Frogger

[belgique]

Disclaimer before you bash me: I am a believer in BBB and had a pretty good year last year. I will keep that up...when we are home. But:

A neighbor in the RV park loves his Frogger system because he is able to RV a lot and not come home to a green pool. He knows it costs more, but he can stay on the road more. As earlier posts show, that is our goal: stay on the road while we can as much as we can. But, we need the pool open because we do a vacation rental and use it when we are home.

Before you say get a neighbor: we live in the country. We have no neighbor than can do the BBB stuff. We have a friend (with disabilities) that can swap out cartridges. She cannot haul buckets of bleach and do testing. We've tried. Luckily we live in an open area and the pool rarely needs vacuuming. I just need a way to automatically keep the pool clear, even if it costs extra money (within reason). CYA buildup is not a huge problem because the pool is only open from 1 June until Labor Day...maybe longer if it stays warm and there are no hurricanes and we are on a well with plenty of water.

I saw an older thread on Frogger. Wonder if there are more recent experiences with it or other automatic systems? Again: it has to be simple...screw out the old cartridge and put in a new one.

Thanks! Steve

 

[Bama Rambler]

The problem with the Frog is not only the CYA it constantly adds its also adding metals to your water. If you're willing to live with that as well as drain when the CYA and metals get too high, go for it. BBB is all about testing and knowing what to do with the results.

You can always just not replace the mineral cartridge in the Frog and let the trichlor do the work.

 

[chem geek]

The advantage of copper ions is that they stay in the pool so can kill/prevent algae growth for a long time. The downside is that they can stain pool surfaces and turn blond hair greenish. Other methods with fewer side effects that still have a long-term persistent effect are to use 50 ppm Borates in the pool and to use a phosphate remover. The latter two are not a guarantee, but the combination of both would likely be as effective as the use of copper ions, but without the staining side effects. Of course, these things cost a lot more than just keeping chlorine in the pool, but that's not a reliable option for you when you aren't at home.

 

[JasonLion]

No automated system can allow a swimming pool to reliably go weeks at a time without attention. Many different systems will allow you to go several days, or possibly a week, at a time (as long as nothing unusual happens). A SWG and well balanced water chemistry is the approach I recommend.

 

[chem geek]

Also, what I described was with regard to algae prevention. That isn't the same as sanitary water. At first I thought you were away for extended periods but the pool wasn't used while you were away, but since you wrote that you are renting out your place as a vacation rental, then it really does need to be sanitary and neither copper ions nor Borates nor phosphate removers will do that. You have to have an EPA-approved sanitizer, most notably chlorine, to keep it sanitary.

 

[JamesW]

If the house will be rented while you are gone, show the renters how to test the chlorine and make adjustments.

If the house will not be rented while you are gone, then you might want to consider putting on a solid safety cover to keep the pool clean. Bump up the chlorine to shock levels (about 25 to 40 % of the cyanuric acid level) and leave the pump running on low speed (if two speed).

The safety covers really don't take that much time to put on and take off. You can use a cordless drill with the proper bit to quickly put the anchors up and down.

You could also consider hiring a pool service person.

 

[belgique]

Thanks all. Not sure what we'll do. You can't train vacation renters when they are only their for a few days (and we're not there either) and I sure wish there was a pool service. I'm in the country. No such thing. Will keep researching. Again, thanks!

 

[dmanb2b]

A SWG would likely be your best solution, but it won't be fool proof

 

[belgique]

A SWG would likely be your best solution, but it won't be fool proof

Yeah, I think you are right. Now to wade through the zillon posts to figure out which one would be the smart choice considering: affordability, ABG 20x40, power drops, etc. A daunting task.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's not too hard. Your pool holds about 24,000 gallons of water so an Aqua-Rite with a T-15 cell is about perfect for your pool.