ARW wrote:Yes it is a salt water pool and lots of salt was put in when the water was replaced.
Sounds like a bit of elbow grease with a nylon brush should do the trick - if you want any practice I'll pm you my address
Yeah, I would agree it's salt deposits then and not calcium. Dannie is right, no other way but to get in there with your pool brush and go at it. They'll reappear from time to time and good idea to put brushing on your to do list about once a quarter. On a positive note, just think of the good exercise you'll get. Pete
EDIT: Of course you can hire any available Thai man to do that type of work and pay him about 500 for the day I would say.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
You should identify whether it is salt or calcium,
Just run your finger over it and taste it,
Calcium will build up and grow,
Salt will smear on the tiles,
If it is calcium you will need to find the calcium content of the pool water ppm (parts per million) and also the ppm of the water supply to the pool,
Your salt content should be between 3500 ppm and 6500 ppm depending on the manufacturers guidelines,
Household should be around 60 ppm,
A pool should never go over 550 ppm ,otherwise it will not be able to deal with additional chemical treatments, it will be saturated
You need
1 bottle of the pool water
1 bottle of the supply water,
If you bring it to me, I can let you know the readings, if you would like. But I guess it will be salt,
David 087-168-7700
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Salt Content - 6000 ppm which is perfect
Calcium Content - 45 ppm
The calcium content is low, you really want it around 100 ppm for a pool.
It may draw calcium from other areas in the pool, grout specifically but not too much cause for concern it will be unlikely.
The strangest result was the household supply, it is VERY low, we tested it 3 times and could not get any result higher than 0.
The water is VERY soft, therefore you won't get calcium building up,
You will need to add Calcium chloride to the pool to raise the calcium content to avoid any possibilities of it a affecting the grout,
Hope all of this helps,
The staining on the pool wall will most certainly be SALT,
joelle wrote:everytime I put soda ash in the pool the water turns green, any idea why ?
also I cannot get any ph, tried everything
The soda ash is to lower acidity. You're probably lowering it too much, and not enough chlorine as well. Is it a saltwater pool, or regular chlorine? Pete
I haven't looked at these or read them...but start here.
Not chemical related, but concerns the pool water.
I have a Hayward DE filter. It works really well and cleans down to about 2 microns. The problem with it is the cleaning. It cannot successfully be back washed, so when the pressure gauge starts to indicate a restriction it has to be opened up and the fabric covered elements inside carefully cleaned.
With the varying degree of expertise shown by a string of pool maintenance people, the fabric soon gets holes in it, and they are expensive to replace. So I have been looking into replacing it with a “sand” type of filter, either with Zeolite or glass as the cleaning medium.
Which leads to the following:
I had a Thai gentleman that speaks perfect English, and has obviously had engineering training, come and look at and advise the best option.
For a start he informed me that they could repair the existing filter elements by recovering the frame, so reducing the cost. Secondly, he will not recommend using either Zeolite or glass as a medium, claiming that the exsorbinate cost of it is not warranted. He told me that they have a processing plant in Bangkok that screens bulk sand into various grade sizes, and that they then blend different grades of sand to suit the application.
Although the sand will not filter down to the level of the DE filter, he claims it does match both Zeolite and glass, albeit having to be replaced at a small cost after about 3 years or so, compared to the other types that may have a life of 5 or 6 years at 4 or 5 times the cost.
If I had a Dollar for every “recommendation” that I have been given it would just about cover the cost of a new filter! This person is the FIRST person, Thai or Farang, that quotes established technical facts, such as flow rates, pump output, filter area, etc., etc., off the top of his head! He was also more interested in laying out the facts and options, as against trying to sell me a new system.
Some of the “experts”, including some contractors that spout on this forum, should not be allowed to run a bath, never mind “service” a swimming pool!
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Pete 
