Swimming pool question

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
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Last year my pool seemed to be permanently cloudy, even though the water quality appeared to be okay when it was tested. When I brushed the sides of the pool with my hand, I saw a white dusty residue come from the walls. Somebody told me that the paint was breaking down and it was time to repaint the pool.

So in January I drained the pool. Got out my pressure washer and scraper and stripped all the old paint and repainted it with epoxy pool paint. The same as the original colour, white. I followed the instructions to the letter. I even painted it at night time so that I wouldn't get the paint blisters that you get with epoxy paint and the hot climate.

Eleven months later, I have exactly the same problem. The chlorine content is spot on, the ph is right. It has been flocked, brushed vacuumed, I've changed the filter sand, added pool blue. No matter what, I cannot get rid of this cloudy suspension. When I brush the sides of the walls with my hand, I get this milky residue again.

One of the conclusions I have come to is that maybe the cement is leaching through the paint. I am now considering tiling the pool, but this will be costly. The square meter-age of my pool is 101 sqm.

Does anyone have any ideas?
 
May 8, 2009
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If your water quality is good (good chlorine, good ph and good alkalinity) then then the cloudiness is due to suspended particles in the water. From your description it seems that the paint is chalking/dusting off into the pool, so much so that the filter can not keep up.

Painting is a never ending process. Either tile the pool or get a plaster finish. Plaster finishes are the most common types of finishes in the U.S. In the large hardware stores in the country they sell pre-mixed bags of different colors of this finish and also different types. A real economical way to go is to get the whitest of white caliche that has been passed through a ultra fine screen. Add this to white cement. Get it hard troweled on the walls and floors of the pool. Fill with water the say day. Feel free to PM me if you need any more details.
 

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
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I think its the paint- it only lasts about1-2 years before your hands and feet start turning bluey white -it is accelerated by rogue chemicals that some pool places supply. I now pay more for chemicals and have stopped using certain places
 
May 8, 2009
124
6
0
I think its the paint- it only lasts about1-2 years before your hands and feet start turning bluey white -it is accelerated by rogue chemicals that some pool places supply. I now pay more for chemicals and have stopped using certain places

What is meant by rogue chemicals?
 

FGUnsworth1

Active member
Oct 18, 2003
153
89
28
Last year my pool seemed to be permanently cloudy, even though the water quality appeared to be okay when it was tested. When I brushed the sides of the pool with my hand, I saw a white dusty residue come from the walls. Somebody told me that the paint was breaking down and it was time to repaint the pool.

So in January I drained the pool. Got out my pressure washer and scraper and stripped all the old paint and repainted it with epoxy pool paint. The same as the original colour, white. I followed the instructions to the letter. I even painted it at night time so that I wouldn't get the paint blisters that you get with epoxy paint and the hot climate.

Eleven months later, I have exactly the same problem. The chlorine content is spot on, the ph is right. It has been flocked, brushed vacuumed, I've changed the filter sand, added pool blue. No matter what, I cannot get rid of this cloudy suspension. When I brush the sides of the walls with my hand, I get this milky residue again.

One of the conclusions I have come to is that maybe the cement is leaching through the paint. I am now considering tiling the pool, but this will be costly. The square meter-age of my pool is 101 sqm.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Have you tried Alum?

Alum in a swimming pool clarifies the water. Alum is used in water treatment plants for this purpose and is in the drinking water suply in trace amounts.

Alum is a floculant it is cast over the surface of water, as it sinks to the bottom it attaches its self to impurity's in the water eventualy one will note that all of the water has cleared up except for a layer at the bottom, this is normally disposed of leaving clean uncontaminated water.

Be sure to turn off your filter before flocking and then vacuum the residue that settles to the bottom.

fgu
 

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
8,190
580
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i had some tablets that disolved in one day - I took them back to the shop and he did replace them after an arguement (but only half the amount)- he showed me one he kept in a bucket under the desk and said it had been in there a week - hmmm why did he have that under the desk, was he expecting people

after using said tablets pool paint was noticably disappearing- the tablets had a bit of blue in them - looked like washing power- not like the smooth white ones
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,479
731
113
If your water quality is good (good chlorine, good ph and good alkalinity) then then the cloudiness is due to suspended particles in the water. From your description it seems that the paint is chalking/dusting off into the pool, so much so that the filter can not keep up.

Painting is a never ending process. Either tile the pool or get a plaster finish. Plaster finishes are the most common types of finishes in the U.S. In the large hardware stores in the country they sell pre-mixed bags of different colors of this finish and also different types. A real economical way to go is to get the whitest of white caliche that has been passed through a ultra fine screen. Add this to white cement. Get it hard troweled on the walls and floors of the pool. Fill with water the say day. Feel free to PM me if you need any more details.

I think you're right.

Would you happen to know who can do this plastering?

I've enquired at a couple of pool places in Sosua about a product called Diamond Bright which is an acrylic based plaster. After this treatment, your pool is supposed to be maintenance free. The quote was expensive and there were concerns that there is nobody suitably qualified / trained to apply it.

The other option is tiles. Some people have told me that you should only use glass tiles in a pool. One supplier was selling them at 2200 pesos a sqm. That would work out at $6500 to do my whole pool, which is a bit steep for me. Isn't there a better quality ceramic tile available for pools that is cheaper than these glass ones?

Like I said I need 101 square metres.
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,479
731
113
Have you tried Alum?

Alum in a swimming pool clarifies the water. Alum is used in water treatment plants for this purpose and is in the drinking water suply in trace amounts.

Alum is a floculant it is cast over the surface of water, as it sinks to the bottom it attaches its self to impurity's in the water eventualy one will note that all of the water has cleared up except for a layer at the bottom, this is normally disposed of leaving clean uncontaminated water.

Be sure to turn off your filter before flocking and then vacuum the residue that settles to the bottom.

fgu

I did try flocking it, but it turned out to be a temporary solution. It would clear the cloudy water eventually, but it soon came back again.
 

dr james

New member
Mar 2, 2007
10
0
1
this can be a problem of the wrong type of chlorine tabs.The water here is supersaturated with calcium and if you use calcium carbonate tabs and your pH goes a slight bit alkaline ( more basic ) the calcium will fall out of solution.
By bringing the pH down with muariatic acid to 6.5 ..the calcium will go back into solution with the water.
We have found that by using TRI CHLOR you will not have this problem because the pH of trichlor is 2.6....yes you will have to adjust the pH up every 2 or 3 months.
as to epoxy paints..forget them...the quality her is very bad and 1 or 2 years wouls be a record.
we drained and stripped the paint...then removed the upper layers of concrete and now will install ceramic 1 x 1 squares that come in 13 inch sheets.
after any replaster..wait 28 days before applying tiles..max shrink time for the new plaster...ort they will delaminate...not fun.

Glass tiles require a special anti fracture membrane...and they are more expensive to by and they can fracture from heat...expands and contracts

Diamond brite...nothing more than white portland cement with quartz ..tricky to apply and will only last a few years......tile the whole thing.
we also added a copper ionizer to our pool....cuts chlorine usage by 80 percent.

there are several diamond brite pools in puerto plata area ...didnt look good to me so we decided against having this type finish.
hope this helps a little James Bailes, M.D. costambar;)
 
May 8, 2009
124
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Likely most Dominican masons would tell you that they could plaster the inside of a swimming pool. Most probably could. To do it right though, there are specialty tools used, special methods, even special shoes need to be worn. I'm sure with a bit of checking around you could find a qualified/trained crew to plaster your pool.

Plaster finishes are not maintenance free. They still get algae, need to be brushed, need the water chemistry to be balanced, etc. You also need to keep the pool full with water at all times. Once the plaster is in contact with the air, it will dry out and want to crack and delaminate. Some plaster jobs last 5-15 years based on chemistry and quality of product and application.

There are many types of tiles that can be used to tile a swimming pool (Not just glass.) They need to be impervious tiles and suitable for swimming pool applications. If you go for tiles, make sure they are suitable for swimming pools/underwater applications by either getting a hold of the manufacturer or asking the seller. (Just be sure the seller doesn't say yes just to sell you some tiles ;) ) Make sure you get the proper setting materials that the manufacturer recommends as well. If you need to leave the pool drained for any amount of time with tiles, it won't matter.
 

Olly

Bronze
Mar 12, 2007
1,914
104
63
Hi Beeza,
This could be caused by "yellow algae". When you painted the pool did you remove the lights and clean behind them. A lot of stuff grows there. It might be worth using Copper 7 MU Clo brand- a shock dose to kill any possibility of Algae. About 6 oz for a 15000 gl pool in about 0.5 gl water in a water container. Put in when the pool is still and dribble in around the edges. Leave it for a few hours and then put the pump on.

About 12 hours later put about three handfulls of Al Sulphate (Sulfate) powder sprinkled over the whole pool. About 24 hours later there will be "flock " on the bottom of the pool.
Do the Al stuff again and you should be free of cloudyness.

HTH

Olly
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
12
0
That Alum stuff is great. They sell it in Playero - I forgot what it's called, but it's stacked up in the back of the store. I put 2 cans in my pool and run the filter for 2 or 5 hours, then let it settle during the night. In the morning the water is clear and the residue has sunk to the bottom.

I also have a saltwater chlorinator. No chemicals!!! -D