Smell is slight; no burning sensations but some clothes are bleached out. Some cells are self cleaning these days, the cells reverse polarity which causes the calcium buildup to come loose and these deposits end up in the pool below the returns. Answer: If you are sure that all Chemicals are well balanced including Salinity and Calcium Hardness, you might be having particles and you may use pool flocculant and then vacuum the pool. If you have calcium carbonate in your pool water, it forms white flaky scales. No amount of vacuuming seems to help. Scale really forms most immediately after the pump shuts off, and water stops flowing through the cell. When I tested the water my results were: Free Chlorine and total alkalinity=0 - low. Free chlorine should be 3ppm, which should also be the value of total chlorine and that means your combined chlorine is always 0ppm for a well maintained swimming pool. After balancing all Chemicals, you can add regular chlorine shock (1 pound per 10,000 gallons) then make sure free chlorine is reading between 3-5ppm and your pool should clear up soon. If it's saltwater pool this could be caused by high salinity level or excess Calcium Hardness Increaser. What could be wrong? You are going to add chlorine to raise your FCL to higher shock level and maintain the shock level until you get rid of all algae. Answer: First of all, your filter could be clogged and needs a backwash. Small white flakes coming out of the pool returns or accumulating on the pool bottom can indicate s… Soon, it may develop low chlorine problem is salt cell is not working efficiently. Also, the amount of cyanuric acid you need will depend on the amount of free available chlorine. Question: Salt water with fiberglass - how do we permanently remove brown staining? Think about it: the salt cell is still hot, high-pH sodium hydroxide is still in the area, and the water just stopped moving. Pour the solution into the cell and leave to soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Expanding on the relationship of phosphates and saltwater pools, salt and phosphates do not bind together. The first one and least common is what is known as White Mold. It is not very common and to cure your pool of this you would need to bring your chlorine level up to very high levels, around 10-20 ppm. Most saltwater pools do not run the salt chlorine generator 24/7. If LSI balance and cooling the cell down are not enough, SC-1000 can help. But they may also be a sign that your hot tub contains white water mold, which is an overgrowth of biofilm. What you need to know is chlorine gas is created by electrolysis through saltwater (brine), and that chlorine gas dissolves in water. Before adding chlorine, get your Cyanuric acid level in water. It is one year old. How to get rid of pool foam in 5 steps. Test for salinity every week. To add to that, heat produced during electrolysis also raises the LSI, but thanks to circulation, this is not a significant factor while the water is flowing. I added salt and brought the salt number within the specs. Try cleaning the salt cell and observe any change in the salinity reading. Dead algae turns gray as it dies and must be removed from the water through filtration. Pool Service Prices Will Increase in 2021. As you know, we are a manufacturer of a phosphate remover. Electrochemical Induced Calcium Phosphate Precipitation: Importance of Local pH. You will need to measure your FC level at least twice a day and add more chlorine to raise FC back to 28ppm when it drops until you see no algae and FCL is stable around 6ppm. Yes, salt chlorine generators get hot when they are running. We hope this article helps bring clarity to this topic. It's not there. Calcium scale, sometimes also called limescale, “is a hard, off-white chalky substance often found on the metallic parts of water-operated machinery.”. You need to reduce calcium level by draining and refilling a portion of your pool water. So we looked into it.3  We have so far concluded that while calcium phosphate might be possible in salt systems, thankfully, it is rarely the case. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on March 26, 2019: Just like non saltwater pool, water will turn cloudy when free chlorine level is low. The average lifespan of a salt cell is 3-5 years in most SWCGs, after which you need to replace the old cell with a new one that will produce sufficient chlorine. High pH levels in a saltwater pool leads to formation of calcium buildups and you need to measure your pH regularly to avoid white flakes or calcium scaling. Add sufficient muriatic acid to a bucket of water: Avoid too much acid, as it may reduce your cell life (about 6 oz of muriatic acid per quarter bucket of water is fine). Very low salinity levels may bring down your available free chlorine to 0 ppm, which will almost certainly encourage algae to thrive. Saltwater pools use salt chlorine generators (also called Saltwater Generators, or SWGs) that produce chlorine using electricity. The ideal range of cya is between 70 to 80ppm, but to avoid using a lot of chlorine, the idea level is 70ppm. Ever. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on May 06, 2020: The ideal range of salinity level for a saltwater pool is between 2500 and 3500 ppm. Question: The salt level on my display says my pool is at 3900 ppm, and the stick is reading low free chlorine and total chlorine, as well as pH. If it is still above the pool’s recommended PPM, you may need to dilute the water further. Since chlorine is the primary reason for creating this reaction in the first place, let's designate chlorine as the main product of the reaction, and sodium hydroxide and hydrogen as byproducts. I use Clorox Pool Salt from Sam's. Monitor free chlorine levels by testing and adjusting on a regular basis. Yes, you need to drain the pool because no chemical can do that. Why Maintaining A Saltwater Pool Is Different From A Traditional Chlorine Pool The process of using electricity to generate chlorine from saltwater is called electrolysis. Another parent told me that her child was similarly ill, recently. The CC is 1.14. Also, try cleaning the salt cell, it might be dirty and therefore cannot produce enough chlorine. Almost everyone says something like "tile line" or "in the spa" or "the spillway". Question: We have tested the salt cell on our saltwater pool and it is working. But whatever you call it, this naturally occurring chemical compound can be the source of common swimming pool maintenance headaches. Use a screwdriver to remove the cell from the casing. Here are the things you should know about maintaining a salt water system. Chlorine is created at the positive electrode (anode), whereas the byproducts of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen are created at the negative electrode (cathode). Question: My saltwater pool is not holding chlorine, what can we do? Answer: Seems your you have a high percentage settings in your Chlorine Generator, remember the higher than percentage setting in your chlorine generator the more chlorine it will produce and the higher your FC level will be in your saltwater pool. So, the very first thing you need to do is to ensure that all your chemicals are balanced before considering free chlorine. This is when salt cells scale the most. The reaction also creates byproducts... As you can see from the first reaction above, electricity in saltwater creates three new products: chlorine gas (Cl2), sodium hydroxide, aka caustic soda (NaOH), and Hydrogen gas (H2). Maintain your above & in ground swimming pools & spas with quality parts and supplies from PST Pool Supplies. I have just had a salt … Answer: Currently, it's very unfortunate that there is no chemical to lower Cyanuric acid levels in your pool or spa apart from draining and refilling or at least refilling your pool with fresh water. You can do this while the pool's full. All my other water chemistry is very well balanced. What should I do? Question: I need advice on alternatives for cyanuric acid, which is not available here in Burma. Calcium phosphate is more likely to be found in a heater because of added contact time with heat. Low chlorine will cause chloramine which gives out a light bleach smell, test your Combined Chlorine level and make sure it's not higher than 0.5 ppm. Pool is used primarily for private Learn-to-Swim School and operates year round with heater. 1  Titanium is used because it is less susceptible to corrosion. Please help!!! If the percentage setting is not abnormally high, check that the pump run-time is not set too high as this also affects the level of chlorine production. We backwashed and it seemed to fix the problem. To test if the white flakes are due to calcium or biofilm take a small cup with a white flake sample floating it in and add about 15 to 20 drops of bleach. In his example, the pool has 375 ppm calcium hardness, 7.5 pH, and 80ºF (26.67ºC). Freedom with any type of swimming pool begins with chemically-balanced water. You need a test kit that can measure high FC levels like LaMotte ColorQ Pro series or Taylor Technologies test kit 2006 with FAS DPD. Answer: If you are sure that all Chemicals are well balanced including Salinity … Just make sure all the chemicals are balanced then leave the pool pump to run for at least 24 hours and all will be fine. SWCG maintenance is all about cell cleaning and replacement, period: Chlorine production happens in the salt cell, and a defective cell will lead to less or no production of chlorine. The second cause might be a lot of accumulated urine in your pool water. There is a proactive strategy to preventing calcium flakes from forming in the first place. Question: I have a continuous very high free chlorine level. Electrolysis has been around for over 100 years. So instead of lowering your pH to 7.4 every week, consider lowering it to 7.6 or 7.7...maybe even 7.8. After the white flakes are blown into the pool through the returns, they can get dirty, they can tumble around, and they can begin to look more translucent. Finally, if you want extra help preventing scale, you can use SC-1000 on a weekly maintenance dose to prevent scale formation. So you would be producing chlorine 7.5 minutes out of every 10 minutes, with 2.5 minutes off. Question: I have a few small rust spots in my fiberglass small saltwater pool. That is, unless you like using a hammer and chisel. We have told some of the major manufacturers of salt chlorine generators that calcium flaking would be reduced if there were a cool-down cycle for the salt cell, much like a heater has. So to figure out where this myth came from, we did some digging. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on July 20, 2019: Turning down the nano CG is enough and should work in stabilizing your chlorine without having to shut it. It was clear when we removes the cover to raise water levels, however after our pool guy came over to officially "open" the pool and add the proper chemicals (along with salt for the 1st time since we got the pool only 6 months ago), its now super cloudy. 39. If I turn my nano CG down to 75% will that help reduce the fci or should I turn off the nano altogether until the fci stabilizes? Your pool should be at a pH between 7.4 and 7.6. The sun could be also bleaching out your clothes and this depends so much on the colour of the clothes used. The pool seems to be "eating" the salt. We just need to prevent scale from forming in the salt cell. You need to ensure that all chemicals are balanced all the time to avoid cloudy water and growth of algae. The correct value of cyanuric may also differ with geographic locations, depending on temperature and how much sunlight is available during the day. Copper can get into your pool if you use a Well fill water or tap water with copper for your pool, or using hair products with copper. Barack is an expert pool chemistry guy and experienced online-based pool maintenance assistant via in-depth articles that top search results. If sure your free chlorine level has been balanced and algae breakout is not possible, you may have copper metal in your pool and is being oxidized by Chlorine to produce green solution. Question: My grandchild pooped bubbles in our pool. In all of the pools we have seen and heard of calcium flakes, we have yet to see one saltwater pool with calcium phosphate. But also, stability of chlorine level will depend on readings of other chemicals especially the pH, Cyanuric acid, TA, and calcium hardness. Chlorine was still being produced on the other indicator, and the tested free chlorine number was good. Calcium Buildups in Your Salt Cells: Chlorine is produced in the salt cell of a Chlorine Generator. It just depends on what caused the foam in the first place! This occurs many times a day, and the process tends to loosen and fracture carbonate scale that has adhered to the metal blades. Often times we hear of residential salt systems being run wide open (100% output) all the time. Now we're seeing foam gather as well. FILMTEC Membranes Water Chemsitry and Pre-treatment: Calcium Phosphate Scale Prevention. Any ideas why I'm generating so much free chlorine? Answer: Super Chlorinating is necessary only when free or total chlorine is less than 3 ppm. Cooler geographic regions will experience reduced water conductivity, and if you are taking the reading of salinity from the generator, you may get a much lower and inaccurate reading, so you need to be extra careful not to add too much salt. Test for copper metal using reliable test kit like Lamotte ColorQ Pro 11 and take the steps necessary to prevent any more copper getting in the water by following instructions in this article: https://dengarden.com/swimming-pools/Why-Swimming-... Salt water pool filter cartridge and plastic parts of skimmers turning blue. This could be the issue with your chlorine level. Answer: Low free chlorine (FC) levels in a saltwater pool is caused by 4 main issues; the first one is low salinity levels, check again that Salinity level is between 2500 and 3500ppm depending on SWG recommendation all the time. Add 15 – 20 drops of bleach or liquid chlorine to the water and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. The pool walls and floor are clean. You need to closely monitor the cell to ensure that there is no calcium buildup, which causes a low production of chlorine. Different chlorine generators will need different salinity levels, and this is the first thing you need to take in consideration before adding or reducing salt in your pool. If you have your FC below 3 ppm or combined chlorine (CC) above 0.5 ppm, whether it's a saltwater or non-saltwater pool, FC is low and you need to shock your swimming pool immediately to fix cloudy water and kill bacteria before you get algae or ammonia in your pool.. See the photo of the sand-boulders that were removed from a commercial sand filter only after being broken apart by a jackhammer. Will we be able to run the system - I know it will reduce chlorinator's cell life? Maintaining a saltwater pool isn’t quite like maintaining a regular chlorine pool. All information provided is intended for educational purposes and is not implied to replace consultation with a qualified pool professional. This is more casually known as "soft water." Copper mix with chlorine to form a green solution that will tint hair green. Scale deposits are the most damaging problem in a saltwater pool because they hamper the effectiveness and lifespan of the electrolytic chlorine generator (ECG). 28,440 ppb phosphates is really high and unlikely, but it is possible. Thirdly, you might be having excess or less chlorine stabilizer (cyanuric acid) in your water, which is always one of the major reasons free chlorine does not hold longer in any pool, the ideal range for Cyanuric acid in order for your FC to hold in saltwater pool is between 60 and 80 ppm but this also depends on the temperature around where you stay, very low temperatures like in Canada needs Cyanuric acid to be around 60 ppm. The good news is that pool foam is not too difficult to combat, but it can be pretty time consuming. Unfortunately, the only way to reduce salinity in a pool is by draining water partially, then refilling with fresh water. We mentioned this earlier in this article, but it's a good way to cool down the cell and flush out the high pH to reduce the likelihood of scale. What should I do? Next morning, turn the filter off, brush pool thoroughly, and allow material to settle and vacuum. Yes, here we are at Orenda talking about yet another topic tying back into the importance of the LSI. Answer: Your chlorine is too high. They generate chlorine on site. Just know that it is by far the most common form of scale, and it is what every white flake in saltwater pools is made of...at least in our experience. You probably have copper in your pool water. I also recently discovered white flakes below pool returns, apparently its calcium flakes from the salt cell. As water circulates at, say, 50-80 gallons-per-minute (on a residential pool), minimal (if any) scale should form in a salt cell if the LSI of the pool is balanced slightly below 0.00 ( yellow  on the Orenda App). No, we have not tested all of them, but have tested some, and with our knowledge of the LSI, calcium carbonate makes the most sense. The recommended levels of a stabilizer is between 40 and 80 ppm for saltwater pools. 1/4 inch wide and 1-2 inches long and can appear to be ‘growing’ out of the walls or floor of your pool. We could expand this even further and show how hydroxide and Chloride react, but it's just getting more complicated than we need to be. How can I safely remove them? After 24 hours, add a filter cleaner to your pool. If algae is … This reaction, however, may be misleading because it does not account for how chlorine gas dissolves into the water. Getting rid of the flakes can be done a number of different ways. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters. Question: How do I get rid of cloudy water in a saltwater pool if all my chemicals are balanced? However, there are several sources online that talk about these flakes like they are not carbonate scale, but instead, calcium phosphate (Ca3[PO4]2). Answer: The recommended range for salinity level in a saltwater pool is between 25,000 ppm and 35,000 ppm on the higher side. Also, make sure your chemicals in the pool are all balanced, especially pH, TA, and calcium hardness as these may affect salinity and free chlorine production levels. You need to add salt slowly by slowly while measuring your salinity level not to exceed the maximum level. We changed pool companies and they don’t put as much salt in as the former pool company. This type of hard white formation may indicate that a section of the pool surface has de-laminated (pushed out) from the main pool structure. This article will explain what the flakes really are and debunk some myths about them. Part of the problem with salt cells forming so much scale was described earlier in this article. Recently, white flakes have appeared in the water. Answer: Try measuring salinity level in your water using a test kit if you have one, it should read between 3500 to 4000ppm. Working without any chlorine stabilizer in a saltwater pool will overwork your salt generator since it will be working at a high percentage and pressure to keep correct levels of free chlorine in your pool water. 2. Thanks! Saltwater often leads to faded surface and metal stains or corroded steel hardware parts. Using a metal like iron, for example, would require much higher salt levels in order to produce chlorine. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on July 12, 2020: My salt water is just 4000 gallons.Is it correct that it requires 3500 ppm of salt? Refill with fresh water and test for salinity, repeat the process once or twice till you get your salinity within the range and balance your chemicals starting with pH and TA, then FC and Cyanuric acid then all other chemicals in your water. Additionally, if you're relying on your salt chlorine generator to handle all the non-living organics in the pool, there's a good chance it will eventually fall short. It is at 4200 and all other tests are good. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on April 02, 2019: Cloudiness in any pool be it salt water or chlorine based pool is associated with low chlorine level. May cause cloudiness in the water through filtration weekly simply as a preventative maintenance dose to algae! We do and fracture carbonate scale into the pool because no chemical can do while. Heater because of low calcium level by draining and refilling a portion of your pool first one and least is. 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