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Chlorine tablets create high CYA

 

 Chlorine tables increase CYA 

The use of chlorine tablets are a problem for swimming pools. They work well as a sanitizing system if your pool water is perfectly balanced. However the use of those tablets ensures your pool will soon be out of balance. This is due to the CYA and other chemicals that are built into the tablets along with the chlorine. 

If your pool water is out of balance, the chlorine tablet is not as effective. You think using more and more chlorine will solve the constant algae issue your pool has, but is doesn’t get any better. You will eventually figure out that the CYA is too high which limits the chlorine effectiveness.  You are forced to drain your pool and dilute the CYA that accumulates by adding fresh water. It is necessary to do this to protect your plaster, but it is not an environmentally friendly action.

Commercial swimming pools are required by the health department to keep the CYA in the pool below 100 ppm. If it gets over that level the health department will force the closure of the swimming pool until that is corrected and re-inspected. The only solution for high CYA levels is to drain the pool and replace the water with fresh water. This has been the norm for several years, but environmentally it is not a good idea to continue this practice.

 Every time a chlorine tablet dissolves CYA is added to your pool water.  Several other chemicals that allow the chlorine to have a longer shell life are built into that tablet and are also added to your pool water. The lack of those chemicals in your pool water when you use a salt system are actually the reason the pool water in those pools feel much better than pools on chlorine tablets. It is not because of the salt in the water

CYA, commonly sold as a stabilizer or conditioner will damage your pool plaster investment if left unchecked. Pools with colored finishes cannot maintain their intended color in high CYA level pool waters. Every time a chlorine tablet dissolves and every time the pool is shocked with granular chlorine the CYA value will increase.  Your plaster investment must be protected against high CYA values.

Chlorine tablets cause cya damage to groutChlorine tablet cause cya damage

Stay tuned for a solution to wasting water and high CYA values in your pool.  G&B will be releasing this must have information on Wednesday the 12th. 

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100% Quartz Finish Good Investment

100% quartz, Sparkle Quartz,

100% Quartz Finishes Are Good Investments. Quartz aggregate finishes are armed to stand up to water chemistry imbalances far better than standard plaster or 50% quartz finishes. Especially if the aggregate is 100% quartz. In an acid test where the quartz is submerged in acid, the quartz is completely unaffected. There is no reaction. The acid test is meant to simulate aggressive water in your pool. From that test you can see that a 100% quartz finish is going to perform very well in a pool environment.

100% Quartz, Sparkle Quartz,

G&B has proven the best finishes in the pool industry are either a 100% quartz aggregate or a pebble finish. We have proven that with the use of our 40,000 PSI Water Jetting machine. This is not your typical scientific test. Over the last 5 years we have replastered over 1500 pools with our Hydro Demo Replaster process. We pass over every square inch of the pool surface with up to 40,000 psi. The pool finishes that wilted/gave up the most under our 40,000 PSI test were standard plaster and finishes that did not have 100% Quartz or pebble as the aggregate. Pools that had more than 50% quartz or pebble did much better in our 40,000 psi test.

G&B chooses to offer the best bang for your buck finish on the market for our 100% quartz finish option. Sparkle Quartz is our quartz aggregate finish of choice. We are able to pump and trowel the Sparkle Quartz without adding any additives. That is not the case with the other options on the market for quartz aggregates. A finish that can be pumped through a hose, regardless of the hose length, and troweled without adding additives will outperform those that cannot.

We have been offering Sparkle Quartz since 2008 and have had nothing but satisfied customers who have chosen it. In addition to having 100% quartz it also features a high performance patented cement.  G&B prefers to install the best finishes on top of our hydro demo replaster prep for our customers and Sparkle Quartz meets that requirement easily.

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What Are Pozzolans?

 

 Pozzolans make plaster better

What Are Pozzolans?

Pozzolans are siliceous or siliceous and aluminous materials found in geologic deposits and are an effective method used to improve the quality of cement.

Pozzolans additions to the cement in plaster finishes were tested at the National Pool Industry Research Center (NPIRC). The testing was done to see if the addition of pozzolans improved the performance of the finish, if at all.   Pozzolans were also evaluated to determine if they improved the performance of standard plaster.

The Pozzolan additions to plaster were shown to reduce surface deterioration by up to 30% when compared to standard plaster without pozzalons.  This is very important information as the cement in a plaster mix is generally the weakest link as measured by the Mohs Scale of hardness.

Cement manufactures were charged with making their manufacturing process of cement “greener” to the environment. This created a challenge in the pool plaster industry. Manufactures were allowed to use “filler” material in the production of cement to achieve this goal. This does not have much effect on the cement used for sidewalks and driveways, but pool plaster is all together a different animal.  Pool plaster has to stand up to the most powerful element in the world, water. Chemically treated water to boot.

Adding pozzolans to these “greener” cements many not give you the results those tests proved at Cal Poly, but your plaster investment will benefit from using them.

Most plaster companies utilize the least expensive cement to reduce their expenses. They do not utilize the valuable information the NPIRC produced during the extensive testing done at Cal Poly. The testing done at Cal Poly is invaluable to a plaster company that intends to improve their services they provide to their customer base.

G&B uses the best cement on the market for pool plaster. It is a high performance patented pozzolans enhanced cement. Our standard finish is not standard at all. We offer the Finest Finish Series as our standard plaster. 

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White plaster is not a good finish.

Marble Dust acid test
White plaster is not good. It is too easily damaged by unbalanced pool water.

 

Marble Dust acid reaction
White plaster is not a good investment.

 

Standard white plaster is not a good finish to invest in for your pool replaster.

White plaster used to be the most common type of finish installed. This changed after testing showed the standard plaster was too easily damaged by out of balance water.  Standard plaster is a combination of white marble dust and white Portland cement. The marble dust registers less than a 3.0 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. It is a very soft material. Portland cement registers around a 2.0 on the same scale. Standard plaster can be colored by adding pigment to achieve a desired color. It must be mentioned that doing this will result in an upgraded standard finish in expense, but you will not receive an upgrade in quality equal to the expense.  Standard plaster is the weakest plaster finish on the market.  It cannot stand up to water chemistry imbalances and generally will last 5 years with proper balanced water chemistry. Far less in unbalanced water chemistry.  How long a finish will last is a relative term. I refer to that as how long it will be enjoyable relative to how rough it has become or how easily it is stained.

Many homeowners and pool service companies will acid wash their white plaster pools in an attempt to remove stains.  This is the worst thing you can do to a standard plaster! When standard pool plaster is acid washed, the acid oxidizes the marble dust and the cement, effectively removing the outer finish coat of the plaster. Leaving behind the rough inner matrix of the finish. Initially stains are removed and the plaster is bright white.  But due to the roughness left behind stains return very quickly.  The finish becomes so rough you will no longer enjoy the pool.

Marble dust aggregate, used in standard plaster, placed in a glass beaker will oxidize completely to a liquid when combined with acid in a very short time, about 30 seconds. The acid is used to simulate aggressive water. When the same test is done with quartz and pebble, there is zero reaction at all.

My Hydro Demo Prep Process has allowed me to see how strong different types of plaster finishes are relative to how they respond to our 40,000 PSI test. I see consistent evidence from insight I have gained over the last 5 years water jetting pools on surfaces of all types, that white plaster should not be used in swimming pools.

If you want your pool plaster finish to last for a long time, do not use standard plaster. Choose a quartz finish or a pebble finish. Make sure it is installed by a National Plasterers Council member. Choosing one of those finishes and allowing someone who is not a NPC member to install it for you, will not provide you the results I expect you to receive, especially if they use a homebrew bond coat.  I will expand on the different quartz finishes options in my post next week.

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How to choose a good pool plaster finish

 

 oklahoma-flagstone-and-micro-fusion

Why are some pool plaster finishes more durable than others? A good plaster finish is one that is durable and also looks good. To be able to understand why some pool finishes are more durable than others, you must have some understanding of pool finish materials.

This post will primarily focus on the aggregate portion of the plaster mixes. The most common aggregates used in pool finishes are marble dust, quartz, and pebble.  It is the aggregate that is the variable and the major factor in every finish that helps determine if it is more durable or not.  Cement is more or less Calcium.

The Mohs Scale is used to measure the relative hardness of a mineral by its resistance to scratching. From softest to hardest, the ten minerals of the Mohs scale are talc (measuring 1 on the scale), gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, orthoclase, quartz, topaz, corundum, and diamond (measuring 10 on the scale).  

Consider the difference between numbers in the Mohs Scale similar to the differences between and 2.0 and 6.0 earthquakes. The difference between the relative numbers on the Mohs scale are similar in distances apart as the earthquake numbers are different in relation to the damage that results from a 2.0 compared to a 6.0 earthquake.

Marble Dust registers at a number 3 on the Mohs Scale.  It is a very soft material. When a simple acid test (submerged in acid) is performed on marble dust, it completely oxidizes with nothing left.  When this same test is performed on both quartz and pebble, nothing happens. Quartz and pebble register at a number 7.0 on the Mohs Scale. The quartz and pebble are unaffected by the acid test.

The acid test is done to simulate aggressive pool water chemistry. If you have white plaster, it has marble dust in it as the aggregate. If your pool water is out of balance at any time the plaster will be damaged. White plaster is too weak to last for a long time even if the water chemistry is perfectly balanced.

Quartz and pebble finishes installed by National Plasterers Council members will outlast white plaster. White plaster should not be used in swimming pools. 

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Pool plaster finish type differences

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Over the last 20 years a great deal has been determined about pool plaster finishes and how to make it last longer. In July of 2004, the National Plasterers Council Research Foundation INC. began construction of the research center at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. Over the next few weeks I will go into detail on what has been learned over the years and what types of finishes that resulted from that research center.

Pool plaster finishes are made up of an aggregate and white portland cement. Examples of the types of aggregate used are marble dust, quartz, pebbles, and glass beads.  I will explain the type of plaster finishes available with the different aggregates.  There are also different types of cements and additives that are designed to improve cement performance within these plaster finishes.

Standard Pool Plaster

Standard white pool plaster is a time tested surface for the interior finish of a swimming pool.  It has been around for as long as pools have been being built.  Color plaster is achieved by adding pigment to standard white plaster.

Pre-blended Plaster

Manufactures have developed some plaster finishes with pozzalons, polymers, or other additions to make the cement stronger in its ability to withstand water chemistry imbalances. Pigments are commonly added to these finishes.

50% Color Quartz Plaster

This finish replaces 50% of the marble weight in the mix with quartz. Effectively making the aggregate portion of the mix ½ quartz and ½ marble dust. The quartz can be colored for a speckled finish appearance or white. Pigment can also be added to this finish.

Aggregate Finishes                                                                           

Aggregate surfaces are pre blended products composed of quartz aggregates and fortified cement.  There are many different colors available.  These are an upgrade alternative to traditional plaster and more durable than traditional plaster.

Pebble Surfaces 

Pebble surfaces are the commonly thought to be the most durable plaster type.  They derive the unique look from the differently colored natural pebbles.  The pebbles are not affected by water in color or strength.

 Polished Aggregate Finishes

Aggregate surfaces are pre blended products composed of quartz aggregates and fortified cement.  There are many different colors available.  These are an upgrade alternative to most other plaster finishes. They are generally the most consistent looking finish due to the polishing.

 Glass Bead Finshes

Glass beads are combined with cement. The beads are not affected by water. The glass beads are an eye catching finish. The bead are generally smooth.