New product to remove calcium hardness??

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

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby photogold » Mon 06 Apr, 2009 16:29

Leslies just started selling a new product that will *remove* calcium hardness in your pool. The product is Caltreat from United Chemical. I called United Chemical and asked if this is another sequestering agent. The rep said no, it is not a sequestering agent, it will remove calcium from the pool. One application is supposed to decrease calcium hardness by 200-400ppm. The rep said that after adding Caltreat, if no new calcium is added to the pool, the the CH level should stay at the reduced level, no additional treatment required. When I pressed him on where the calcium goes, he was somewhat vague, but suggested that it precipitates, and is collected in the filter. He says there is one other competing product available on the market. He said that the product has been available for about 1 year, but he said they don't have any information posted on their website. Caltreat sells for about $29 at Leslies.

If it does what it says, this would be much better than draining the pool. Is this too good to be true? Could this possibly just be just masking the test?

Chem Geek, what is your take on this?

Does anyone have experience with this product?


chem geek
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby chem geek » Mon 06 Apr, 2009 20:42

This was brought up here, but we don't really know what is in it. One reliable way to remove calcium is to add phosphates since calcium phosphate is insoluble, but then you end up with phosphates in the water. The plus side to this is that they are a strong pH buffer. The downside is that they are also an essential nutrient for algae. Of course, one can prevent algae growth in spite of high phosphate levels.

So if it's not a calcium sequestrant and not phosphate, then I don't know what it is. Does it say anything on the bottle that might give a clue either to its ingredients or to side effects (i.e. preciptates calcium; gets caught in filter; balances pH)?

Richard
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby Aquaclear-NZ » Tue 14 Apr, 2009 03:52

our chemical supplier picked up on this last year, really due to water shortages in australia, dumping pool water is not an option

i have some at the office i can tell you what is claimed to be in it

we have sold quite a bit, and the feedback has been good, however the directions are a bit vague

will post some more info as it comes to hand
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California Pool Owner

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby California Pool Owner » Mon 08 Jun, 2009 16:45

Save your money - it doesn't work. Used it as directed & did everything it said to on the label.

Calcium level increased. It also totally wiped out all the clorine in the pool. We have a salt pool, don't know if that made a difference.

C
Guest

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby Guest » Fri 21 Aug, 2009 12:19

The reason your calcium went up is because the pool was more than likely scaled. I have had several people tell me the same thing and we found out the pool was scaled. s
Rickster
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby Rickster » Wed 28 Jul, 2010 12:43

So if it's "scaled", what's the solution?

I have a pentair IC-40 Salt generator.
I'm getting white flakes coming out.
Also impossible to remove white ring around spa tile (actually quartzite).

Is scale different than calcium buildup?

I've heard of Scaltec and Beautec?

Suggestions?
chem geek
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby chem geek » Wed 28 Jul, 2010 14:04

Unless your Calcium Hardness (CH) is very high, the scaling is most likely coming from a Total Alkalinity (TA) and pH that are too high. Read Water Balance for SWGs and note that a lower TA will not only help to reduce scale but will also lower the rate of pH rise allowing you to prevent the pH from getting too high. You can also use 50 ppm Borates in the pool to act as an additional pH buffer (after you've got your TA lowered) to help prevent scaling in the SWG cell.
pool tile cleaning

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby pool tile cleaning » Tue 21 Sep, 2010 23:34

Don't forget, the spa is the first to get that super dose of "salt water". I would put in your budget to have a pool tile cleaning service clean your pool tile annually. It will save you in the long run! :thumbup:
Ca

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby Ca » Tue 23 Nov, 2010 17:20

Just increase the pH to about 10-12 and wait until the calcium precipitates and settles to the bottom. Vacuum to waste, rebalance the water. Done.
chem geek
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby chem geek » Tue 23 Nov, 2010 21:55

Wouldn't that produce scale on pool surfaces (and pipes if you kept circulating)? Precipitating is one thing, but producing scale on plaster surfaces is another.
Ca

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby Ca » Wed 24 Nov, 2010 10:41

No scaling, just a very fine white powder that settles to the pool floor. Of course the pump isn't working during the treatment. Once all of it has settled to the bottom, (clear water on top and cloudy water at the bottom) you carefully vacuum to waste. Top off the water level, readjust the chemistry; there is no scaling, whatever you didn't vacuum goes back in solution.
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New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby mas985 » Wed 24 Nov, 2010 14:34

Forgive me for sounding sceptical but is this just a theory or have you actually tried this and the scale did not collect/stick to the pool surface? Also, what did you use to get the PH so high and how did you test for it?

Would it not be better to have the calcium collect in the filter with circulation instead of on the pool bottom?

I had often thought this might be possible but was too chicken to try. The consequences would be quite severe. If it works, then it might be a good opportunity to add borates at the same time since that could be used to raise the PH.
Mark
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DC35

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby DC35 » Thu 25 Nov, 2010 09:25

I think that you could use a large sheet of plastic as a liner to prevent scale from forming on the walls. You could use sodium hydroxide to raise the pH and precipitate out the calcium as calcium carbonate.
TH

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby TH » Thu 25 Nov, 2010 16:36

The technique is frequently used in Europe, the product that is sold specifically for this purpose is simply *drumroll* . . . sodium oxalate.

No plastic sheet required or anything like that; you just follow the manufacturer's directions (very similar to what has been posted here). Basically the mechanism is an ion exchange between calcium and sodium. The resultant precipitation is calcium oxalate.
joshpooltech

New product to remove calcium hardness??

Postby joshpooltech » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 15:24

removing calcium hardness if you have to much im assuming this product is all about?the best way is to remove some water and add water.but if a person is worried about scale or anything along those lines,using the right amount of muriatic acid in a pool is key.if u have a concrete pool whether u have gemcoat,marcite,peb tech etc u want ur ph at 7.4 or 7.6 but dont be content with 7.6 for to long.realistically ur levels will fluctuate but keeping it at 7.4 is ideal.if u have a liner or fiberglass then u keep it at 7.6. but if u have calcium buildup whether its leaching or scale,then u treat it with muriatic acid anywhere from a half a gallon to a gallon and brush the walls with the proper brush,if u have a concrete based pool use a all stainless steel brush,and a fiberglass or liner always use a nylon..but these products they have out nowadays.u never can have a gaurentee with them,always know that as a customer and a person who does pools or owns a store.i have dealt with loads of product in the pool industry and if it works once then it works if it doesnt then save ur money.if u r stain treating in some cases u need to use a product more than once but with stain treating if u dont have progress with it then the best bet is to refinish the pool.

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