carl292
0
Dont get swg and you will very quickly regret you're decision. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Trying to make a decision on SWG
- Thread starter texasmeat
- Start date
I like my salt system, but be aware you will be schlepping acid instead of chlorine. BUT...
You can go with borates as described in this forum and that cuts the acid demand.
It's more of a convenience issue than a money issue. Replacing the SWG system is expensive, but owning a pool is an expense. You will have five to seven years of not buying chlorine and only buying acid.
Lastly, modern pools don't have a lot of metal anymore. Everything is plastic now a days. And what is not plastic is stainless steel, except for maybe heaters.
I would not disconnect my SWG if it died. I'd replace it.
You can go with borates as described in this forum and that cuts the acid demand.
It's more of a convenience issue than a money issue. Replacing the SWG system is expensive, but owning a pool is an expense. You will have five to seven years of not buying chlorine and only buying acid.
Lastly, modern pools don't have a lot of metal anymore. Everything is plastic now a days. And what is not plastic is stainless steel, except for maybe heaters.
I would not disconnect my SWG if it died. I'd replace it.
I have no acid demand with mine. pH is rock solid. I spent a lot of effort to get the TA in line, which may be why.
svenpup
LifeTime Supporter
False equivalency. A gallon per month of acid vs a gallon per day of chlorine.
Gallon of 10% is about $3 ... gallon of acid is about $5 ...
15 gallons chlorine / month = $45
2 gallons of acid / month = $10
Failing to follow your argument here ...
svenpup
LifeTime Supporter
I built my own pool and went with salt. The chlorine levels are constant and lower, the water feels better and the chemical costs are lower. I have only had to add salt and CYA once this year after a huge rainstorm basically overflowed the pool. I had to pump it down and the diluted water called for a couple of pounds of CYA and a bag of salt. Big deal. I did buy a diving board that has a fiberglass base and springs (well a jump board to be exact) and my pool brush has some sweet looking rust stains coming out of the bristles from the steel pins holding them in place but other than that I'm not too concerned.
A nice chlorine dosing system can produce the same constant levels in the pool and a little salt thrown in will provide the same feel but I have to say with my SWCG setup I do practically nothing to take care of the pool. I may need to dump in a bottle of bleach now and then to boost the levels after the pool gets used by 20+ kids for the day but I go for weeks at a time without touching a thing other than dropping the robot in a few times to pick up the leaves on the bottom. The pool has been crystal clear and a joy to use all season.
A nice chlorine dosing system can produce the same constant levels in the pool and a little salt thrown in will provide the same feel but I have to say with my SWCG setup I do practically nothing to take care of the pool. I may need to dump in a bottle of bleach now and then to boost the levels after the pool gets used by 20+ kids for the day but I go for weeks at a time without touching a thing other than dropping the robot in a few times to pick up the leaves on the bottom. The pool has been crystal clear and a joy to use all season.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,763
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
I have a SWG pool and I love it. But, my pool was designed as a salt pool. No stone anywhere. Cantilevered edge concrete pool deck that is acrylic coated with no coping.
My pool builder said: "Salt or stone, pick one, but you can't have both". I wouldn't put any stone anywhere near a salt pool. Some stone is harder than others, but salt will eventually erode all stone. Hotter drier climates (where there is no regular rains to wash the salt away) are much worse. Texas limestone is cheap there and is very prone to salt damage. That's why so many Texas pool builders are so down on salt pools. So if you really want stone, forget salt. But if you're OK without stone, a salt pool is the way to go.
My pool builder said: "Salt or stone, pick one, but you can't have both". I wouldn't put any stone anywhere near a salt pool. Some stone is harder than others, but salt will eventually erode all stone. Hotter drier climates (where there is no regular rains to wash the salt away) are much worse. Texas limestone is cheap there and is very prone to salt damage. That's why so many Texas pool builders are so down on salt pools. So if you really want stone, forget salt. But if you're OK without stone, a salt pool is the way to go.
It definitely is a matter of choice, but I am definitely a fan of salt and I live in Texas, and...wait for it...I have natural stone coping. I think you just need to do your research and make a decision accordingly. I wanted stone, so I stayed away from the softer flagstones (Oklahoma, etc.). I also did not want to seal the stone since I knew I would not keep up with it over time, so I went with a quartzite stone that is extremely dense and hard and so far it's been great. I felt that a more porous stone choice, like travertine, might require sealing periodically.
Granted, it's only been a year so far, but I love my current setup. I think it's oversimplifying to say that you can't have stone if you want salt. You just need to be aware of potential issues and make your stone choices accordingly. I know people with "pool store" methods (i.e., trichlor tabs, shock, etc.) that have flagstone, and they have stone erosion issues, so I'm pretty sure that salt is not the only reason softer flagstones will erode.
Granted, it's only been a year so far, but I love my current setup. I think it's oversimplifying to say that you can't have stone if you want salt. You just need to be aware of potential issues and make your stone choices accordingly. I know people with "pool store" methods (i.e., trichlor tabs, shock, etc.) that have flagstone, and they have stone erosion issues, so I'm pretty sure that salt is not the only reason softer flagstones will erode.
I am thinking of going to a SWG next spring. One big reason is that the chlorine tablets and Power Plus shock are causing oxidation corrosion on all the metal in the store room where I keep my chemicals - despite sealing the buckets as best I can. I am using bleach now and those bottles seal up well - a SWG would put all the chlorine where it belonged - in the pool.
I added a SWG last summer. Best thing I did for the pool. Zero algae blooms since. Haven't had to slam. Once I balanced my water upon opening this spring, I haven't had to adjust PH at all. 7.5 all summer. I have to add some calcium and salt here and there. Twice I added extra chlorine when I had a lot of tree debris and rain lower the FC without having to boost the cell.
Like many here, I've taken care of pools without a SWG and with a SWG, and I'd still go "with". It's not perfect, and I'm not convinced that you save money with a SWG, though it's obviously very hard to figure that out without two identical side by side pools.
The biggest benefit of the SWG seems to me to be that it's pretty easy to keep the pool healthy (i.e. not green, or foul in one way or the other), and maintain a relatively constant chlorine level. Without the SWG, you act like some sort of chlorine addict, always having to think out when you'll run out, and then either buying huge amounts of bleach or 10% liquid chlorine, or getting solid forms of chlorine-- either way for me, it was like a clock ticking in my head at all times, and then there were huge peaks and troughs in the application. Pour a jug of chlorine in and watch the levels raise to over 10ppm, then let it drift back down, and then re-dose...
With the SWG, when it's working properly, you can pretty reliably keep your chlorine at something like 3 or 4, or whatever PPM. If it's off a bit, simply adjust the device and you're fine. You can literally go months without adjusting the device (but that doesn't mean you can go months without checking your pool chemistry).
For my system, I do have to add acid-- a LOT more than I did without a SWG. But it isn't so bad. A gallon of acid often lasts more than a month, and when I go to the store I pick up 2 gallons-- it might be 3 months before I'm in the pool store again. Every time I go to the pool store, I feel sorry for the guys buying 10 gallons of liquid chlorine, pushing them out on a cart, hoping it doesn't ruin the car interior-- maybe it doesn't even last them a month I can't help but worry. There I am buying two 1 gallon acid jugs, I've never had one leak in the car, I carry them easily, and I won't be back for 3 months. This is wonderful.
What's not wonderful about a salt pool-- corrosion for one. Garden hoses, spigots, plumbing fixtures, and even the aluminum pool cage (and all of it's little screws and trim pieces)-- they don't do well with salt, and they rust nastily and fast. If you plan ahead and buy good stuff (like hoses with real brass fittings) you can limit this, but I doubt you can eliminate it entirely-- somewhere someone will sneak some cheap metal in and it will rust in no time.
Also, SWG seem to be somewhat fickle beasts. It may work perfectly for a few years and then stop, and when it does, it's kind of a wild-west scenario for fixing it. First, your chemistry will be criticized, including your salt level, and that's when you'll find out that no one really seems to know what the gold standard is for measuring salt levels. You'll measure it 4 different ways and get 4 different answers. In the midst of trying to figure out if the problem is actually your salt level, you'll decide that you obviously need a new cell. If that doesn't work, you can either call a repair person who'll likely try to sell you an entirely new setup, or enter the world of esoteric internet threads reading about things like K1 relays and finding yourself on a weekend soldering something to an overwhelmingly complex looking computer board out at the side of your house and hoping that this will get you somehow back to the part where your pool was so easy to manage. So when they break, SWG are entirely uncool.
Still, if it's me, I go SWG in a second.
The biggest benefit of the SWG seems to me to be that it's pretty easy to keep the pool healthy (i.e. not green, or foul in one way or the other), and maintain a relatively constant chlorine level. Without the SWG, you act like some sort of chlorine addict, always having to think out when you'll run out, and then either buying huge amounts of bleach or 10% liquid chlorine, or getting solid forms of chlorine-- either way for me, it was like a clock ticking in my head at all times, and then there were huge peaks and troughs in the application. Pour a jug of chlorine in and watch the levels raise to over 10ppm, then let it drift back down, and then re-dose...
With the SWG, when it's working properly, you can pretty reliably keep your chlorine at something like 3 or 4, or whatever PPM. If it's off a bit, simply adjust the device and you're fine. You can literally go months without adjusting the device (but that doesn't mean you can go months without checking your pool chemistry).
For my system, I do have to add acid-- a LOT more than I did without a SWG. But it isn't so bad. A gallon of acid often lasts more than a month, and when I go to the store I pick up 2 gallons-- it might be 3 months before I'm in the pool store again. Every time I go to the pool store, I feel sorry for the guys buying 10 gallons of liquid chlorine, pushing them out on a cart, hoping it doesn't ruin the car interior-- maybe it doesn't even last them a month I can't help but worry. There I am buying two 1 gallon acid jugs, I've never had one leak in the car, I carry them easily, and I won't be back for 3 months. This is wonderful.
What's not wonderful about a salt pool-- corrosion for one. Garden hoses, spigots, plumbing fixtures, and even the aluminum pool cage (and all of it's little screws and trim pieces)-- they don't do well with salt, and they rust nastily and fast. If you plan ahead and buy good stuff (like hoses with real brass fittings) you can limit this, but I doubt you can eliminate it entirely-- somewhere someone will sneak some cheap metal in and it will rust in no time.
Also, SWG seem to be somewhat fickle beasts. It may work perfectly for a few years and then stop, and when it does, it's kind of a wild-west scenario for fixing it. First, your chemistry will be criticized, including your salt level, and that's when you'll find out that no one really seems to know what the gold standard is for measuring salt levels. You'll measure it 4 different ways and get 4 different answers. In the midst of trying to figure out if the problem is actually your salt level, you'll decide that you obviously need a new cell. If that doesn't work, you can either call a repair person who'll likely try to sell you an entirely new setup, or enter the world of esoteric internet threads reading about things like K1 relays and finding yourself on a weekend soldering something to an overwhelmingly complex looking computer board out at the side of your house and hoping that this will get you somehow back to the part where your pool was so easy to manage. So when they break, SWG are entirely uncool.
Still, if it's me, I go SWG in a second.
svenpup
LifeTime Supporter
Yea it's awful. Several years of minimal intervention perfect pool. Who would want that?
I know exactly what levels I need and what tests provide reliable numbers. I am not sure what point you are trying to make with this chicken little sky is falling bs. The whole point of TFP is reliable testing, understanding the effects of what you are adding, and understanding what levels are desirable and why. This is easily achievable.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,763
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
My Aquarite system was installed 10 years ago. After 7 1/2 years of chlorinating my pool, (which stays open year-round and is in use from April through Thanksgiving) I had to replace the T-15 cell at a cost of $400. I did have to replace a flow switch (about $50). So for a 19,000 gal. pool my chlorine cost works out to $60 per year. I'm pretty sure there is no cheaper alternative.
Yep, after ten years of trouble free service the throughput resistor failed in my Aquarite. So my choice was replace the entire control unit ($400), replace the main circuit board ($180), or get out my soldering iron and replace the failed part ($3). I took the $3 route.