How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Total hardness and calcium hardness in pool water.
Scale, calcium buildup, hard water and scaling problems.
Rose

How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Rose » Mon 01 Jun, 2009 12:36

The water here is so HARD we cant add anything to it accept algacide. When chlorine is added to it, it instantly turns orange !! Once it turned almost black ! We have tried metal-out and all kinds of other products. Nothing seems to work. Id rather have someone come fill it with good water, throw a chlorine floater in there and leave it be. It would then stay clean and clear all summer. I have been trying to find someone who fills pools for a reasonable price but so far no luck. Im in the fresno county area.


BobbyJ59
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Pool hardness

Postby BobbyJ59 » Wed 11 Aug, 2010 18:38

Cleaburn wrote:I have been told that the water in my pool needs to be changed out every two years to reduce the hardness level. Unfortunately, its a big pool and it seems a huge waste of water to do that (I live in Vegas). The cost to replace my pool water would be about $350? Is there a way to treat my problem without changing it? My pool hardness spiked out the meter (over 2500) and they say 1100 or so is the norm.


I see this is an old post (Tue 02 Sep, 2008 16:36) but thought I would respond anyway...

I live in Las Vegas and have recently bought a house that has a 25,000 gal in-ground pool. I used a service for a few months but was unhappy with it, so I started acquiring the things I needed to do the job myself and reading up on the subject. I purchased a TF-100 test kit and came up with worse numbers than Clearburn...pool water reading 5200 PPM with the calcium hardness test and tap water reading 2500 PPM. I saw chem geek's response so I started scratching my head. I decided to purchase a TDS meter from HM Digital to verify my findings and show chem geek that us guys from Vegas know what we're talking about. I recieved the unit in the mail today and immediately went to test my pool water. It tested at 942 PPM TDS. Hmmmn...so I tested my tap water. It tested at 488 PPM. OK fine. I donned my glasses and re-read the instructions and noticed I was multiplying by the wrong factor of 10, putting my calcium hardness at 520 PPM in my pool and 250 PPM in my tap water. Thank God the numbers in the playing cards are big enough for me to read ...
RickstersPool

How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby RickstersPool » Wed 19 Oct, 2011 17:23

Watertreater wrote:One thing I would reccomend is you contact a local water treatment company. I do NOT mean a pool company. Those guys generally dont have a real education. Contact a local water treatment buisness and ask them for a test bottle of polymer. If they ask you what for tell them you want to drop TDS, Hardness, and Unfilterable solids out of solution. Usually a few bucks will get the job done. You will need to mix this solution into a 5 gallon bucket, stir very well, allow to sit for about 15 min, then pour all around your pool. Aggitate yoru pool with a boat paddle or a water hose under water. Do this for about 15 minuites. Walk away for about 30 minuites. Come back and check... if all goes well you should see everything that WAS in solution sitting on the bottom of the pool. At that point you can use an automatic pool cleaner. Adjust pH to 7.0-7.8 and shock the system to a moderate free chlorine level. DO NOT SWIM in the pool for 48 HOURS. Allow all chemical levels to steady, checking your pH and Chlorine levels as often daily as you can. If your FREE Chlorine level keeps dropping you have something alive "alge" that is being burned by the chlorine. Check for nitrites. Usually you can use the same water treatment company you purchased the polymer from to have the tests run for next to nothing. Usually they will not make reccomendations but their products are stronger, cheaper, and they know how to test for them better.

Let me know if you have any questions as I frequent this site.


Does anyone know what "polymer" he's talking about?
swimmerforlife
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Re: How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby swimmerforlife » Thu 27 Apr, 2017 18:14

RickstersPool, from what I've researched, the polymer he's referring to can be found here:
http://www.machemicals.com/ProductDetai ... AiL78P8HAQ
The supplier's description is as follows:
Total Solutions Settling Agent Concentrate is a cationic polymer flocculent formulated for easy clarification of waste water in industrial waste streams and municipal waste water treatment facilities. It uses high molecular weight polymers for the rapid settling of solids and suspended debris, which in turn helps to increase the capacity of waste handling systems. Best of all, it is non-toxic and will not harm fish or wildlife when used as directed. For use on; primary and secondary clarifiers, settling ponds, basins and reservoirs.
I have a D.E. filter, and, from what I've read flocculents can supposedly clump up in the filter. I'm going to try this anyway. If I have to clean the hell out of my filter, that's fine. My water is waaaaaaaay too hard. Part of this is because of where I live, and part of it is because I've never drained the pool. Pool cleaners recommend draining and refilling every 2-3 years, but it always seemed like such a waste and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm looking forward to trying this solution, sucking up all the fallen debris from the bottom and testing the water's new PPM to see what impact it has.
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Re: How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby azulverde » Tue 05 Dec, 2017 00:34

Clean your pool. Before you begin your tests, go ahead and clean your pool thoroughly to remove any contaminants from it.

Balance your water chemistry. Before you tackle the hardness of your water, you must first bring the pH and Alkaline levels into proper balance as the chemicals you use to balance these levels can affect your calcium hardness.

If your water hardness level is above 400 ppm, you will need to lower the calcium hardness level, if it is below 150 ppm, you will need to raise it.
Nicky Morgan
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Re: pool water hardness

Postby Nicky Morgan » Mon 03 Jun, 2019 04:50

wotcha wrote:You could try zeolite in your sand filter. It will suck up the hardness.

You need to dump some salt into the filter every now and then to displace the calcium which can then be backwashed out.

Thank you for the information. Hope it will work for my pool as well.
Teapot
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Re: pool water hardness

Postby Teapot » Mon 03 Jun, 2019 10:19

Nicky Morgan wrote:
wotcha wrote:You could try zeolite in your sand filter. It will suck up the hardness.

You need to dump some salt into the filter every now and then to displace the calcium which can then be backwashed out.

Thank you for the information. Hope it will work for my pool as well.

It's a little bit more complicated than wotcha says. Zeolite will remove a little calcium but you'll be regenerating the zeolite with salt water very frequently, possibly every day or two. Once you have done a cycle you need to close off the filter and let it soak in saline for 24 hours then wash the filter out thoroughly on backwash or you'll dump the calcium back in the pool and you'll need quite a few cycles of this to make a difference. If your top up water Is also high in calcium you'll be right back where you started from but poorer.
See if there is a mobile reverse osmosis truck service near by, that will remove it and most everything else

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