How To Use Swimming Pool Stain And Scale Remover
How To Use Swimming Pool Stain And Scale Remover
Pool Stain and Scale can really affect the health and look of your swimming pool, especially the tile and pool surface. Although they are different swimming pool issues, the cause and treatment for them are pretty similar.
Scaling
Scaling occurs when calcium deposits are left on pool surfaces after water has evaporated. Scale usually starts to appear on your pool tile first, a white film on the tile making the tile appear faded. This develops a line of white or grey “scale” around the edge of your pool that can be difficult to remove. Scaling can also be seen when calcium deposits come out of suspension and can be seen floating in the pool. Scale on the pool surface can trap stains underneath, and generally results in a wide area of discoloration that will look like a grey rough area on light plastered pools. There are two types of scaling that pool owners have to battle. First one is Calcium Carbonate and the second is Calcium Silicate.
Calcium Carbonate
This type is white, flaky, and relatively easily removed by using a pumice stone, stain eraser, acid washing, or scale and stain remover. These products will be discussed below. To find out what type of scale you are dealing with, apply a small amount of muriatic acid on the scale. If it bubbles or foams at contact, then you are dealing with calcium carbonate.
Calcium Silicate
This type is grayish-white, and is a lot harder to remove because this scale has been there for much longer. To find out what type of scale you are dealing with, use the same action as above. The difference here will be how the scale reacts to the acid. If there is little to no reaction to muriatic acid, then it is Calcium Silicate. The bad news is the only way to effectively remove this type of scale is with a pumice stone and some elbow grease. Or to save time and headaches, call a professional to help you.
Pool Scale Removal
A pumice stone is a coarse stone that can be used on ceramic tile or concrete surfaces to rub off both kinds of scale. It works very well, but wears down quickly. If you use a pumice stone, make sure to keep the stone and the surface you are cleaning wet at all times to prevent scratching and/or cracking that may lead you to have to call someone like these Concrete repair services out to fix.
Stains
Staining can be several colors and is caused by a chemical imbalance that reacts with the pool surface. Some stains can be blasted away by a power washing apex based service or similar service near you, but other stains need a different approach. Some people tend to use steam cleaners to clean the stains of the tiles as heat and water can be a good combination for cleaning. It is recommended to use distilled water in the cleaner as it can avoid any mineral formation, enabling the cleaner to work at its full potential. That said, people may need to buy distilled water in bulk (distilled water 5l or 10l) as cleaning the stains of a big bool can require a lot of it. Coming back, there are two major types of stains that regularly occur in swimming pools. One is organic and the other is metallic.
Organic
Organic stains are from the elements like leaves, algae, or dirt that have been left in the pool for a long period of time. This can generally be cleaned by putting chlorine shock over the stain, then brushed with a stainless steel bristled brush. However, many organic stains, such as those caused by some types of algae, require more complex treatments including enzyme-based pool chemicals and/or metal-based algaecides.
Metallic
Metallic stains are more difficult to remove. Stone water features, decking materials, plaster pool surfaces, pool chemicals, pool equipment, and lawn fertilizers are all potential sources of metal contamination. But most commonly metallic stains appear shortly after the PH is raised or when you add chlorine. Iron is pretty common in well water but rare in city water. Copper is in some algaecides, many “mineral” systems, and ionizers. If the PH in the pool goes below 7.0 for too long, copper can get into the water from a copper heat exchange coil, like the ones found in pool heaters.
Pool Stain Eraser
A stain eraser is twofold, not only works on stains but also on calcium carbonate as well. It can be attached to a tele-pole for convenient use too. There are multiple stain erasers available that will work on different surfaces.
Pool Stain and Scale Remover
This remover, which is safe for all surfaces, is added to the water slowly and wears away the stains and prevents calcium carbonate from coming out of suspension in your water. However, once the calcium is out of suspension, the only way to actually remove it is to allow your filter to take it out of the water.
It is important to keep the pH of the pool water at or below 7.6, as higher pH levels are scale-forming. The calcium hardness level should be kept below 500 parts per million to control as well. Pools with a calcium hardness level of 500 ppm or higher should always be treated routinely with Stain Stop to prevent scale formation. The pH of salt pool water is constantly on the rise. Salt pool owners should always to routinely clean to ward off scale formation, as well as prevent scale from forming on the cell unit. There are a few things to do in order to avoid having to acid wash or tile clean your pool. The best approach is to prevent scale and stains before they occur by regular water analysis, routine cleaning and brushing, correct water balance, and the regular use of preventative scale and stain chemicals. You can see that that prevention is really the best policy when it comes to scale!
If your fighting a losing battle against the scaling and stains in your pool, feel free to give us a call or visit our Pool Supply Warehouse store to speak with an expert.
24
24
comments