My Vinyl Liner is Scaling and feeling rough and gritty, what can I do?

So my question has to do with scaling… here in TN it is a vinyl market and I have had lots of issues with scaling on the liners this season. Some customers even say it scrapes their hands and knees when they touch the liner… I have tried dropping pH levels to 7.0-7.2 and adding a sequestrant to pool water, and then I instruct the customer to brush daily for 5-7 days… they say it is so hard, that it just wont budge, some are accompanied with high calcium, but not all… I have run out of ideas… I was raised in the marcite, diamond brite & pebble tech area… I’m lost on this vinyl… Please help…

Answer:

Sorry to hear about the challenges!

What are the calcium levels associated with the high amounts of scaling, and are salt systems being used?

We suggest calcium at 200 exactly for vinyl liner pools.

If running salt we suggest alkalinity at 80 and pH at 7.4-7.6

That usually keeps things pretty in balance. If you have a higher alkalinity or pH I know you’ll see scaling pretty quickly, to the point of clogging heaters.

If you are running salt systems also, do you have zinc anodes on them? Electrolysis will also cause things to feel like scale when really it is pushing minerals out of the water and depositing onto the liners. Pepper by API is a great product to prevent scaling in salt systems: http://apiwater.com/products/pool/pepper/

API Easy Pool is also a product to look at. Matt Ribar is with API and is also a great troubleshooter for water chemistry issues!

If you have any photos of a pool and equipment system with some numbers that you’d like me to look at, I’d be happy to troubleshoot further. Just send us a note!