel free to ask of all the great, knowledgable folks here!! - Waste

[Tishabiondy@natlmail.com]

Thanks Waste. Did this happen in a fiberglass pool? There are no chemicals in the pool at all yet. Is there anything we should be doing? We're brand new pool owners and are extremely worried. Thanks again.

Tisha

[waste]

Tisha, for now, don't worry. Let's hope that the pool builder does know his chemistry well enough to prevent any problems
The pool I was talking about is a liner pool, though the spa is fiberglass.
If the pool builder doesn't, or can't, take care of the problem, please give us a full test reading and the pool size in gallons (liters), we'll be able to tell you what adjustments need to be made to keep the unwanted, and unnecessary, calcium in suspension. I truly hope that this accident doesn't cause you any trouble!

[Tishabiondy@natlmail.com]

Hi waste. The pb still has not personally come out to check out the situation, but he has sent someone to start vacuuming out the sand and rocks. He was backwashing(?) and refilling with fresh water at the same time. This was very slow so he changed the setting to recycle to try to filter out all the junk and replace with the same water. I'm not sure this is a good idea, but we'll see. I'll post test results as soon as I learn how to do it! I do know that the pool is almost 18,000 gallons. And and all advice is apprciated. Thanks.

Tisha

[waste]

Tisha, not because I'm 'in' the industry, but because I'm an optimist - let your pool builder attempt to take care of this. Should 'he' fail, keep us posted and we'll get your pool straightened out. Some of us guys actually know what we're doing.
If the pool is not to your satisfaction when they're done- we here can help you.

[Tishabiondy@natlmail.com]

Thanks. I'll keep you posted.

Tisha