Cleaning a Swimming Pool

My tiled swimming pool has what would appear to be "ring around the tub"

Up from the water level for an inch or two there is a whitish hard deposit which I'm assuming is lime/calcium.

Is there an easy way to clean this. My gardener has suggested using very fine grade wet/dry sand paper but that doesn't sound good.

Any help would be appreciated.

SunFan

SunFan wrote:My tiled swimming pool has what would appear to be "ring around the tub"

Up from the water level for an inch or two there is a whitish hard deposit which I'm assuming is lime/calcium.

Is there an easy way to clean this. My gardener has suggested using very fine grade wet/dry sand paper but that doesn't sound good.

Any help would be appreciated.

SunFan

It is calcium and you can try doing it that way, but if it's more like a crust with thickness, you'll not have any success. Mine was a 1/8 inch thick crust and my contractors guys used a 3 inch fiber wheel on a small DeWalt machine to "grind" it off. If the calcium is on "real" pool tile (glass mosaic tile) and not a cenefa made of 4 inch household tile, even the grinder will not damage the tile.

Having maintained my own 20' x 40' in-ground pool for over 10 years has given me a lot of experience in pool maintenance. I have noticed that some of the local pool maintenance guys do not measure or balance the chemicals at all. They usually swing in, quickly skim the surface, throw in some chlorine granules and vamoose. They never check the PH, hardness or alkalinity. The imbalance of these chemicals is what causes tile etching, rings of calcium deposits and stainless steel corrosion. Quite frankly the guys I have seen are incompetent when it comes to pool maintenance.

I can tell you that you won't find the "strips" which measure all that stuff here...I had to mule them down from Canada. Most pool stores here only have the kits which measure total chlorine and ph...the kind that you put drops into. Never seen a "pool guy" use one.
Never seen a pool guy brush down the sides of the pool and never seen a pool guy vacuum the sides of the pool.
They're probably incompetent because nobody has ever shown them or explained to them how to maintain a pool properly. Kinda sad.

I am bringing down several packages of the test strips when I return in a few weeks. They have them now that measure chlorine, alkalinity, PH and hardness all in one strip. Keeping your pool chemicals properly balanced can save thousands in maintenance costs over the years as improper water balance causes unnecessary wear on the tiles, the accessories, the plumbing and the pumps. A pool should also be vacuumed once per week and the filters should be cleaned and back-washed. I agree that I never see them do this either. Perhaps I need to start my own pool maintenance company........

Could it be that the so called pool cleaning guys can get away with poor practices since many who move from NOB have ZERO prior experience with having and maintaining a pool?

CheenaGringo wrote:Could it be that the so called pool cleaning guys can get away with poor practices since many who move from NOB have ZERO prior experience with having and maintaining a pool?

Probably true. Hey CB, good idea starting your own pool company. You can practice on mine since you'll be right next door. LOL

I did maintain a liner pool for over 12 years while the kids were young. Vinyl liner type in Toronto. I used to clean the edges with a vinyl-type cleaner.

Can’t I use CLR or something similar and re-fill/drain/backwash???

Sunfan

Test strips????????
I was always taught the drop system was more accurate. Have I been wasting my precious few years with that type of test????

Bye the way my Aunt (93) offers her best wishes with a Gallic toast…

“May they never fail ya….your Genitalia!!!!”

SunFan

SunFan wrote:Test strips????????
I was always taught the drop system was more accurate. Have I been wasting my precious few years with that type of test????

Bye the way my Aunt (93) offers her best wishes with a Gallic toast…

“May they never fail ya….your Genitalia!!!!”

SunFan

Most of the forum members here have forgotten what their genitalia is and couldn't find them if they tried. ROTFLMFAO

You can get the drop system for testing on the main floor of the Mega Store next to Costco on Lopez Mateo. They even charge you in USD and then convert to Pesos. We use it to test our hot tub and our Tap water daily.

SunFan wrote:My tiled swimming pool has what would appear to be "ring around the tub"

Up from the water level for an inch or two there is a whitish hard deposit which I'm assuming is lime/calcium.

Is there an easy way to clean this. My gardener has suggested using very fine grade wet/dry sand paper but that doesn't sound good.

Any help would be appreciated.

SunFan

I used to do pool maintenance when I wuz a kid....
Oil & Scale ring usually come clean with Comet or Ajax.... Chlorine Powder with a bit of Abrasive

CBob, bring down the strips that will also measure "free chlorine" as well as "total chlorine".
The free chlorine is the chlorine that is available to sanitize your pool...the total chlorine is the free chlorine PLUS the bound chlorine (or the chlorine that is used up).
The drop system only measures TOTAL chlorine and can be deceiving to many people. Big Daddy is doing it correctly...i.e. DAILY. And, the drop system works fine but I would back it up every three days with a chemical strip check.
The explanation was for those who didn't know this stuff.

Yes the strips I use have both chlorine measurements.

ferret wrote:CBob, bring down the strips that will also measure "free chlorine" as well as "total chlorine".
The free chlorine is the chlorine that is available to sanitize your pool...the total chlorine is the free chlorine PLUS the bound chlorine (or the chlorine that is used up).
The drop system only measures TOTAL chlorine and can be deceiving to many people. Big Daddy is doing it correctly...i.e. DAILY. And, the drop system works fine but I would back it up every three days with a chemical strip check.
The explanation was for those who didn't know this stuff.

I actually have to add chloro to my water coming from the city. And then we have to test it each day. Apparently there is not enought chloro in the water to pass our inspection. And we only use the water to wash our equipment and containers.

The strips are the best for tubs and pools.

Bring me back a couple of bottles of strip too Bob. I will trade you Tequila for them. LOL

Thanks
BD

CBob, where do you get these strips in the Van area ? Thx.

Canadian Tire or Walmart.

CanuckBob wrote:I am bringing down several packages of the test strips when I return in a few weeks. They have them now that measure chlorine, alkalinity, PH and hardness all in one strip. Keeping your pool chemicals properly balanced can save thousands in maintenance costs over the years as improper water balance causes unnecessary wear on the tiles, the accessories, the plumbing and the pumps. A pool should also be vacuumed once per week and the filters should be cleaned and back-washed. I agree that I never see them do this either. Perhaps I need to start my own pool maintenance company........

No joking aside, great idea about starting your own pool maintenance company. On defense of the pool persons, most of them have anywhere from 20 to 50 pools they maintain just to make a living and if they were to spend much time with each pool, they would not be able to support their families. My pool person keeps my pool clear. He does do the PH,and chlorine testing. scrubs the sides once a week and vacuums once a week. He will also be your pool person in LAS. I do beleive that sky's (moonbeam's) pool is salt. I know it's different than anyone's in LAS. John correct me if I'm way off on this. Anyway, when you return talk with him (he speaks English) about the deposits on the tile. Last year he was talking with me about ideas on dealing with this problem, like using beaded glass, mineral salts, sand etc. using some sort of pressure thingy. He thought perhaps he could start a company that only dealt with this problem. Those strips sounds great for testing the chemical balance.

I have found the strips at Home Depot in Guad, when I saw them I grabbed a few.
Bob do you do lessons for those of us with pools? I have maintained a hot tub for years and could do the pool myself with a bit of advice in the beginning. Tequila is of course included ;)

To the OP,
Go to Home Services (the location of HandyMail) and buy a pumice stone to clean the ring in the pool. They're on the right near the desk.

Grizzy wrote:I have found the strips at Home Depot in Guad, when I saw them I grabbed a few.
Bob do you do lessons for those of us with pools? I have maintained a hot tub for years and could do the pool myself with a bit of advice in the beginning. Tequila is of course included ;)

I would be more than happy to come and see your set-up and offer some advice on how best to maintain it yourself. A properly balanced & maintained pool will not ever have a calcium or scum ring to clean up and your stainless steel equipment will not stain or corrode. I'll be back in Chapala sometime in early October so give me a shout then.

i'll give you a hand Bob, my dad and I owned our own pool company since the 70s and I have been building them since i was 7 years old. I must admit that i dont remember alot about the chemicals, but i can usually fix about anything else. And, you will need some help drinking the tequila! LOL!!

It would be less physical work to set up a support group for those with "ring around the pool".

Trevor "poncho" Armstrong wrote:i'll give you a hand Bob, my dad and I owned our own pool company since the 70s and I have been building them since i was 7 years old. I must admit that i dont remember alot about the chemicals, but i can usually fix about anything else. And, you will need some help drinking the tequila! LOL!!

Perfect Trevor. We will be having a discussion as soon as I get back in a few weeks. Put the tequila on ice........jaja.

When our pool gets dirty we just tip it over,wipe it down and refill it.