ready to bulldoze pool

What is floc, clarifier, stabilizer, cyanuric acid,
algaecide, brightener, dichlor, sodium hypo,
sodium bisulfate, ....??
chem geek
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Postby chem geek » Fri 16 May, 2008 10:42

Please do not ever, ever shock the pool with a chemical that says "...dichloro..." in it. It just adds to the CYA level making the chlorine less effective.

You can see the huge variation in the CYA numbers from the pool stores. Also, no one measured Calcium Hardness and one measured "Hardness" which I'm guessing is "Total Hardness" (is that right or did they tell you this was explicitly Calcium Hardness?). Please get your own test kit so that you can get accurate measurements yourself. You can get a Taylor K-2006 test kit here or a TF100 test kit from tftestkits(dot)com here with the latter having 36% more volume of reagents so comparably priced "per test".

If the "Hardness" number were really Calcium Hardness, then your numbers result in a saturation index of +0.2 to +0.3 which isn't horribly over-saturated, but if the pH were to go up the water could get cloudy and eventually you could get scale. Your TA is high and for whatever strange reason your TDS is higher than expected, though with the TA and CH numbers one would have a typical minimum TDS of around 1100 anyway so the balance might be magnesium if the Hardness number were truly Calcium Hardness.

I suspect that since most of the CYA numbers were high and since you've used Trichlor pucks/tabs, that the cloudiness could be nascent algae (you'd usually see a drop in FC level overnight if that were the case). However, the high TA and CH could mean that the cloudiness is some over-saturation of calcium carbonate. This is why you really, really need to get your own test kit and get accurate numbers. If the CYA is high, then a partial drain/refill will be needed. If it's not, then we'll lower the TA as muss08 first suggested. When you get your test kit, you'll want to test your fill water as well as your pool water.

In the meantime, if you just wanted to start on a partial drain/refill, that wouldn't be bad in any event. It should lower the TA and CH levels unless those are high in your fill water and will certainly lower the CYA level.

By the way, I discovered that you cannot use the word "bet ting" (remove the space) without getting a "spam" warning and inability to post a message. How annoying!

Richard


desperate

Postby desperate » Sat 17 May, 2008 12:33

I think the Hardness measurement is Calcium Hardness.

I really appreciate ya'll's help. I think I am just going to drain the whole thing again. Water will cost me $50 for half drain 10,000 gal, or $100 for 20,000 gal.

This has been such a hassle since I have followed too much bad advice as well as guessing what to do. So, after refill, I need to come back to you guys and learn what to do as if I new nothing.

One concern I still have is my plaster and flagstone coping. It has been suggested that I seal my flagstone where it touches the water. (I currently get chalky residue when I touch it). One person said she was concerned that maybe something is leaching through my plaster causing the (TDS) and maybe I should re-plaster.

How do I determine if any of this is neccessary.
Thanks again
muss08
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Postby muss08 » Sat 17 May, 2008 17:20

My best guess would be that the chalky residue on your flagstone is scale from the pool. I dont know if chemgeek has ever heard of something leaching through plaster or not but I have not. EXCEPT when someone has a very low calcium hardness the calcium in the plaster can leach out. Something would have to be leaching through 6-12" of gunite then the 1/2-1/4" of the plaster finish. How old is your plaster? Is it very rough? When empty have you ever lightly tapped all around with a hammer and heard any hollow sounds? Are there any areas around the pool where the plaster is gone and you can see the brown gunite underneath? These factors are what you should consider for replastering. The plaster finish is very thin so IF IF IF something is leaching through the plaster it would still do it with new plaster. Why is your coping touching the water? Could you post a pic so we can see?
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muss08
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Postby muss08 » Sat 17 May, 2008 17:21

Oh yeah- test the fill water!
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Postby chem geek » Sat 17 May, 2008 18:51

There is something called efflorescence which is described here. If the ground behind some of the plaster is watered a lot and the construction wasn't great, then water can leach through from the ground through concrete. I don't know if that is what is happening in this case.
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Postby muss08 » Sat 17 May, 2008 20:29

I didnt even think about that. Good call. As I stated earlier though- replastering the pool wont stop this as the cracks or the areas it seeps through is in the concrete/gunite. Could this be the source of the high TDS? It seems like it would be a HUGE seapage.
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Postby chem geek » Sat 17 May, 2008 20:36

I don't know. As you say, to raise the TDS as much as it is that's a lot of seepage. Just multiply out 1000 ppm is 1000 mg/liter = 1 gram/liter and multiply by the number of liters in the pool -- for 10,000 gallons (about 38,000 liters) that's 83 pounds!
desperate

Postby desperate » Sun 18 May, 2008 09:51

well I wrote a response, but it will not post. I can't see anything in it that looks strange. I don't have anything in it like "bet ting"
desperate

ready to bulldoze pool

Postby desperate » Wed 16 Sep, 2009 11:05

I was just reviewing pool stuff. I wanted to comment that after my problems last year, I drained my pool and have used pretty much nothing but 3" tablets and liquid chlorine to shock my pool. My pool has been great this year and easy to maintain. Leslies screwed me up for about two years. I still have about $200 worth of leslies stuff that I could not take back. After another little run in with Leslies this year over Taylor Reagents, I will never step foot in a Leslies again.

Thanx to chem geek and others for your help

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