SWG or Baquacil

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thefrizfam

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Jun 28, 2013
2
Michigan
Our pool is being installed this week. We have to decide between going with a SWG, which I think I would prefer, and Baquacil, which is coming highly recommended by the pool store owner.

The SWG we'd use is the Hayward Goldline AQ-TROL-RJ AquaTrol Above-Ground Pool Return Jet Chlorinator. The pool store owner is telling me that using this would void our warranty and basically only had bad things to say about swg's...great for the first year then the danger begins...corrosion...maintenance...won't even be an option in a few years because it is so inefficient.

She happens to be the only Baquacil distributor in our area. She raves about it. I'm finding so many mixed reviews online.

My 1 yo daughter has extremely sensitive skin/eczema, so I'm trying to find the best option available for her and the rest of our family. I would love some feedback on both of these options. Thanks :)
 
Welcome! :wave:

Have you scrolled through the baquacil forum? You'll note a strong bias towards conversion and not much for use. Apparently the chemicals are pricey and after a few years people start suffering from weird sheets of mold and so on.

A well balanced chlorine pool (SWG is a chlorine pool, it's just made on site rather than dumped in) actually has less available, active chlorine than tap water. And many people report the salt is soothing to the skin.

Try using the search function for exzcema and borates and read others' experiences.
 
I try so hard not to be cynical, but the only reason I can think of to rave about Baquacil is if you are the person selling it. They make a lot more money off of a Baquacil user than they do off of a SWG user, which is hardly an advantage for you. The only possible reason to use Baquacil is if someone in your family has a true chlorine allergy (which is exceedingly rare).
 
I'm not familiar with Baquacil but I can tell you that about 5 years ago I installed a Jandy Aquapure SWG system and it's been great. Very low maintenance and pretty reliable. Water feels great on your skin, no chlorine smell at all. Have not had a significant problem with corrosion although I did replace the in-floor cleaning system pump recently, but it was 9 years old anyway. If you do go with an SWG, I would highly recommend that you get one that reverses polarity on the cell regularly (Aquapure does that). It cuts way down on calcium build up on the cell.
 
Sister-in-law was was thought to have an "chlorine allergy" and has very sensitive skin. This caused my in-laws to use Baqua for almost 20 years. No way they would ever go back. Thousands of dollars tossed for dirty subpar water. She now often uses the pool with no issues.

Go SWG.
 
Another option would be to go traditional BBB, meaning manually dosing your pool daily with liquid chlorine. You can add salt to the pool at the levels you would for a SWG for the salt feel. You can add borates to. You could run the pool like this for awhile, if you encounter no skin issues than you can easily install a SWG to avoid manual dosing of chlorine. If you encounter skin issues and think Bagua would be better you could just switch then (might want to research salt levels with baqua).
 
Thank you for all of the replies. I did browse through the baquacil posts here and it pretty much confirmed everything else I've read. :( We are going with the SWG, so I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. I looked up the pool warranty online and it doesn't say that using one will void the warranty (as the pool store owner stated). It just says that the warranty doesn't cover any damages caused by using a SWG. I wouldn't expect it to.
 
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