Hales and his research team at onBalance decided to test this phenomenon on a larger scale and under different conditions, and have set to work building demonstration pools.

For their first experiment, they plan to plaster a pool in four sections.

Three of the sections will be organic pigmented blue plaster and one will be inorganic pigmented blue plaster.

They plan to divide the pool in half and then for one year subject half of the plaster to aggressive water, while the other half of the pool will be LSI balanced.

Hales said they expect to see the fading and discoloration more noticeable in the organic sections, and will observe the additional effects from aggressive verses balanced water.

For their second pool, they plan to study the effects of calcium chloride set accelerant to the plaster mix. The common industry-wide accepted plastering standard is that the mix should not contain more than two percent calcium chloride.

However, some plasterers exceed this limit and onBalance has reported that when it is exceeded problems start to become visible.

To study this, they will divide the pool into four sections of white plaster and add 0, 1, 2 and 3 percent calcium chloride to the sections to bracket the two percent standard. They plan to divide the pool in half and then for one year subject half of the plaster to aggressive water, while the other half of the pool will be LSI balanced.

Hales said they expect to see that higher amounts of calcium chloride can lead to a light grey discoloration effect on the plaster as well as increased porosity; and again, the effects of aggressive verses balanced water will be observed.

onBalance welcomes donations for completing the project. Hales said that while the cost of building the pools is now covered, the major expense will be in the petrographic lab studies to analyze the samples, which will be upwards of $16,000. To see how donated funds have been allocated, go to www.poolhelp.com.

To donate, send a Venmo payment to @Que-Hales. He can be contacted at que@poolhelp.com Also, if anyone wants to get involved in the building portion of the project, includes electrical work, decking and plastering, they welcome the help, say it will be a great learning experience.

“The more the merrier – If people want to come and get involved, great!” Hales said.

IPSSA Tucson volunteers, onBalance Demonstration Pools, Tucson, Arizona

IPSSA Tucson volunteers, onBalance Demonstration Pools, Tucson, Arizona