High Calcium Hardness..From One Issue To Another
by Vince
I was in the very slow process of lowering my TA when the pool maintenance guy came by. We had contracted with them while we planned to be gone for the Summer but unfortunately are stuck in the desert again this Summer. Unknown to me, when our pool went belly up last Friday when we were out of town, he added shock. When we came back Saturday to find a green pool, that's when I wrote to you. The pool was almost cleared up when we tested the Phosphorous (sp) yesterday and said it was high and we needed to add an additive. I've done that and now my water hardness is near 1,000. That USED to be okay. Sorry for the novel but where do I go from here? Thanks in advance. Thanks for the question Vince It's no problem in asking questions. Alot of people have pool issues and that's why I put up this site. I just answered this question yesterday from a guy right up the road from you on Phoenix: Does Putting The Chemical Chlorine In A Salt System Pool Cause Damage? I wrote about phosphates in these posts: High Phosphate Levels And Low Chlorine Issue... Swimming Pool Phosphate Level Over 1000 The short answer would be this for your phosphates and calcium hardness. Phosphates are food for algae and there's many pool supply stores that would love to sell you all kinds of chemicals to reduce them. Check out this post: Do You Really Need All These Chemicals For A Pool Or Are They Just Trying To Get Your Money? One of the better known brands is Phosfree. It runs between $25 - $32 for a 32oz. bottle. About a buck an ounce. An elevated phosphate level is fine to swim in. The chlorine kills the algae, your pool is clean and clear, so what does it matter what the phosphate level is? The above posts go into more detail. My first year at the Y I saved them close to $5000 by cutting off the Phosfree. A lifeguard was putting 3 bottles a week in the pool. Remember, $32 per bottle X 3 = $96 per week. 52 weeks = $4992. I said nope, didn't need it, and the pool has passed inspection from the Oregon Board of Health ever since. Concerning the calcium hardness, I know how hard Arizona water is because of my pool route in the Phoenix/Mesa area. There's no chemical to reduce hardness. The only thing to do is a partial drain and refill. You may want to call around for a pool water delivery company and see how hard that water is. They may ship it from somewhere else. I know it's a bummer to be stuck in the heat. My parents are there and they said today (June 22, 2011) it was 113 degrees. But I'm glad you're still there because I get to answer great questions. You can find your post on the Q&A page in the "Calcium Hardness" category and here: Calcium Hardness Swimming Pool Questions and Answers Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out for you. Robert |
