LUXAPOOL® GENERAL POOL CARE GUIDE

Congratulations on choosing the luxury feel of LUXAPOOL® Epoxy Coating for your pool. The following information is designed to answer some frequently asked questions and help you get maximum life and enjoyment from your new pool coating.

ABOUT YOUR FRESHLY PAINTED POOL SURFACE

  1. Take care when walking in the empty pool as the smooth surface is very slippery when wet. This will subside over 3–6 months.
  2. The LUXAPOOL® Epoxy Coating is not technically damaged by rain or moisture contacting the surface after more than 3 hours of completion of application. Any milky discolouration caused by early rain, heavy dew or high humidity is ON, not IN, the coating. It is only surface bloom and does not affect lasting properties of the coating. If desired, this bloom may be removed by rubbing vigorously with a plastic scouring pad (e.g. Scotch Brite®), scrubbing brush or cloth together with a mild abrasive cleaning powder (e.g. Ajax® or Vim®) or crème cleanser (e.g. Gumption®). If left as is, it will generally disappear within the first few weeks or months after the pool is filled with water.
  3. Collected rainwater after the final coat will not harm the coating, but may leave a blooming mark as in 2. above.
  4. Any leaves or insects stuck that may have been trapped on the surface of the coating while drying may be removed by gently scraping off after about 5 days. Leaf stains on the surface will generally disappear within a week or so after the pool is filled and chlorinated.

FILLING THE POOL

  1. In summer, immediately after filling the pool, new water should be super chlorinated for the first two nights and sediment on the floor vacuumed. Continuous filtration should be carried out until the water becomes crystal clear (typically 24 hours). Salt in salt water pools may also be added as soon as the pool is filled.
  2. In winter, these steps may be delayed by up to a week after filling.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Chalking is a natural process during the life of all epoxy coatings, particularly in outdoor settings exposed to sunshine. You can’t stop it, but you can slow it down, such that, with appropriate care, you’ll maximise the life of your new epoxy coating.

It is imperative that you make sure that the pool shop testing your pool water chemistry knows that the chemistry needs to be balanced within the limits set out in the table below (see also USEFUL HINTS below).

CHEMICAL BALANCE:

  1. Total alkalinity (TA) of pool water should be adjusted to 180 ppm and allowed to decay. Maintain in the range 160–180 ppm. Addition of approximately 1 kg bicarb soda
    per 5,500 L is usually sufficient for new or fresh pool water (11 kg/61,000 L or
    5 kg/75,000 L).
  2. Low TA is generally indicated by a white powdery deposit (chalking) on the surface (see also USEFUL HINTS below). If these powdery deposits are allowed to develop unchecked, this may result in reduced service life of the coating due to the abrasive action of feet and (robotic) pool cleaners on the powder grinding away at the paint surface.
    An early indication of this is ‘pickup’ of colour on hands and feet.
  3. pH should be maintained between 7.6–8.
  4. Chlorine levels are best kept at a minimum consistent with good pool hygiene.
    Less than 3 ppm is a good guide, but ideally 1–2 ppm.
  5. Calcium hardness should be maintained in the narrowest possible range
    between 280–320 ppm.

POOL CHEMISTRY AT A GLANCE
Total alkalinity (TA) 160–180 ppm
pH 7.6–7.8
Calcium hardness 280–320 ppm
Chlorine 1–2 ppm

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE

  1. In much the same way as you would cut back and polish a car from time to time as well as more frequent washing, we strongly recommend that you ensure a routine of vigorously brushing the walls and floor areas of the pool with a pool broom, followed by 8 hours of filtering. This should be done monthly in summer or every 6–8 weeks in cooler periods. This routine will help present a smooth, hygienic (non algae supporting) surface to the pool water and will greatly enhance the longevity of the LUXAPOOL® Epoxy Coating, particularly when using calcium hypochlorite.
  2. Chalking is a natural process during the life of the epoxy coating and is not a result of any defect in the paint or material used in the manufacture of the paint. Thus, by minimising chalking, you will maximise the life of the painted surface. To minimise chalking, TA should be checked regularly and maintained within the range 160–180 ppm ALL YEAR ROUND.
  3. Note for Sand Filters: The chalked product rubbed off as above is too fine to be trapped by a sand filter. This can be addressed in two ways. Either:
    1. Allow this material to settle and then gently vacuum to waste,
      OR
    2. Coagulate/flocculate before filtration and back-wash, but this runs the risk of clogging the sand filter.
  4. Note for Robotic Pool Cleaners with Hard Wheels: The wheels of these cleaners are exceptionally abrasive and will decrease the life of an epoxy surface. Talk to your pool shop for suggestions on other cleaners.

USEFUL HINTS

  • If stabiliser (cyanuric acid) is used, do not exceed 55 ppm as this will give a false
    TA reading.
  • DO NOT confuse total alkalinity (TA) with pH.
  • Should a dusty, white powdery surface (chalking) become noticeable, it can be removed by winding an elastic bandage around the pool broom and thoroughly brushing or rubbing the entire pool surface (see note 12 above). Follow this with up to 8 hours of filtration and then backwash the filter. After this, dose the pool with bicarb soda to bring TA back to 180 ppm. (See also note 14, Sand Filters above)
  • The strong focus on TA is based on our 45 years’ experience with epoxy coatings under Australian water and climate conditions. For example, most Test Kit recommendations are based on conditions in America, where it is cooler, further from the equator, with minimal effect from the ozone hole and it is quite usual to empty pools over winter. Thus, in America management of chalking is not as significant an issue. In Australia, the UV is harsher and it is more usual to manage pool water chemistry through winter.
  • Finally, if you are having your pool water chemistry managed professionally (e.g. by a shop), it is important that under pool type, you specify PAINT rather than fibreglass, marblesheen or concrete, as PAINT is the surface presenting to the water. Our experience is that epoxy paint benefits from a higher TA than those specified for other surface types. Incorrect specification usually leads to incorrect pool chemistry and that in turn leads to TA being maintained at lower levels than recommended above. This causes problems including faster rates of surface powdering (chalking), more ‘pickup’ on feet and lower life expectancy of the epoxy coating.

With appropriate care, you can look forward to many years of enjoyment from the smooth, beautiful finish of your LUXAPOOL® Epoxy Coating.

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY: The technical and/or application advice offered in this publication represents the present state of our knowledge and is believed to be reliable. Buyers and intended users of all Colormaker Industries products should read the product label, TDS and Application Guide carefully and then conduct their own assessment to confirm the suitability of the product, including in conjunction with other products and the types of surfaces to, and the manner in which, the product will be applied. This is to satisfy themselves that the product is suitable for use in the area intended and under conditions of application and cure. Given the wide range of substrates, environmental conditions and methods of application, Colormaker Industries offers no warranty of performance, either expressed or implied based on the above information. The painter, contractor or applicator of Colormaker Industries products may reject the advice given by Colormaker Industries either orally or in writing as it is their responsibility, not that of Colormaker Industries, to carry out appropriate application within any given context.

LUXAPOOL® is registered trade mark

© Colormaker Industries 2023

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