Time for a sticky for pros and cons of a SWCG?

[ping]

Pros and Cons of a SWCG

Pros:

• The convenience of not having to haul and add chlorine daily
• Chlorine is more consistent over a period of time. Eliminates the trouble that can be caused if the normal chlorine dose is missed for a day or two
• Able to go on vacations without the need to have someone attend to the pool
• Eliminates the rise in CYA if someone is using pucks for chlorination
• Some people like the feel of the water. Note that a SWCG is not required to have the salt feel of the water. Add enough salt to 2000 ppm and the water will have the same feel to it

Cons:
• Upfront cost is high, but overall cost is about equal to a manually chlorinated pool
• Repair cost if the SWCG fails early
• Possible increase in acid demand
• Could damage soft stones, need to seal stone work
• Could increase the electrical cost due to needing more pump on-time to make enough chlorine
• Very minor increase in electrical cost due to the SWCG electronics
• Gives a false sense of security that the pool chemicals are balanced. Still need to perform consistent testing as it is not a set it and forget it solution
• It is more difficult to SLAM a pool due to a higher CYA level if SLAMing is ever needed
• Some people do not like the taste of the water


We usually get multiple request for the pros and cons and it might be easiest to just start listing them in a single post to make it easier to research the topic.

 

[duraleigh]

Hi, ping,

Well, I always assumed we had an article in Pool School. Generally, we have gotten away from stickies and used Pool School as a substitute.

There are so many variable but you have a good start for a new Pool School article, I think.

Are you interested in doing that?

 

[ping]

The article in Pool School, http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/127-salt-water-chlorine-generators-swg, has a good description of the SWG and list some of the pros and cons throughout the article, but there is not a section that has pros and cons listed that are easy to see. I think adding another section to the article that has the above list might be the best and easiest solution.

 

[JasonLion]

Take a look at the article now and see how you like it.

 

[mas985]

It is more difficult to SLAM a pool due to a higher CYA level if SLAMing is ever needed

True but from my experience, there is less need to SLAM a pool as well. I think others with SWGs have experienced the same so I would add that to the pros. I have never needed to SLAM my pool in the 8+ years I have owned the pool.

oops - just saw that Jason added that.

 

[ping]

That is what I was looking for Jason, looks great. The improved water feel should be removed from the Con side.

In my situation, which isn't normal, I have to run my pump 16 hours a day with a very high setting on the SWG to make enough chlorine. I have switched to a hybrid, bleach and SWG and lowered the run time to 12 hours. High electrical rates in CA plus my wife teaches 8+ hours a day in the pool during the summer make for a higher chlorine demand than normal. The 4 extra hours of run time add up real quick for me, and that's why I was putting in the electrical cost as a possible con. My next SWG system will be one that is rated for 60,000 gallons with a low flow requirement.


The flow requirement might be listed as a con now that more and more people are using variable speed pumps and they are learning that they need to run the pump faster to meet the flow requirements of the SWG.

 

[jblizzle]

I wonder if we should not add a new article titled "Chlorine Automation" or something like that with a brief description, and pros/cons, for the various systems:
Liquidator, Peristaltic Pump, SWG

That might just expand on this a bit.

- - - Updated - - -

@Ping ... what is the rated output of your SWG?

My pool is a little bigger with a 40K Hayward SWG and in the summer it looks like I was running 12 hours at 35-40% Your demand seems really high, or your SWG output is low.

I think this summer I may try only running 9 hours in the day for the solar and get rid of the 3 hour run I was doing at night ... likely raising up to around 55% output.

 

[JasonLion]

The improved water feel should be removed from the Con side.

Fixed. Thanks for catching that.

I also added a line about pump runtime/speed, though it doesn't go into any detail.

 

[ping]

I wonder if we should not add a new article titled "Chlorine Automation" or something like that with a brief description, and pros/cons, for the various systems:
Liquidator, Peristaltic Pump, SWG

That might just expand on this a bit.

- - - Updated - - -

@Ping ... what is the rated output of your SWG?

My pool is a little bigger with a 40K Hayward SWG and in the summer it looks like I was running 12 hours at 35-40% Your demand seems really high, or your SWG output is low.

I think this summer I may try only running 9 hours in the day for the solar and get rid of the 3 hour run I was doing at night ... likely raising up to around 55% output.

My SWG puts out 1.25 lbs a day, which they say is rated for 40,000 gallons. I calculate it to put out 9.1 ppm for my pool in 24 hours/100%. If I run it for 16 hours a day at 80%, I get 4.85 ppm a day. Last summer I ran it 12 hours a day @ 80% which should be giving me 4.85 ppm. Most of my wife's clients are 2-6 years old and have a lot of sunscreen and must be using the pool as a potty. I averaged one or two days a week of needing to bump up the chlorine with bleach. When the FC measured below 5, she raised it to 7 with bleach. After we are finished with lessons, the run time and % are both reduce to reasonable levels at 8 hours and 60%. We also keep the water at 88+ degrees all summer long.