Pool Treatment Magnets

[AquaBruce]

I have a problem with scale build-up on my swimming pool tiles and on the blades of my chlorinator. The owner of the local pool supply here (Sacramento, CA area) swears by Water-Dog magnets to "disrupt the molecular configuration of calcium ions". Has anyone had experience with magnets for this purpose? Do they work? They are quite expensive. There is lots of information available on the evils of high calcium levels, and testing for calcium, but very little on treatment options.

[waterbear]

Pool magnets are not new and can be summed up by two words. Snake oil. The only one who benefits from them is the person who sells them.

If your water has high calcium then drop your TA and keep the pH below 7.8. That is the best way to minimize scale. Are you testing your water on a regular basis to keep it balanced or relying on the pool store for testing?

Posting a full set of test results can help us get a better idea as to why you have a scaling problem. (Even water with high calcium is not necessarily going to scale if you watch the water balance and saturation index)

[AquaBruce]

Thanks, Waterbear,

Your comments are excellent and confirm my suspicions. I do test my water on a regular basis and generally keep TA below 160 and pH below 7.8. To be honest about it, I could do better. I have just finished a tile cleanup with pumice combined with immediate high pressure hose. It wasn't that big a deal, but it motivates me to be more diligent.

AquaBruce

[waterbear]

Why is your TA so high? With a salt chlorinator your TA should be about 70 ppm or even a bit lower if you CH is very high.

High TA makes it difficult to maintain the pH below 8.0 since yor main pH rise will be from outgassing of CO2 and the higher the TA the faster it will outgas and the faster the pH will rise and create scaling conditions.