Low calcium hardness in vinyl pool ok?

[expertmagician]

I know this is a very old topic...and I am new to this forum...But, I am a new pool owner of a semi-inground pool with a Hayward Gas Heater (150,000 BTU).

I do not knnow what the coils are made of...But, Hayward said that calcium should be at 200ppm - 400pmm. That sounded high and the guy I spoke too sounded new...reading scripts. (Must be sumemr help becasue the people I spoke to in the winter during my research were very knowledgeable).

In either case, I was wondering how to test for calcium and if I should keep it as high as 200pmm in my Vinyl semi-inground pool ?

Thoughts ?

Hopefully, I will turn my pool on this weekend after the electrician comes...this is the first pool I owned othet than a 10 foot round Intex.

[Watermom]

Welcome to the forum. Please see Ben's post (post #7) in this thread. He addresses this issue.

[maryberrye]

Since I have a vinyl pool, I've taken Carl's advice and never bothered with the CH test. I am curious though what Ben's idea of a too high calcium reading is? We live in an area with very hard water - 469 ppm. Is this too high?

Thanks,
Mary

16k IG vinyl
FC 4.0
CC 0
PH 7.5
CYA 29
ALK 240 (working on it now)
temp 80

[CarlD]

If your CH is close to 500ppm and your T/A is 240ppm, you are in danger of your pool going very milky. It will be safe, but not too pretty.

Get your T/A down to at least 100, or even 80 and you should be OK. But don't add anything with calcium, ever!

[aylad]

The problem with high calcium in a vinyl pool is that it can make the water very milky, especially after being shocked. In an area where your fill water is very high in calcium, then you need to try to keep your alk and pH on the lower ends of the normal range, especially if your water looks cloudy and won't clear with shocking.

Janet

Edit: Carl beat me to it this time!

[Watermom]

No cal-hypo for you! By the way -- maryberrye --- welcome back to the forum for another swim season!

[maryberrye]

I've never been able to get my TA down below 180. I am faithfully adding small amounts of muriatic acid (diluted in a bucket of water before it goes into the pool) to lower the PH to 7.0 then bubbling the heck out of it with the air compressor bubbler my husband juryrigged for me on Saturday. All the while keeping my pump running. The water was very milky yesterday but I shocked it, and it's clear(ish) now. At 180 TA we get very clear water if everything else is properly maintained. I doubt if I will ever get my TA as low as 80-100, I'm not that patient. And, not to worry, I have avoided adding anything to do with calcium for the last five years, since you all have reaffirmed it's not necessary, I can't imagine wanting to start now

Thanks all for the welcome backs!

Mary