Have you ever noticed a white-yellow, chalky, and gritty substance at your waterline? If not, maybe you’ve noticed it in your bathroom—especially if you have glass shower doors? In Florida, scale is very prevalent in swimming pools, bathrooms, and other features where water is present: especially if the water is well water or the homeowner does not have a water softener. That’s because Florida rests on a bed of limerock which is made up, in large part, of calcium.

Doubly, cement-based products contain calcium—that is, your pool finish (if you have a concrete in-ground pool), has calcium in it. In most cases, if you have a white based pool finish, you may never notice if your pool has a calcium scale because it often occurs over time and subtly deposits on the pool finish. Calcium scaling is most evident in dyed pool finishes because of the higher contrast between the colored surface and the white or pale-yellow scale. That being said, scale can be seen on any pools, regardless of the finish. Most often, the scale will appear as swirls, blotches, or streaks on the surface. In extreme cases, excess calcium may even form small nodules on the surface. The key with calcium is to ensure that your pool water is properly balanced, and that the calcium hardness doesn’t get too high to where a scale forms. A certain amount of calcium is key to having proper pool water balance—but like most anything, too much (or too little) can be a bad thing.

So how do we keep an eye on calcium?

First and foremost, if you are having chemical trouble with your pool—we highly recommend you contact a chemical expert such as Jack’s Magic. That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind to keep your calcium in check:

• When you have your water tested, be mindful of your calcium hardness number; make sure that your pool water test results are in the middle of the ranges provided—not on the high or low end
• If you have particularly hard water or plan to get a dyed pool finish, we recommend purchasing a water softener
• Keep in mind, if you have scale in your pool, your calcium hardness reading may look normal—this is because a water test will only show you what is in solution and scale is calcium that has deposited on your pool surface (and therefore is no longer in solution, but on the walls and/or floor of the pool)
• Be cautious if when adding calcium hardness increaser (if at all) because there is no way to lower calcium hardness without draining some water off the pool and refilling the pool with soft water **please do not drain your pool without the guidance of a professional

Caring for your pool from the start can help keep your finish looking fresh and last longer. Proper pool chemistry is one of the very best ways to help protect, and even extend the life of your pool finish. It is important to either hire a professional to help you care for your pool or to learn how to care for it yourself. One of our favorite things is hearing back from customers ten or more years later and they are still pleased with how beautiful their pool still looks!

Advanced Pool & Spa is a family owned and operated, fully licensed, bonded, and insured pool remodeling company located in Land O Lakes, Florida. We have been in business for 39 years and take pride in our work. We hope to be able to help answer your pool related questions and would love to help make your remodeling dreams a reality! Give us a call or send us an email today for an estimate on resurfacing or remodeling your residential or commercial pools and spas. We can be reached at 813-995-2939 or aps59246@gmail.com.