How to Diagnose and Test Swimming Pool Stains

WEBSITE: http://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/

In this video I will go over the four main type of staining you will see in a swimming pool. There is sometimes some confusion of what exactly you are looking at when you see a stain in your pool.

Organic Stains:
I start with the easiest to remove which is Organic stains. This happens when a lot of leaves fall in and leave marks on the pool surface. You can also have dirt staining in your pool especially if it is a fiberglass pool. Simply by raising the chlorine level for a day or so will take care of the organic stains. For a fiberglass pool with dirt staining you can use HASA Super stain out or another product designed to remove organic stains in the pool. The Thichlor tablet is the best way to determine if stain is organic. Simply rub it over the stain and see if it disappears or lightens. If so it is organic. Aggressive mustard algae can also form in the pool and that can look a lot like a Metal Stain. Here is a video on this type of algae bloom:

Pentair Algae-Gon Chlorine Tablet Holder 542068 for Algae Stains & Black Algae
   • Pentair Algae-Gon Chlorine Tablet Holder 5...  

Metal Stains:
These are commonly found in your pool. It can be either Iron or Copper based. A Vitamin C tablet is a good way to tell if you are dealing with an Iron or Copper stain. Jacks' Magic also sells a kit with a sample of their stain removing product that will also allow you to know if it is Iron or Copper. You can use Dry Acid in a sock on an area to see if an acid wash or a topical Copper stain product will remove the stain. I also came up with a squirt bottle acid test that is effective. If you try this with a 3 to 1 acid mix and get no results - add more acid to make it stronger and test again. The stain should come off as the acid hits the plaster (It doesn't cause etching). Ascorbic Acid works good on Iron Stains and there are several Acid based products that can be used for copper staining without draining the pool.
Here are some videos on Metal Stains:

Removing a Rust Stain in your pool with Vitamin C - Ascorbic Acid Treatment:    • Removing a Rust Stain in your pool with Vi...  
Metal in Pool Water, How to Treat and Eliminate Metal:    • Metal in Pool Water, How to Treat and Elim...  
Ascorbic Acid Treatment for Removing Stains in Your Pool:    • Ascorbic Acid Treatment for Removing Stain...  
CuLator Metal Eliminator & Stain Preventer:    • CuLator Metal Eliminator & Stain Preventer  

Calcium Stains:
If your Calcium Hardness gets too high the water in the pool will deposit out the calcium it can no longer hold. This causes scaling. If the calcium and scaling are widespread then an acid wash and a power sanding of the plaster is the only solution. I see a lot of spot calcium either like these circles or streaks like tears running down the side of the plaster. Those can be sanded out in the Summer by diving down and using sand paper. Again, large areas are harder to clean without draining.

Mottling of the Plaster:
This is more pronounced in a colored plaster pool. There is a good article on it from the National Plaster Council - here is the link:
http://www.npconline.org/index.php?op...

Scroll down to "A Note about Colored Plaster" in the article:
Here they talk about Mottling and some of the causes - the gist of it is a combination of the plaster itself and the additives to it.

A bad start up can also cause strange things to happen to the plaster - especially if the water is not circulating for several days.

And as always TFP has a good article on Mottling also:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/thread...

So I hope the video helps you identify your pool staining type.

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