Cleaning The Waterline Calcium Buildup

[chboro]

Hi all, or anybody!

We have San Juan Fiberglass pool, for over 5 years now. I am looking for ways of getting the calcium waterline buildup cleaned. I live in Central Arizona and our water is very hard. But, had I kept up on my cleaning maintenance duties, I don't think I'd have the problem I do now.

I am open to any suggestions. What scrubbers can I use without damaging the fiberglass? Can I actually use some sort of blasting media on it, and then vacuum it up afterwards? When I say blasting media, I have heard of plastic media, poly media, glass beads, walnut shells etc.

I don't really think any chemical put on by hand will work that well, after having tried alot of them in bathrooms.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

Our pool is a Manatee model, 12,500 gals. with Pentair Chlorine Generator.

Chuck

Arizona

[poolguy1234]

Pour Muriatic acid directly on the calcium but do not breathe it in or get it on anything that is not plastic or fiberglass. I have done this numerous times works great.

[Pool Clown]

Pour Muriatic acid directly on the calcium but do not breathe it in or get it on anything that is not plastic or fiberglass. I have done this numerous times works great.

Careful though, That will also dissolve your tile grout as well. I would use a diluted mix instead of strait acid.

Look for a bead blast service in your area, they drop your water level to the bottom of the tile, then like you said, they blast the tile, then vac up the glass beads. Iv'e seen the result and it works very well.

[poolguy1234]

If you used tile the manufacturer recommended or a glazed pool tile the acid will not hurt it. Also make sure you have a silicone grout as well this also will not be effected by acid. Sorry I should have mentioned this first but every tile job on a pool should be done this way.

[Pool Clown]

"every tile job on a pool should be done this way".

I think if you saw how well a bead blast turns out,

I think you would change your mind.

[chboro]

"every tile job on a pool should be done this way".

I think if you saw how well a bead blast turns out,

I think you would change your mind.

It's been awhile since I came back to check responses. Had some family issues that needed attention. Anyhow, I thank those for responses, but it seems like several folks didn't get that I have a Fiberglass pool. I do not have Tile at the waterline. I know the glass bead process and have done it myself on automotive parts. But, it will still be abrasive enough on the fiberglass as to cause it to lose it's gloss.

I am in Central Arizona, midway between Phoenix and Tucson. My waterline buildup is mostly my fault for not staying on top of it. I have tried several commercial products that don't even come close to removing the buildup. The build up is comprised of Calcium mainly. Muriatic Acid seems to be the most suggested cleaner except I have not been able to find Muriatic acid in a strong enough form for it to do anything. Muriatic Acid available to the public has been diluted so much that it now takes hours to get the calcium out of my chlorine generator when I clean it. A couple years ago I could clean my Chlorine Generator in 20-30 minutes with a 50/50 solution.

I'm going to try and find some stronger Muriatic acid. But, I have heard of a Soda blasting process that uses Sodium Bicarbonate.

Anybody have any cleaning suggestions, I'd be glad to try them. But, they have to be friendly to fiberglass surfaces.

Thanks in advance.......

Chuck in Arizona City, AZ

[polyvue]

"every tile job on a pool should be done this way".

I think if you saw how well a bead blast turns out,

I think you would change your mind.

It's been awhile since I came back to check responses. Had some family issues that needed attention. Anyhow, I thank those for responses, but it seems like several folks didn't get that I have a Fiberglass pool. I do not have Tile at the waterline. I know the glass bead process and have done it myself on automotive parts. But, it will still be abrasive enough on the fiberglass as to cause it to lose it's gloss.

I am in Central Arizona, midway between Phoenix and Tucson. My waterline buildup is mostly my fault for not staying on top of it. I have tried several commercial products that don't even come close to removing the buildup. The build up is comprised of Calcium mainly. Muriatic Acid seems to be the most suggested cleaner except I have not been able to find Muriatic acid in a strong enough form for it to do anything. Muriatic Acid available to the public has been diluted so much that it now takes hours to get the calcium out of my chlorine generator when I clean it. A couple years ago I could clean my Chlorine Generator in 20-30 minutes with a 50/50 solution.

I'm going to try and find some stronger Muriatic acid. But, I have heard of a Soda blasting process that uses Sodium Bicarbonate.

Anybody have any cleaning suggestions, I'd be glad to try them. But, they have to be friendly to fiberglass surfaces.

Thanks in advance.......

Chuck in Arizona City, AZ

Your pool is fiberglass but the waterline tile is ceramic, right? Though I'm not familiar with the glass bead blasting process referenced by Pool Clown, maybe he can tell you if it's appropriate for fiberglass pools. I would think they could mask off the area around the tile before application.

Since calcium gets harder the longer it's allowed to stay, preventive action makes the most sense:

1) Keep pool water balanced, out of the scaling (high) end;

2) Reduce calcium to the extent possible via draining (if the fill water doesn't contain too much calcium) or by the filtering / reverse osmosis process that I believe is available in your area;

3) Stop calcium additions by avoiding use of cal-hypo chlorine tablets/shock powder; instead, rely on liquid chlorine, bleach, a SWG or... if necessary, tri-chlor (but watch out for excessive CYA build-up);

4) Attack newly built-up areas with Magic eraser or similar product as soon as you notice calcium accumulation... do it piecemeal, a few minutes a day, over several days or weeks during swim season and the process will seem less laborious.

[chboro]

"every tile job on a pool should be done this way".

I think if you saw how well a bead blast turns out,

I think you would change your mind.

It's been awhile since I came back to check responses. Had some family issues that needed attention. Anyhow, I thank those for responses, but it seems like several folks didn't get that I have a Fiberglass pool. I do not have Tile at the waterline. I know the glass bead process and have done it myself on automotive parts. But, it will still be abrasive enough on the fiberglass as to cause it to lose it's gloss.

I am in Central Arizona, midway between Phoenix and Tucson. My waterline buildup is mostly my fault for not staying on top of it. I have tried several commercial products that don't even come close to removing the buildup. The build up is comprised of Calcium mainly. Muriatic Acid seems to be the most suggested cleaner except I have not been able to find Muriatic acid in a strong enough form for it to do anything. Muriatic Acid available to the public has been diluted so much that it now takes hours to get the calcium out of my chlorine generator when I clean it. A couple years ago I could clean my Chlorine Generator in 20-30 minutes with a 50/50 solution.

I'm going to try and find some stronger Muriatic acid. But, I have heard of a Soda blasting process that uses Sodium Bicarbonate.

Anybody have any cleaning suggestions, I'd be glad to try them. But, they have to be friendly to fiberglass surfaces.

Thanks in advance.......

Chuck in Arizona City, AZ

Your pool is fiberglass but the waterline tile is ceramic, right? Though I'm not familiar with the glass bead blasting process referenced by Pool Clown, maybe he can tell you if it's appropriate for fiberglass pools. I would think they could mask off the area around the tile before application.

Since calcium gets harder the longer it's allowed to stay, preventive action makes the most sense:

1) Keep pool water balanced, out of the scaling (high) end;

2) Reduce calcium to the extent possible via draining (if the fill water doesn't contain too much calcium) or by the filtering / reverse osmosis process that I believe is available in your area;

3) Stop calcium additions by avoiding use of cal-hypo chlorine tablets/shock powder; instead, rely on liquid chlorine, bleach, a SWG or... if necessary, tri-chlor (but watch out for excessive CYA build-up);

4) Attack newly built-up areas with Magic eraser or similar product as soon as you notice calcium accumulation... do it piecemeal, a few minutes a day, over several days or weeks during swim season and the process will seem less laborious.

The Pool is a San Juan Fiberglass pool It is entirely fiberglass, all the way to the decking. I actually live about 4 miles from the San Juan Factory in Eloy, Arizona. I have found a product at a Pool store that is supposed to be very good at getting rid of this Calcium waterline deposit.

The ingredients of the product I found is Hydrochloric and Hydroflouric acid. The person at the store told me that it this doesn't do it, it will take blasting and possibly refinishing.

Hard water and Calcium are big time problems in our area here.

In Arizona, we also have the problem of the Sun baking the heck out of it , which makes it alittle harder to get off.

I'll post what happens and what i finally get to work...........if anything.

Oh! I do, and have been draining my pool 1/2 way each year and refilling.