Here's a picture of the walls of my pool I just drained:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8195947.jpg

What is that white stuff?

It's sandy. It's scratchy. It's smaller than sand but pretty prevalent.
It's even on the metal ring of the pool light.

Is there a 'chemical' test I can run to identify the culprit?

On 5/5/2012 5:56 PM, Arklin K. wrote:
Here's a picture of the walls of my pool I just drained:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8195947.jpg

What is that white stuff?

It's sandy. It's scratchy. It's smaller than sand but pretty prevalent.
It's even on the metal ring of the pool light.

Is there a 'chemical' test I can run to identify the culprit?

Nice pool.

I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.

On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:01 -0500, gonjah wrote:

I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.

Leslies always tells me that the hardness is on the low side.

Here's my last report:
5 ppm Free available chlorine (HIGH, should be 1-4ppm)
5 ppm Total available chlorine (HIGH, should be 0.2 difference)
140 ppm Calcium hardness (LOW, should be 200 to 400 ppm) == add 28
pounds 4 ounces of Calcium Chloride
55 ppm Cyanuric acid (OK, should be 30 to 99 ppm)
90 ppm Total Alkalinity (OK, should be 80 to 120 ppm)
7.2 pH (OK, should be 7.2 to 7.8)
1 Base Demand (no test results) == add 1 pound 4 ounces of Soda Ash
0 ppm Copper (OK, should be 0 ppm)
0 ppm Iron (OK, should be 0 ppm)
500 ppm Total dissolved solids (OK, should be less than 2,500)
100 ppb Phosphates (OK, should be below 100 ppb)

Just another datapoint, whatever this white scratchy stuff is, it's all
over the stainless steal light bezels ... so it's some kind of
'coating'...

If I opt to acid wash, do I leave the light bezels in the pool?
http://picturepush.com/public/8211506

On May 8, 12:04*am, "Arklin K." wrote:
Just another datapoint, whatever this white scratchy stuff is, it's all
over the stainless steal light bezels ... so it's some kind of
'coating'...

If I opt to acid wash, do I leave the light bezels in the pool?http://picturepush.com/public/8211506


Why don't you just ask some neighbors, friends, etc
and find a decent pool company to come out and
have a look? In some cases, being onsite and having
years of experience is worth it. Especially before you
screw up a major investment like a pool. Also, they
may be familiar with particular problems in that area
due to the specifics of the water, specific pool
construction materials, etc. The $125 or $250 for
a couple of evaluations could be the best money you
ever spend.

Bad news!

I may have ruined a small section of the wall of my pool (I'm not sure).

I first chipped off the encrusted (calcium?) sandpaper coating off the
stainless steel bezel as shown below:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8217918.jpg

Then I dropped it into the clear 29% muriatic acid - it immediately
bubbled and turned yellow:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8217915.jpg

Assuming therefore the sandpapery coating was calcium, I ran a 5:1 test
on a small section of wall for about 30 seconds:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8217916.jpg

The results were smooth - but - gray (and definitely not blue!
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8217917.jpg

Is this what is 'supposed' to happen?

On Tue, 8 May 2012 04:04:16 +0000 (UTC), "Arklin K."
wrote:

Just another datapoint, whatever this white scratchy stuff is, it's all
over the stainless steal light bezels ... so it's some kind of
'coating'...

If I opt to acid wash, do I leave the light bezels in the pool?
http://picturepush.com/public/8211506

Avoid acid on the metal. It can cause corrosion in some instances.

I'm really interested in what this "coating" is. Try to get it
identified. If is some 'protection' seal it is likely best to leave it
alone?

On Tue, 08 May 2012 09:17:52 -0700, Oren wrote:

I'm really interested in what this "coating" is.

I'm pretty sure it's calcium-something.
Today I will drop a chunk into 29% muriatic acid (with glasses).
I'll see if it bubbles.

I'm not sure 'what' that tells me if it does - but someone suggested it
somewhere so that's what I'll do and report back.

On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:01 -0500, gonjah wrote:

I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.

Leslies always tells me that the hardness is on the low side.

Here's my last report:
5 ppm Free available chlorine (HIGH, should be 1-4ppm)
5 ppm Total available chlorine (HIGH, should be 0.2 difference)
140 ppm Calcium hardness (LOW, should be 200 to 400 ppm) == add 28
pounds 4 ounces of Calcium Chloride
55 ppm Cyanuric acid (OK, should be 30 to 99 ppm)
90 ppm Total Alkalinity (OK, should be 80 to 120 ppm)
7.2 pH (OK, should be 7.2 to 7.8)
1 Base Demand (no test results) == add 1 pound 4 ounces of Soda Ash
0 ppm Copper (OK, should be 0 ppm)
0 ppm Iron (OK, should be 0 ppm)
500 ppm Total dissolved solids (OK, should be less than 2,500)
100 ppb Phosphates (OK, should be below 100 ppb)

On 5/5/2012 6:33 PM, Arklin K. wrote:
On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:01 -0500, gonjah wrote:

I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.
Leslies always tells me that the hardness is on the low side.

Here's my last report:
5 ppm Free available chlorine (HIGH, should be 1-4ppm)
5 ppm Total available chlorine (HIGH, should be 0.2 difference)
140 ppm Calcium hardness (LOW, should be 200 to 400 ppm)== add 28
pounds 4 ounces of Calcium Chloride

How long has it been that low? Hard to tell but it looks like the
plaster might be in poor condition. Might be the residue. But it's just
a guess. If the water lacks hardness it will leach it out of your
plaster. Or so I'm told.

55 ppm Cyanuric acid (OK, should be 30 to 99 ppm)
90 ppm Total Alkalinity (OK, should be 80 to 120 ppm)
7.2 pH (OK, should be 7.2 to 7.8)
1 Base Demand (no test results)== add 1 pound 4 ounces of Soda Ash
0 ppm Copper (OK, should be 0 ppm)
0 ppm Iron (OK, should be 0 ppm)
500 ppm Total dissolved solids (OK, should be less than 2,500)
100 ppb Phosphates (OK, should be below 100 ppb)

I try to keep my phosphates at zero.

On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:41:19 -0500, gonjah wrote:

How long has it been that low?

I don't know. It's normally OK (last summer) but it was left alone all
winter so it turned green so I drained it.

Do you think I should wash it with vinegar?

On 5/5/2012 7:02 PM, Arklin K. wrote:
On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:41:19 -0500, gonjah wrote:

How long has it been that low?
I don't know. It's normally OK (last summer) but it was left alone all
winter so it turned green so I drained it.

Do you think I should wash it with vinegar?

I dunno. I'll have to reserve comment. Someone with more experience will
chime in eventually.

Maybe if you take a sample to the pool store they will know for sure
what it is and how to clean your pool. Is the plaster rough like rough
sandpaper?

Jim

"Arklin K." writes:

On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:41:19 -0500, gonjah wrote:

How long has it been that low?

I don't know. It's normally OK (last summer) but it was left alone all
winter so it turned green so I drained it.

Do you think I should wash it with vinegar?

I don't think draining in-ground pools is a good idea.
Something about them popping up.

Refill it, turn on the filter.

Don't worry about a little crap on the sides of the pool.
It's outside, it gets all kinds of crap in it all summer
long.

--
Dan Espen

On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:01 -0500, gonjah wrote:
I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.

I think I'm getting closer to figuring it out.

Today I pressure washed the pool (water only).

At one point, I deliberately stayed in one spot. Guess what?

The pool plaster turned blue!
http://picturepush.com/public/8204310

That implies the white stuff is on top of the blue stuff. If that's the
case, then I need to figure out what the white stuff is.

Probably Calcium - but I'm just guessing. If it is calcium (it feels like
sand), then I 'guess' the acid wash (muriatic acid) is what gets rid of
that Calcium.

Is that correct?

On 5/6/2012 11:05 PM, Arklin K. wrote:
On Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:01 -0500, gonjah wrote:
I dunno, but out of curiosity, did you check the hardness regularly
before you drained it? I'd be concerned it's the plaster.
I think I'm getting closer to figuring it out.

Today I pressure washed the pool (water only).

At one point, I deliberately stayed in one spot. Guess what?

The pool plaster turned blue!
http://picturepush.com/public/8204310

Looks like some kind of coating.


That implies the white stuff is on top of the blue stuff. If that's the
case, then I need to figure out what the white stuff is.

Probably Calcium - but I'm just guessing. If it is calcium (it feels like
sand), then I 'guess' the acid wash (muriatic acid) is what gets rid of
that Calcium.

Is that correct?

I don't know. Monday will probably bring out more ideas.

On Sun, 06 May 2012 23:14:29 -0500, gonjah wrote:

The pool plaster turned blue!
http://picturepush.com/public/8204310
Looks like some kind of coating.

I'm beginning to think the pool was painted blue long ago.
Then, over time, the deposits of X (calcium?) built up.
The sides then turned, essentially, white.

Everywhere I kept the pressure hose, it turned darker blue ... so I think
it's the underlying paint that's blue.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8204366.jpg

I guess the good news is that I can remove whatever the white stuff is.
Everyone is assuming calcium - so I just have to figure out how to remove
calcium scale in a pool.

If it's an acid wash, well, then that's that.