WHEN TO DO AN ACID WASH:

        When you have "STAINING" on the pool surface AND NO ALGAE. (If you have algae, do a chlorine rinse first.)

        All an acid-wash will do is, at best, remove surface staining from the surface of a pool. An acid-wash will remove / lighten:

                1.) Spots that look dirty where you can't brush the dirt off.

                2.) Surface rust stains

                3.) uneven coloration in pebble tech pools

                4.) Staining due to overuse of algaecides (Copper, Silver, ...)

        What an acid-wash will not do: (See the page preceding this section for links to solve these "other" problems: Click HERE!)

                1.) An acid-wash will not touch the calcium on your tile, or at your water line.

                2.) An acid-wash will not remove algae. Algae excretes a substance that acts almost like a wax. In most cases, the only way to remove algae using an acid-wash, is to eat all of the material out of the walls of your pool that the algae is attached to. YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS. Have an expert do a chlorine rinse to remove all of the algae, … then remove all of the chlorine so you don't kill yourself, and everyone in the neighborhood by mixing chlorine and acid creating mustard gas, AND THEN, have the expert do the acid wash to remove the staining, if necessary. DO NOT DO THIS BY YOURSELF. DYING IS A POOR WAY OF SAVING MONEY!

                3.) An acid-wash will not remove any defects in the surface itself, i.e. rebar spots, troweling marks, calcium nodules, staining that is deep down in the surface, i.e. etched plaster surfaces, ...

            Cheap Acid Washes

                1.) "Cheap" acid-washes will cost you thousands of dollars more than the price. When it comes to acid-washes, you get what you pay for in most cases. When I see prices that are a little above half of what I charge, and I am only making $30 - $40 an hour after loading all of my equipment, driving to and from the job site twice, investing in the chemicals and equipment I need to do the job right, ... and people doing the same quality of work would only walk away with $8.00 an hour, OR LESS, I can GUARANTEE you that they are NOT doing the same type of job, with the same quality of materials, with the same type of equipment, and, most definitely, not with the same care and concern for the well-being of your pool, that I have.

            Good quality Acid Washes

                1.) Involve acid spraying equipment, surfactants, great care to apply acid ONLY to stained areas, and in concentrations that are, "LESS LIKELY", to cause permanent damage to your plaster, and a repeated application of this "Less dangerous solution", until all of the staining, that can be reasonably removed, IS, removed. Using surfactant that prevent the acid from running off, and eating channels into the bottom of your pool. Acid Washes are a labor intensive, equipment intensive, knowledge intensive, process, that, if you do it wrong, can ruin a pool surface, or, if you are doing this improperly, especially after a chlorine rinse, you can cause permanent bodily harm. Doing this wrong can hurt or can kill you.

               WARNING: Regardless of the acid-wash on pool plaster, even a high quality one, done by someone that knows what he is doing, and has the right equipment, an acid-wash will ALWAYS remove SOME of the pool's surface, and will lessen the life span of that surface. IT IS ALWAYS in the best interests of the pool owner to COMPLETELY drain, refill, and restabilize the pool every year, so that you do not need to do an acid wash every other year. If you have a sand filter, and are backwashing out 2-3 inches of water every week to two weeks, you can probably get away with completely draining and refilling your pool every 2 years. If you have a cartridge filter, EVERY YEAR is mandatory. (Note: This is one of the MANY reasons that I will never own a cartridge filter. Cartridge filters actually use more water than D.E. or sand, because proper pool maintenance REQUIRES the pool be drained every year for high hardness, … AND, you use an hours’ worth of water every time you clean the filter elements thoroughly.)