Bought the new Intex SWG 54601EG with copper ionization this summer to replace the old pre copper SWG with worn out plates. Thought the cooper was a great idea after fighting algae constantly with the old unit. The first new unit I bought at Walmart had a control problem. But Intex quickly sent me a replacement no charge. But they sent the older version. Took me forever to get it straigthened out mostly due to Fedex. Intex very responsive. I wanted the latest technology I paid for. Now I am paying for it. I had a new original problem free unit in my hands and sent it back!!
The problem is of course copper. Which is not staining the pool but tinting my grand daughters hair green. It's light green on these summer beach blondes. The pool water looks and feel great.
I've been browsing through these forums for several weeks and have learned a lot. Today I registered and this is my first post.
I've learned that it is the copper that causes the green tint, but the hair is made vulnerable by the chlorine. The girls have also spent a lot of time in heavy use fresh water chlorinated pools. The chlorine level in the Intex pool has never been high and reads 0 FC when they are swimming in it. Heat and sunlight here on the Georgia coast eat up the FC before noon. I have got the cyanuric acid at 30-50 with HTH Stablizer. I run the SWG every night.
When the green hair first appeared the first thing I did was dump 20% of the water and refilled with fresh. Before the refill the copper was at .2 ppm, supposedly safe. It was .2 after the refill. Out of curiosity I filled a clean bucket with water from the hose I filled the pool with. Did a copper test on the fresh water -- it was .2 ppm. It was also High PH 7.8 -8. We have very hard water here from the limestone aquifer. I've battled that with cautious doses of HTH PH Minus. Got it down to PH 7.5 now. (Test strips are hard to read for PH)
I also bought some Metal Free and have cautiously added that as directed. Copper test strip readings are around .1 ppm.
I've gone into detail because I might be missing something and it is all about balance.
Here is my concern. I disconnected the plug to the Copper ionizer but left the copper bars in place in the SWG. I have to clean the SWG frequently ( vinegar soak and reaming with plastic cable ties ) because of the calcium deposits from our hard water. It's soaking right now. When I pulled out the copper bars to pour in the vinegar, they had green corrosion right where the chlorinated SWG water hits them. Is this green copper going into the pool? Also when I add the vinegar small flakes of what looks like copper sink to the bottom of the SWG chamber.
The problem is of course copper. Which is not staining the pool but tinting my grand daughters hair green. It's light green on these summer beach blondes. The pool water looks and feel great.
I've been browsing through these forums for several weeks and have learned a lot. Today I registered and this is my first post.
I've learned that it is the copper that causes the green tint, but the hair is made vulnerable by the chlorine. The girls have also spent a lot of time in heavy use fresh water chlorinated pools. The chlorine level in the Intex pool has never been high and reads 0 FC when they are swimming in it. Heat and sunlight here on the Georgia coast eat up the FC before noon. I have got the cyanuric acid at 30-50 with HTH Stablizer. I run the SWG every night.
When the green hair first appeared the first thing I did was dump 20% of the water and refilled with fresh. Before the refill the copper was at .2 ppm, supposedly safe. It was .2 after the refill. Out of curiosity I filled a clean bucket with water from the hose I filled the pool with. Did a copper test on the fresh water -- it was .2 ppm. It was also High PH 7.8 -8. We have very hard water here from the limestone aquifer. I've battled that with cautious doses of HTH PH Minus. Got it down to PH 7.5 now. (Test strips are hard to read for PH)
I also bought some Metal Free and have cautiously added that as directed. Copper test strip readings are around .1 ppm.
I've gone into detail because I might be missing something and it is all about balance.
Here is my concern. I disconnected the plug to the Copper ionizer but left the copper bars in place in the SWG. I have to clean the SWG frequently ( vinegar soak and reaming with plastic cable ties ) because of the calcium deposits from our hard water. It's soaking right now. When I pulled out the copper bars to pour in the vinegar, they had green corrosion right where the chlorinated SWG water hits them. Is this green copper going into the pool? Also when I add the vinegar small flakes of what looks like copper sink to the bottom of the SWG chamber.