I've been kicking the idea around of adding a ionizer to my 24 ft round pool and I don't know ifor it's what will fit my situation. I've got this pool at a home I rent,however the pool is all my responsibility. Landlord said do what I wish as I am probably buying this place anyway. Long story short I want to deal with less chemicals but want a clean pool. I switch between days and evenings so administration of chemicals is harder then most. I have 0 shade around my pool and the chlorine evaporates quickly. Can I get any input on maintained and chemicals from anyone who owns one and has solid knowledge. If this is in the wrong spot please move and let me know.
Ionizer yay or nay
- Thread starter JLeeper
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
Big Nay.
Virtually no benefit and potential negative side effects. An ionizer still requires chlorine at the exact same levels, can mask an unsanitized pool by controlling algae, and can lead to staining of pool surfaces and green hair on swimmers.
Big Nay.
Virtually no benefit and potential negative side effects. An ionizer still requires chlorine at the exact same levels, can mask an unsanitized pool by controlling algae, and can lead to staining of pool surfaces and green hair on swimmers.
Welcome! 
Short answer: Nay.
For what you'd spend on an ionizer, you could probably buy a saltwater chlorine generator that will keep the pool chlorinated for you no matter what hours you work.
We don't like adding a bunch of chemicals to our pools, either. Me? I add liquid pool chlorine, liquid muriatic acid, and a few trichlor pucks when I'm going out of town. That's it for the last six years. If I bought a SWG, That would bring me only needing... acid. How much simpler can it get? Nothing is ever completely maintenance free.
You ought to spend a few minutes checking out some of the basic articles in Pool School.
Specifically: ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and Pool School - What is TFPC?
Short answer: Nay.
For what you'd spend on an ionizer, you could probably buy a saltwater chlorine generator that will keep the pool chlorinated for you no matter what hours you work.
We don't like adding a bunch of chemicals to our pools, either. Me? I add liquid pool chlorine, liquid muriatic acid, and a few trichlor pucks when I'm going out of town. That's it for the last six years. If I bought a SWG, That would bring me only needing... acid. How much simpler can it get? Nothing is ever completely maintenance free.
You ought to spend a few minutes checking out some of the basic articles in Pool School.
Specifically: ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and Pool School - What is TFPC?
Welcome to TFP!
To get straight to the point: ionizers are more work, more expense, and cause more problems than you will find in any TFPC pool. I can't point to a single expert here that uses one, although plenty found this place trying to fix the problems caused by one.
To get straight to the point: ionizers are more work, more expense, and cause more problems than you will find in any TFPC pool. I can't point to a single expert here that uses one, although plenty found this place trying to fix the problems caused by one.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,400
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You know what will make the pool way more easy to maintain than an ionizer - a bubble cover! Simply covering the pool will cut down on evaporation, keep the pH more stable and cut down the amount of chlorine lost UV. And the best part is - a 12-mil, 24ft round bubble cover is way cheaper than any ionizer. Add on a salt water chlorine generator or a Stenner chlorine injection pump (if you don't want salt) and about the only thing you'll ever need to do to your pool is adjust the pH from time to time with a little muriatic acid.
Big fat thumbs-down for ionizers!
Big fat thumbs-down for ionizers!
In case it has not been made clear above ionizers add metals to the water, mostly they add copper, copper turns blond hair green, stains pools, and worst of all kills algae. You may think killing algae is a good thing, the problem is with a chlorinated pool we use the lack of visible algae partly as a proxy for knowing we have a well sanitized pool as chlorine effectively kills most viruses and bacteria as well as algae, by contrast copper ion systems only effectively kill algae and barely do anything to viruses and bacteria which are not visible to the naked eye.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,288
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Nay as well, from someone who thought it sounded really cool until my pre-build research showed me it was ancient technology re-bundled to sound eco-this or natural-that. Way more work for the pool owner, and added cost, have already been mentioned.
The other thing I've learned here from experts who really care about people's safety, is that the fear of chlorine for sanitation (done properly) is entirely unfounded in science. It is chlorine done badly that leads to the sharing of nasty germs, "motel pool smell" and other water chemistry aspects that cause sore eyes and itchy skin. TFP methods prevent those things from being caused by swimming pool water treatment. The bonus is that your pool will never turn green the day before a party. On the contrary, it will sparkle all season, the system is not difficult, and it's a fraction of the cost of free water testing and potions from a pool $tore.
The post linked below is a long and a heavy read, but by the end of it, a light bulb goes on and you think... "what's all the fuss about chorine?!?". Along with decades of residential pool management across 10s of thousands of pools, the chemistry described in this thread is what TroubleFreePool is based on.
Pool Water Chemistry
The other thing I've learned here from experts who really care about people's safety, is that the fear of chlorine for sanitation (done properly) is entirely unfounded in science. It is chlorine done badly that leads to the sharing of nasty germs, "motel pool smell" and other water chemistry aspects that cause sore eyes and itchy skin. TFP methods prevent those things from being caused by swimming pool water treatment. The bonus is that your pool will never turn green the day before a party. On the contrary, it will sparkle all season, the system is not difficult, and it's a fraction of the cost of free water testing and potions from a pool $tore.
The post linked below is a long and a heavy read, but by the end of it, a light bulb goes on and you think... "what's all the fuss about chorine?!?". Along with decades of residential pool management across 10s of thousands of pools, the chemistry described in this thread is what TroubleFreePool is based on.
Pool Water Chemistry