I’m a fairly new pool owner – bought the house last year and had a pool for the first time last season. Did a lot of reading on this board in order to survive our first year – and am happy to say that none of us grew a third arm or came down with any other kind of weird mutations and the water was clear all season. Not completely sure I did everything correctly but figured that was a successful pool season. 
Now that I’ve got the generalities of pool care down, I’m starting to look into making some improvements to our system. We did have to replace the pump early last year – but everything else is fairly old and I’ve got a few questions. We’ve been talking about going to a SWG and in the process are considering replacing our sand filter. We noticed under the return on the steps that there was always a little bit of sand. We’re not completely sure this is from the filter as the concrete around the pool does seem to have some breakdown and generate some sand. On top of this, our multi-port is kinda limping along according to the guys that opened the pool for us last year. They thought we could still get some use out of it but suspected it would need to be replaced at some point. I figure if we are going to have to replace it, and are going to get a SWG, we might as well go ahead and get everything arranged the way we’d like and not have to worry about being in a situation where something has quit working and needs to be replaced mid-season.
So. I’m looking for some guidance. Our pool is approx 30,000 gallons, inground, oval/rectangular, vinyl and located in Central Ky. Haven't opened it for the season yet. Current sand filter is a Hayward S245T and is being run by a Pentair Superflow 1HP. Pool gets full sun from early morning to mid-evening. No main drain. Use a robotic cleaner during the season. Currently has a chlorine feeder. Also owned by a couple of dogs who love swimming – so they are in the pool pretty regularly. Me and my robot spend a lot of time cleaning dog hair out of the pool!
Any suggestions filter/SWG-wise would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been doing some reading and will continue to do so – there’s a wealth of information here! It’s my understanding that a larger capacity SWG than the pool size is worth considering (ie the next step up in cell size). Considering the AquaRite and possibly the CircuPool – though doesn’t look like there’s a lot of feedback on the CircuPool line yet. AutoPilot has also caught my eye but seems like that was more expensive. Haven’t yet started doing much research on the size of the sand filter (or if I want to move to something different) but will be doing that also. Last year, we ran the filter continuously – I don’t think I necessarily need to do that and am guessing it’s even less desirable to do so with a SWG in the system? Assume that would mean needing to get some sort of timer/automation system set up. Wondered if leaving the chlorine feeder in the system would be a good idea since we already have it – don’t really see how it would be a problem and thought it might be a nice back up…?
Our goal, of course, is to make things as easy as possible. Ultimately my goal is to have the pool so easy to take care of that if something happens to me (pool-taker-care-of person) it will be easily manageable for my better half, who has some medical disability due to MS. Given this, we are also looking at getting a solar cover along with the water powered Auto Reel. Wouldn’t mind any feedback on this piece of equipment (FeherGuard Auto Reel) as well!
Whew!
Thanks for reading through my chaos! Any suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated - in the meantime I'm heading back to the forums to do some more reading!
Now that I’ve got the generalities of pool care down, I’m starting to look into making some improvements to our system. We did have to replace the pump early last year – but everything else is fairly old and I’ve got a few questions. We’ve been talking about going to a SWG and in the process are considering replacing our sand filter. We noticed under the return on the steps that there was always a little bit of sand. We’re not completely sure this is from the filter as the concrete around the pool does seem to have some breakdown and generate some sand. On top of this, our multi-port is kinda limping along according to the guys that opened the pool for us last year. They thought we could still get some use out of it but suspected it would need to be replaced at some point. I figure if we are going to have to replace it, and are going to get a SWG, we might as well go ahead and get everything arranged the way we’d like and not have to worry about being in a situation where something has quit working and needs to be replaced mid-season.
So. I’m looking for some guidance. Our pool is approx 30,000 gallons, inground, oval/rectangular, vinyl and located in Central Ky. Haven't opened it for the season yet. Current sand filter is a Hayward S245T and is being run by a Pentair Superflow 1HP. Pool gets full sun from early morning to mid-evening. No main drain. Use a robotic cleaner during the season. Currently has a chlorine feeder. Also owned by a couple of dogs who love swimming – so they are in the pool pretty regularly. Me and my robot spend a lot of time cleaning dog hair out of the pool!
Any suggestions filter/SWG-wise would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been doing some reading and will continue to do so – there’s a wealth of information here! It’s my understanding that a larger capacity SWG than the pool size is worth considering (ie the next step up in cell size). Considering the AquaRite and possibly the CircuPool – though doesn’t look like there’s a lot of feedback on the CircuPool line yet. AutoPilot has also caught my eye but seems like that was more expensive. Haven’t yet started doing much research on the size of the sand filter (or if I want to move to something different) but will be doing that also. Last year, we ran the filter continuously – I don’t think I necessarily need to do that and am guessing it’s even less desirable to do so with a SWG in the system? Assume that would mean needing to get some sort of timer/automation system set up. Wondered if leaving the chlorine feeder in the system would be a good idea since we already have it – don’t really see how it would be a problem and thought it might be a nice back up…?
Our goal, of course, is to make things as easy as possible. Ultimately my goal is to have the pool so easy to take care of that if something happens to me (pool-taker-care-of person) it will be easily manageable for my better half, who has some medical disability due to MS. Given this, we are also looking at getting a solar cover along with the water powered Auto Reel. Wouldn’t mind any feedback on this piece of equipment (FeherGuard Auto Reel) as well!
Whew!
Thanks for reading through my chaos! Any suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated - in the meantime I'm heading back to the forums to do some more reading!
I will try to answer as best I can. I will break the post into segments and answer in 
