Done with Pristine Blue and converting to saltwater. Will need some patient help.

[jstange72]

27"x54" aboveground Trevi composite and resin pool. (17000 gallons m/l) Pentair Sand Dollar with 1.5 h.p. single speed pump.
I intend to buy a CircuPool Edge 40 before Dec 1, (in order to achieve the $650. discount) but dont figure to plumb it in and set it up until Spring. That gives me winter to get the water chemistry right before starting up.
I don't drain or cover the pool for winter...just try to keep it balanced and clean. Its easier to keep the pool clean than it is to keep a 27' cover clean....and I cant handle that large a cover by myself.
I have a Taylor K2006 test kit, copper test kit, and phosphate test kit. I will probably start testing again in a week or two unless water clarity says to check sooner, and can post numbers as I go.
I read somewhere that dry acid shouldnt be used in saltwater pool. Does that mean I need to go back to Muriatic Acid for PH lowering, or would it be ok to use up the last several pounds of dry acid and the switch over to muriatic? (7 year warranty on titanium cell).
I hope that someone with experience in this situation ( Pristine to saltwater) is willing to advise as needed.
thank you

 

[Bperry]

27"x54" aboveground Trevi composite and resin pool. (17000 gallons m/l) Pentair Sand Dollar with 1.5 h.p. single speed pump.
I intend to buy a CircuPool Edge 40 before Dec 1, (in order to achieve the $650. discount) but dont figure to plumb it in and set it up until Spring. That gives me winter to get the water chemistry right before starting up.
I don't drain or cover the pool for winter...just try to keep it balanced and clean. Its easier to keep the pool clean than it is to keep a 27' cover clean....and I cant handle that large a cover by myself.
I have a Taylor K2006 test kit, copper test kit, and phosphate test kit. I will probably start testing again in a week or two unless water clarity says to check sooner, and can post numbers as I go.
I read somewhere that dry acid shouldnt be used in saltwater pool. Does that mean I need to go back to Muriatic Acid for PH lowering, or would it be ok to use up the last several pounds of dry acid and the switch over to muriatic? (7 year warranty on titanium cell).
I hope that someone with experience in this situation ( Pristine to saltwater) is willing to advise as needed.
thank you

Dry acid adds sulphates which is what wrecks salt cells. So you can use the dry acid if you plan to exchange all the water before installing the SWCG to get rid of the sulphates. I assume you don’t plan on that so would advise against using it.

 

[jstange72]

thank you

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You should consider getting a variable speed pump for your pool. There are cheap ones on the market nowadays that are cost effective and some municipal electric utilities will even give you a rebate for switching from a single speed to a variable speed.

If you install an SWG with a single speed pump, you will have to run the pump for many more hours out of the day than you do now because SWGs generate chlorine slowly. So your electric bill could go through the roof with a single speed pump running 12+ hours/day.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Your SWG produces 1.7lbs of chlorine gas per 24 hours or 12ppm FC per day in your 17,000 gallon pool. You need to run your pump 8 hrs/day to get 4ppm FC (based on a pool using 2-4ppm FC per day in the summer heat).

How many hours per day did you run your pool pump using Pristine Blue method? Do you know your electric rates in the summer?

 

[jstange72]

Your SWG produces 1.7lbs of chlorine gas per 24 hours or 12ppm FC per day in your 17,000 gallon pool. You need to run your pump 8 hrs/day to get 4ppm FC (based on a pool using 2-4ppm FC per day in the summer heat).

How many hours per day did you run your pool pump using Pristine Blue method? Do you know your electric rates in the summer?

usually 16 hrs per day in the heat of summer

 

[Mdragger88]

So you have the copper test- what does it say?
The flagship pristine blue chem itself is copper sulfate -
you really don’t want copper in your water.
At elevated levels you can start to get staining on surfaces & people (hair & finger nails) along with green tinted water when fc is at normal sanitary levels like we recommend.
See—> FC/CYA Levels

Copper in Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

This may not be an issue currently if you’re following all the pristine blue advice & maintaining very low fc levels along with adding all the sequestrants they sell (pristine check).
When the sequesterants are discontinued the staining will appear.
The only way to truly lower the copper level is to exchange the copper laden water with fresh water.
Keep in mind that sequestrants hide the copper from the test as well so to know the actual copper level you may need to let the sequestrant wear off.
The longer you have been using the Pristine Blue product (copper sulfate) the higher your copper levels will be.

Another issue you may encounter is a high cya level (knowing your test results would help).
The Pristine Extra is just expensive dichlor - for every ppm of fc it adds it also adds approximately 1 ppm of cya.
*If you followed the PB advice on dosing you would at minimum be adding 6ppm of cya each week so your cya may be quite high now depending upon how long you have been following this regimen.

If you’re cya level is higher than 80 you’ll need to exchange some water to lower it.

The full battery of tests is needed to give you adequate advice for going forward.
About the tests- the k2006 is a great start
You will need to add the k1766 (salt test) to it.
All forms of manually added chlorine add salt to the water so you mustn’t assume you currently have zero.
We really don’t worry about phosphates - they are mostly irrelevant if adequate fc is maintained.
Here’s more about that and you can decide for yourself if wish to worry about them. FWIW most of us don’t.

Phosphate Removers - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Pump runtimes:
To elaborate on what JoyfulNoise mentioned,
There’s really no need to run your pool for 16 hours a day just because its summer unless there’s a specific reason.
You should run it to accomplish a task like chlorinating (manually or with a swcg), skimming (debris removal),
running a cleaner,
or heating/cooling.
It takes a relatively small amount of run time for an adequately sized single speed pump & an appropriately sized filter to keep a pool properly circulated & clear of visible particulates.
My pool is a little bit larger than yours (26k gal) & if I wasn’t needing to accomplish one of the above mentioned tasks I could easily run it only 4-6 hours a day & still have pristine water clarity. I am easily able to do this in the spring & fall but in the peak of summer I must run more to operate my swcg for adequate fc generation & to run my fountain (which helps cool my pool).
While the filter does work to physically remove debris the actual chemistry (proper sanitation) is the bulk of what keeps the water from getting nasty. Cloudy water is almost always the result of algae & improper chemistry. If algae is constantly proliferating the cycle doesn’t end & no filter can overcome it. You must have both things in order.