Asking help from anyone who is fairly experienced dealing with salt water pools. Had an issue with algae build up about a month ago with company A. Company B comes in with shock as well as dumping chlorine tablets into skimmer basket. Salt cell generator was previous set at 20%(for winter I guess) and has been set at 80% for at least a month that I know of. Algae was dealt with but white flakes started showing up noticeably in the past 2-3 weeks. We checked the pool filter and the cartridges have white flaky material everywhere. Would like to know if anyone had similar problems and how they solved them. Also salt cell has a significant build up of white crust and that's just a month after it was cleaned.
OT: Salt water pool - white flakes
- Thread starter JTthe2nd
- Start date
Calcium flakes.
Calcium Flakes in Saltwater Pools
Saltwater pools often have white flakes in them. They are calcium flakes that form in the salt chlorine generator. This article explains why it happens.
blog.orendatech.com
OK, so what about them crusty white flakes on my sheets?
PH could be a huge factor, check that-
High Water Temperature could in conjunction with the high PH could be a cause -
Las Vegas has one one of the highest hard water issues in the country at approximately 300ppm, I had to drain my pool every 2 years and the hard water was one reason I never went with salt water system
never ever put chlorine tablets in your skimmer
High Water Temperature could in conjunction with the high PH could be a cause -
Las Vegas has one one of the highest hard water issues in the country at approximately 300ppm, I had to drain my pool every 2 years and the hard water was one reason I never went with salt water system
never ever put chlorine tablets in your skimmer
It’s likely that the cell hasn’t been cleaned. Should clean every 3 months along with the filters. No chlorine is produced when water temps are below 70 so you should unplug the cell and deactivate it when we get that low. Another thing you can do is remove the cell and install a “dummy cell” during times when water temps are too low to produce chlorine… it’ll extend the life of your cell.
Personally I love my salt water chlorination system. I don’t have to do anything but add acid a couple times a month to keep it clear.
Personally I love my salt water chlorination system. I don’t have to do anything but add acid a couple times a month to keep it clear.
Thanks. We finished cleaning out the pool filter and put it back together without too much trouble. We even fixed a problem with air in the system that kept messing with the pressure and making the pump sound not right. Headache for now but hopefully it gets easier with experience. Learning as we go...
A pool is great for the first year you own it. Then it's just a huge PITA.
I'll respectfully disagree. I've used mine for the last 11 years or so that I've owned the house. Doesn't go to waste.
I do know that I'm the anomaly about this since many don't utilize it due to the expense.
Both.
I clean and do what I can over the weekends and he comes during the week. I've always viewed it as an investment, so I've always tried to monitor it myself.
Do you take water samples to any pool supply companies? They'll analyze the water for you and make recommendations accordingly.
Yeah we take it to the Leslie's nearby. The results aren't totally off rails. I think the issue with the flakes might be due to the 2nd company using a lot of chlorine tabs and calcium-based shock to combat the algae that started with the 1st company. Idk though since I'm a pool noob.
It’s pretty easy to maintain. I took care of mine for 14 years [ 2006-2020 ] my fathers for 20 years ( 25,000 gallon ) without using chlorine tablets. I used 10% liquid chlorine only, I would use about 5 gallons a week during the summer and winter maybe 2 gallons A week.
I ran my pump filter only 5 hours a night { 12,000 gallon pool } and added the chlorine at night as well. I know with salt water generator you might have to run it longer to produce the right amount of sanitizer but at night after 7pm the cost of electricity goes down, at least it did maybe NV Power changed it. Labor hours on my pool was approximately 5 hours a week inclusive of adding chemical, vacuuming and brushing. 3 giant Cartridges Filters I cleaned every 6-8 moths and replaced just once in 14 years.
Just a word of advice that most tablets contain stabilizers which remain in your pool but it stabilizes the chlorine to fight off the sun depleting the chlorine but increases the amount of stabilizer every time you use them which increase the need for chlorine, over time the water water gets so high with stabilizer chlorine use must increase as well-
50-70ppm of stabilizer is optimal for most pools - Caution with Leslies as they will try to sell you additives that aren’t necessary. There’s no way to remove stabilizer no matter what Leslie’s will tell you, you have to do a partial drain which is no big deal ( you can rent a pump ) and it’ll also remove the hard water which gets harder if you have gunite sprayed concrete, if you have a liner or vinyl it won’t leach calcium obviously. I had my own water testing chem lab vials
Good luck, I enjoyed my pools
I ran my pump filter only 5 hours a night { 12,000 gallon pool } and added the chlorine at night as well. I know with salt water generator you might have to run it longer to produce the right amount of sanitizer but at night after 7pm the cost of electricity goes down, at least it did maybe NV Power changed it. Labor hours on my pool was approximately 5 hours a week inclusive of adding chemical, vacuuming and brushing. 3 giant Cartridges Filters I cleaned every 6-8 moths and replaced just once in 14 years.
Just a word of advice that most tablets contain stabilizers which remain in your pool but it stabilizes the chlorine to fight off the sun depleting the chlorine but increases the amount of stabilizer every time you use them which increase the need for chlorine, over time the water water gets so high with stabilizer chlorine use must increase as well-
50-70ppm of stabilizer is optimal for most pools - Caution with Leslies as they will try to sell you additives that aren’t necessary. There’s no way to remove stabilizer no matter what Leslie’s will tell you, you have to do a partial drain which is no big deal ( you can rent a pump ) and it’ll also remove the hard water which gets harder if you have gunite sprayed concrete, if you have a liner or vinyl it won’t leach calcium obviously. I had my own water testing chem lab vials
Good luck, I enjoyed my pools
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We're learning as we go. Cleaning the filters, salt cell, and pump basket are a little bit of work but not nearly as bad as we feared. Vacuuming also seems really simple and straightforward. Thank goodness for Youtube! With some trial and error we should eventually have a nice pool and save $160-200 a month in pool cleaning fees.
