Introducing the Aqua Elite AE-50 Mineral Ionization and UV ozone purification

[moore887]

Sorry I didn't get a photo of the pool, but I will be back there tomorrow and I will get a photo of the amazing outdoor kitchen that came with this house. New owners are from Illinois and have never had a pool before. Luckily for them, their neighbor knows a great pool guy!

New owner, Tim, tells me that the previous owner replacement parts for this futuristic device that's bolted to the wall. However, she sold the house to him and if the pool builder ever shows up, he is going to sell him a replacement bulb ($300) and install it ($200). My eyebrows don't go much higher when I hear this but lets get into the numbers.

13k IGP with attached spa with FC2, TC2, Ph 7.8, ALK 70, CH 200, CYA 70. The water was looking pretty cloudy last week on day one and there was a tab floater doing the rounds. I dumped half a jug and left him the other gallon to toss in mid week. Slightly better today but I think I will press a bit harder. I added borates today too just because.

So according to MR pool builder, who called today (instead of showing up on Sunday), Chlorine ruins the bulb and there should be no chlorine in the pool. Now because I proudly wear my TFP t-shirt, I told Tim, I would be back in the morning to retrieve my pool robot and give him a ton of unbiased info why he should buy my robot instead of a light bulb!

Gentlemen (and ladies), the stage is set and the link for the Aqua Elite AE whatever it's called is right here. https://www.clearwaterpoolsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/install-AE-50.pdf Notice, how when the manual says balance water, there's no reference to a FC level but further down it DOES mention tossing a bag of fresh n clear (non oxidizing shock) every so often AND half a gallon of household bleach (chlorimax?) once a week to have Chlorine free water!

Since I'm reading the manual as I type this, I have just noticed the importance of keeping the ph low. Now since I'm a devil for hitting the 8's I think I could get a nice purple hue in there if this thing actually works!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Nothing more than the typical "alternative to chlorine" system. It's ozone plus copper ions. It looks like a very weak ozone generator as it's using UV light to generate ozone (corona discharge is more efficient). Either way, it's all garbage. Note that they are still telling you to use some kind of additional oxidizer (MPS) as well as the occasional gallon of liquid chlorine or trichlor tablet. If they didn't, they would be violating the law because you cannot sell a product as a pool sanitizer that is not properly registered with the EPA and is proven to be at least as effective as chlorine. The copper dissolves off of those electrodes constantly and basically hides the fact that the water is unsanitary by killing algae. It does nothing for bacteria. The ozone generated is incapable of killing all the bacteria that will form in the pipes and other hidden places. So while the water may look clear, it is not sanitary.

You should tell this person to rip that garbage off their pool equipment and throw it in the trash. Then follow TFP.

 

[moore887]

Thank you Matt,

I couldn't have asked for a better and more informed response!

The guy that has the parts for this thing is going to be stuck with them. He did tell my client that there was a lot of money invested in the system and he should install the new parts. I think that if there's so much money invested in it, the pool builder should make Tim and offer on it!

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Dave

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I question your adding borates to this pool with a pH of 7.8. Won't that make lowering the pH a bit more difficult when needed?

 

[moore887]

Well spotted Maddie! There's method to my madness. I run a high pH anyway because I do weekly service it's usually drifted up because of salt systems, spa spillovers, water features etc but I think I'm getting away with it on the LSI side because I'm running a lower CH. Mr Lowery would love me to run 350 and 7.4 but I would be burying my TA to try and keep that going. In any case, the addition of borates is usually pretty eager because I want the customer to see sparkle results and I am usually on a knife edge with algae when I take on a pool. Once I get paid and drop 25lbs of magic powder in, I can sleep at night!