Does a salt water pool system cause residue or build up on waterfall rocks going into a pool or tile and grout along the waterline of a pool?

Answer 1

In fact a salt water pool would generally be softer water. Those white deposits are from "Hard water" evaporating and leaving behind whatever minerals are found in the water. Usually the deposit is mostly calcium. Care must be taken to avoid unbalanced water and high concentrations of calcium hardness. The deposits can be removed with the proper acid (when they are still just a film; WARNING the acid may cause etching if not used properly). Once they have become a scale they must be removed with 1) pumice or wire brushes (WARNING: may scratch glaze) 2)by blasting with sand (WARNING: will almost certainly cause damage to glaze) 3) Blasting with glass beads (WARNING: will etch glaze if not done by an expert, but not nearly as bad as sand). 4)Water blasting (Won't/can't damage tile glaze). YES, I have a biased opinion, because I have professionally used all of these techniques. It may be more difficult to find a professional in your area that offers water blasting because it is relativly new (3 yrs)and there are only about 50-60 professionals using it in the US. Hope that helps, Steve

We have installed a salt water pool and the above and below water surface have combination of glass and amrble mosaic tiles. We used white portand cement to grout the joints. We applied a traditional sealer, let it cure and filled the pool. After two months we drained the pool in order o complete the coping as the material arrived later. We discovered to our dismay that the grout sealer was completely ineffective and the grout gave the appearance of never having bene sealed. We are now in the process of vetting the sealant industry and have not got a consistent answer from any company. Miracle says their Hydro Pourous Plus will work fine. Another company told us none of these producs including their product will work in an underwater, salt water, cement grout application. He recommended a "hydrostatic" sealer. I am having trouble locating such a product and I am not sure what is different with a hydrostatic sealer. In any event, my experience indicates that a salt water pool does have a negative effect on run of the mill grout sealers. I would appreciate any comments or thoughts others may have. Thanks. Tom

The build up on your pool tile and rock formation is efflorescence and it is a chemical reaction caused by water passing through concrete. Artificial rock made with type 1 (or type 10) portland cement, and tile set with lime admix will be inclined to calcify. Efflorescence is one of the hardest to eliminate and most common problems that concrete and swimming pool contractors encounter. The single best solution (other than resetting the tile and rock without lime additive) is to wash once monthly with a diluted vinegar solution and stiff bristle nylon brush. The addition of sealers over the rock or tile will dramatically worsen the problem at this stage. Answer from a Stone Person Any natural stone or masonry surrounding a saltwater pools should be sealed for protection to prevent pitting and flaking for the surface called "Spalling", This is caused by saltwater splash-outs penetrating into porous stone or concrete. The product you need is manufactured by DuPont specifically for stone and masonry surrounding saltwater pools. It can be purchased online at the link below http://www.levantinausaec.com/d14226675.html Depending on the type of stone you have you can potentially damage the stone by using vinegar which can react with the natural calcium that is found in some natural stones.