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.
Cleaburn

Pool hardness

Postby Cleaburn » Tue 02 Sep, 2008 19:36

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.


chem geek
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decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby chem geek » Tue 02 Sep, 2008 19:49

The numbers you are quoting sound more like Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) reading rather than Calcium Hardness (CH). If your CH were even 1000 let alone 2000, you'd be seeing serious scaling. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a good test kit, either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 from tftestkits(dot)com here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is comparably priced "per test".

If your fill water is hard (as is common with well water), then evaporation and refill of the water will raise the CH fairly quickly. The best way to reduce this is to use a pool cover to reduce evaporation. A normal CH level is around 300 ppm.

Richard
Guest

decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Guest » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 22:49

Ya'll should check out this water softening product just released from Sweden. Its absolutely amazing. Want soft water that doesn't build up? Want to cut chlorine cost in atleast half?

We've been using this product on heated hotel pools around New England with great results!

vwp-usa is our product.

Thanks in advance!
Guest

decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Guest » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 22:52

really though, its brand spanking new nano technology

vwp-usa
chem geek
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decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby chem geek » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 00:03

You haven't made the list yet, but check out the Gallery of water-related pseudoscience. Sounds like your product is similar to several others listed with "resonance" and "frequency" technologies or perhaps "ionized water scams".
Guest

decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Guest » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 08:06

resonance frequency is right. No scam though. You should try it for yourself and determine your own conclusion. Our test pools have turned from a green mold to clear blue. Pool owners are able to use 50% less chlorine to keep bacteria levels low. The water also feels better on the skin and are not drying out your pours.
chem geek
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decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby chem geek » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 12:00

Some comments on your company and product may be found here. Vitalized Water Products appears to be rebranded from Nilemark Water Processors. If the product works so well, why not have an independent test lab (with a good reputation) try it out? Why rely on a smattering of testimonials (see here for example, from a related website gfxtechnology(dot)com).

In the FAQ here, you say that VWP "crystallizes the minerals in the water reducing hard water scaling problems". In other words, IF the water is already super-saturated with calcium carbonate, THEN the technology could (I'm not saying it does, but giving you the benefit of the doubt) promote and accelerate crystallization (otherwise known as scaling). If this occurred, then your unit (or the pipes where your unit is attached) would build up scale and would need to be replaced or cleaned often. Where does all of this crystallized (i.e. solid) go? Also note that even causing crystallization will still leave the water near saturation of calcium carbonate -- it could still scale if such water were raised in temperature or pH downstream, such as in a gas heater or an SWG cell in a pool.

By the way, it's not bacteria that consumes chlorine in pools -- even extraordinarily low levels of chlorine will kill most bacteria and prevent uncontrolled growth (unless biofilms have already formed). Higher levels of chlorine relative to the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level are required to prevent algae growth unless a supplemental algaecide (or phosphate remover) is used. Also, most chlorine loss occurs from breakdown from sunlight in residential pools (in commercial pools, it's mostly consumed from the high bather loads).

Richard
vwp

decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby vwp » Mon 24 Nov, 2008 11:23

Actually, the VWP system prevents the hardness PPM from bonding to themselves or anything else. The scale is completely eliminated. A 60 day 100% money back guaranteee should be twice as long as it would take to see great results.
costasebastian
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How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby costasebastian » Fri 13 Mar, 2009 09:55

I also live in Las Vegas. You need a pool expert to go a check your pool. I know these guys are pretty good and they are in Las Vegas

Good luck!
Last edited by Larry on Fri 13 Mar, 2009 12:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Larry
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Reduce apparent hardness with magnets

Postby Larry » Fri 13 Mar, 2009 13:02

I know this is anecdotal, but I decided to test out this whole "magnetic field reduces hardness" claim for myself.

I was given a magnet set for the mains water and attached it to the plastic (PPRC) water line where it feeds into my house. I didn't tell my wife or kids that I had done anything. Two or three days later they began telling me that the water filters (I use a 10 micron then a 5 micron filter) were clogged because the water felt soft and "slimy" especially after using soap. Then I was told that the dishwashing detergent was foaming abnormally.

I could feel the difference too, which was quite marked. We began using less soap, detergent, fabric softener, dishwasher salt, etc. I know that the same minerals are in the water, but the water really does "feel" and behave softer.

I got a second magnet and put this on our water heater's closed loop (we have underfloor heating). A week later the heater's grit filter clogged up. I cleaned it out and found clumps of flaky limescale. I cleaned it weekly for 5 weeks, by which time there was very little of the scale getting caught. Our heating bill has gone down compared to previous years.

Do the magnets reduce the hardness? No.
Do they make the calcium less reactive? Yes, I think so.
Do I believe that magnets can successfully be used to reduce the effects of hard water? Definitely!

Larry
Watertreater

How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Watertreater » Thu 09 Apr, 2009 14:53

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.
chem geek
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Reduce apparent hardness with magnets

Postby chem geek » Thu 09 Apr, 2009 15:32

Larry wrote:I know this is anecdotal, but I decided to test out this whole "magnetic field reduces hardness" claim for myself.
:
:
Do the magnets reduce the hardness? No.
Do they make the calcium less reactive? Yes, I think so.
Do I believe that magnets can successfully be used to reduce the effects of hard water? Definitely!

Larry

Larry,

Can you test the Calcium Hardness (CH) level without the magnets and then repeat the test after the magnets have been in place for a few weeks (or did you already do that)? That would tell you if the calcium was removed (precipitated) or is just being prevented from forming scale. Your description of water filters seeming to get clogged and the heater's grit filter getting clogged up sound like scale is getting precipitated. Knowing the water parameters (especially, pH, TA, CH and temp) of your fill water (i.e. water entering the house) would tell if your water was over-saturated with calcium carbonate to begin with and if the magnets were just causing a condition to accelerate such scale formation so it gets caught in filters. That's what I had said may happen in my earlier post, but that this is only useful to reduce CH down to the level where the water is still saturated with calcium carbonate (which, for pools, isn't bad). This is not what vwp said in this post where the implication is that scale is prevented from forming in the first place and clearly your experience shows that this is simply not true as your filters got clogged with scale (calcium carbonate).

So long as you are bringing in more new water that is high in pH, TA and/or CH (that is, super-saturated in calcium carbonate), then you should continue to see scale form in the filters. Only in a closed recirculating system would you expect to see a lot more scale initially and then none thereafter. You mentioned the water heater closed loop system so what you saw makes sense for that system. The water filters in the house, however, should continue to get clogged so long as you keep bringing in new water into the house (assuming such water is over-saturated with calcium carbonate).

It seems to me that if one were to use this kind of system, one should only do so if 1) the water is over-saturated with calcium carbonate and 2) if one has a filter that can remove the scale that will be precipitated. For a pool with water over-saturated with calcium carbonate, I wonder if just raising the pH to further over-saturate and adding some sort of nucleating particles could be used for the same effect, though one would hope that such scale that would form would do so getting caught in the filter rather than forming on pool surfaces. watertreater notes another similar approach (i.e. forced precipitation) using polymers. Of course, for a house, a water softener (ion exchange resin) can also be used to reduce the calcium directly (in exchange for sodium or potassium).

By the way, the science behind magnetic fields inducing nucleation of calcium carbonate crystals is described in a PDF file (on the other hand, other studies, such as this one showed no difference in scale deposits; by the way, the pseudoscience link I gave in an earlier post more specifically talks about this technology here that science doesn't understand exactly what is going on and the results are inconsistent). This doesn't change the thermodynamics so won't precipitate if the water isn't over-saturated with calcium carbonate to begin with, but that's the situation one wants to eliminate anyway (except, as I noted, scale could still occur in other areas of the system where the temperature is hotter as in a heat exchanger, though at least will scale less than it would if the water were still over-saturated at cooler temps).

Richard
rbame

How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby rbame » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 14:43

You are talking about using the water softener from the house to run the well water through to the pool. I have iron and maganese in the water which turns to a rust color. How can I use the well water and have the pool water looking clear? Any ideas would be very helpful.
Pool User

How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby Pool User » Fri 08 May, 2009 20:02

If the alkalinity is high enough, use limestone (calcium hydroxyde) to precipitate calcium carbonate. Dissolve it in a pail and add it to the water, mix for about an hour (on "recirculate" not "filter"), stop the pump and let it settle to the bottom. Vacuum carefully to waste and rebalance the water.

If alkalinity is low-ish, use pH+ (calcium carbonate), same principle as above.

Third option is to use oxalic acid, again, same principle as above.

Floc might accelerate clearing the pool after treatment. Rebalance the water after treatment.
chem geek
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How do I decrease water hardness levels in my pool

Postby chem geek » Fri 08 May, 2009 21:02

rbame wrote:You are talking about using the water softener from the house to run the well water through to the pool. I have iron and maganese in the water which turns to a rust color. How can I use the well water and have the pool water looking clear? Any ideas would be very helpful.

You'd have to add a metal sequestrant to keep the metals in solution and you'd have to add maintenance doses regularly since the sequestrant slowly breaks down from chlorine and also evaporation and refill adds more fill water with these metals into the pool.

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