For those who have converted - I want to know if there is any chlorine odor or dry feeling on the skin after swimming

[Wobblerlorri]

Leebo - let me ask this. Is there ANY chance that - with chlorine - I'd possibly still have problems with white water mold? ... on the flip side, I NEVER hear anyone here complain (under chlorine) that they have WWM.

I had WWM last year, and I have a chlorine pool. I just did a SLAM and brushed 4 times a day, every time I checked the FC, and it was gone after about 3 or 4 days.

I know this is late, but thought I'd throw it out there. I think it's an environmental hazard, but keeping your FC up where it needs to be will take care of it. I was running my FC kind of low last year, being new to TFPC. I'm more experienced this year, and I'm keeping my FC at the top limit of chlorine for my CYA.

 

[anthonypool89]

With all the trouble that pool has given you, a Viking funeral would be fitting and then you would be one with it forever.

Well, not sure about a funeral, but I came close to possibly being "one" with the great beyond courtesy of Viking (cruise line) last year - wound up hanging 100 feet on a cable below a rescue helicopter following an evacuation of over 400+ passengers off the coast of Norway. You might remember it being in the news....pretty wild time!! They gave us, as part of the compensation package, a free cruise onboard the inaugural sailing of the new ship - sails out of Rome in January - NO idea what's going to happen with that trip courtesy of COVID-19. A far bigger worry than white water mold.

 

[anthonypool89]

I had WWM last year, and I have a chlorine pool. I just did a SLAM and brushed 4 times a day, every time I checked the FC, and it was gone after about 3 or 4 days.

I know this is late, but thought I'd throw it out there. I think it's an environmental hazard, but keeping your FC up where it needs to be will take care of it. I was running my FC kind of low last year, being new to TFPC. I'm more experienced this year, and I'm keeping my FC at the top limit of chlorine for my CYA.

Thanks W....interesting to know.

 

[Leebo]

I 100% do not expect to see that your filter was the root of your problem. It’s totally chemistry. I ask to see inside as I’m interested, that thing looks really cool IMHO!

 

[anthonypool89]

I 100% do not expect to see that your filter was the root of your problem. It’s totally chemistry. I ask to see inside as I’m interested, that thing looks really cool IMHO!

Leebo.....2:23 a.m.? Dude! You are either an early bird or a night owl LOL about the filter...I'll take a few pictures. It's definitely a museum piece - looks roughly like something that should be part of a steam locomotive Must say, I love the big pressure gauge though. Recommended here to buy one of those glycerin-filled gauges. Can even read it from in the pool (not that I really SHOULD be looking at it while I'm swimming - bad karma).

 

[anthonypool89]

I went with SWG from the get go and pool ownership was easy peasy from day 1.

Sounds encouraging to me! How long would you say one has to be on chlorine (following a baquacil conversion) prior to adding SWG? Let's say that in spring I'd decide to do this. Would it be advisable to FIRST have done whatever needs doing in the way of adding the necessary SWG equipment / revisions to existing piping, etc. and THEN start up by doing the conversion? Obviously, the piping has no water in it at that point as a result of blowing all the lines out the previous fall...OR.....do the necessary chemical conversion steps, get up and running with chlorine, and then make the necessary modifications to go to salt?

This brings up yet another possibly important question - is any of the SWG equipment easily fouled by all the dirt and crud that would be passing through the entire system upon start up? Recall that, with this 'antique' filter, I don't have any vacuum to waste capability. When I start up, I don't put the DE grids in, but rather just get the water circulating (through the empty filter tank), then vacuum the bottom several times (till I can at least see it) and stop periodically to clean out all the accumulated leaves, etc. in the pump strainer. So, in essence, I'm using the pump strainer basket as the only source of 'filtration' for a few hours. I don't add the grids until the water starts to look at least a little better. So, like I said, the (initially very dirty) water would be passing through the SWG cell, etc. as well as the rest of the system. Problem???

 

[anthonypool89]

I don't know how much you pay for Baqua stuff.

Spent roughly $1100 for everything pre-season, but usually have a good amount left over by the close. I don't mind the seasonal overlap since the shelf life is several years on everything. However, if I'm going to convert next spring, I'll likely have a good amount to return to either of the two stores I buy from or else try to sell some on eBay (PITA in some ways due to the restrictions on mailing any sort of oxidizers - just went through that with selling 2 bottles of scale inhibitor that I had bought last year and then found out it's not compatible with biguanide).

"SWG will eliminate the mold, etc."...sure hope so....would be a bummer to go through all this and still have it!!

 

[Newdude]

How long would you say one has to be on chlorine (following a baquacil conversion) prior to adding SWG?

Immediately following the conversion is ok, but you’d probably want a few extra days just to be sure it’s done. If you convert you have 2 choices :

1) use high amounts of chlorine to kill the Baqua in the water which is an ugly and can take a week or two of babysitting the pool.
2) drain almost all of it and only have to fight 10% of the newly diluted Baqua.

I don’t see any benefit to plumbing the new equipment before the switch. Get rid of the Baqua and maintain it as a chlorine pool for the few days it takes to have somebody come out and install the SWG.

 

[anthonypool89]

I like option 1 better - pool was just drained 6 years ago. I'd have to get or rent a trash pump since the water has to be drained to the lower yard. Can't hardly flood the farmer's field with 12,000 gallons of water! I usually lower my water level in the field direction, but that's only a few hundred gallons.

 

[markayash]

I got back after being gone for 9 days..FC was still at 7.
Had to add a little acid to bring the PH down but pool looks perfect

 

[anthonypool89]

OK...I want some feedback on what I was just told by the pool store. Recall that I mentioned (perhaps in another thread) that the main reason I quit using chlorine years ago is because of running into chlorine demand.

So I quote the store here: "Chlorine demands are still a thing. It's all environmental and no way to determine who gets it and who doesn’t. You live is a rural environment and have greater chances of that happening. Sand filter and maybe a closed loop cleaning of your plumbing lines is the way to go. Keith, Please consider switching to sand. It will solve most of your problems."

What say??? Good advice or not? I like my (old) DE filter and don't think that's the main issue I'm having with the mold.

 

[Leebo]

 

[anthonypool89]

OK...I want some feedback on what I was just told by the pool store. Recall that I mentioned (perhaps in another thread) that the main reason I quit using chlorine years ago is because of running into chlorine demand.

So I quote the store here: "Chlorine demands are still a thing. It's all environmental and no way to determine who gets it and who doesn’t. You live is a rural environment and have greater chances of that happening. Sand filter and maybe a closed loop cleaning of your plumbing lines is the way to go. Keith, Please consider switching to sand. It will solve most of your problems."

What say??? Good advice or not? I like my (old) DE filter and don't think that's the main issue I'm having with the mold.

 

[anthonypool89]

Leebo...most interesting. So I have to wonder - since I don't recall the suggestion to partially drain ever coming up back then (though memory might not serve here but I believe I'd recall this), it became a chance for the store to keep selling me a s**t load of chlorine (?) Just got another email from the store, to wit: "Salt systems produce chlorine through electrolysis. You would be a chlorine pool with still the issues of possible chlorine demand. The system would cost about $1300.00 plus the cost of salt, labor and electrical for connection."

So, as you can see, I'm being encouraged to go to sand, and yet my friend just told me yesterday he now has seen WWM in his pool and has had to backwash more frequently. Store is telling me I could run into chlorine "lock" again either way. This is maddening....

 

[mguzzy]

Define chlorine demand... every pool "demands" chlorine.. or something to sanitize it. sounds like he is stating the obvious to me... The more organics you get in the water the greater the demand, duh. And switching to a different form of filtration is ignoring the forest for the trees.

I draw this recent analogy (maybe its a metaphor)... Do you think that because there was a recent sudden rise in toilet paper demand, that people were going to the bathroom more? (I had to clean this up for the curse filter)

 

[anthonypool89]

As I understood it back in the day, the "demand" situation referred to simply needing greater and greater amounts of chlorine in order to maintain a proper (FC?) reading. Like the analogy, but would have preferred the uncut version

 

[mguzzy]

As I understood it back in the day, the "demand" situation referred to simply needing greater and greater amounts of chlorine in order to maintain a proper (FC?) reading. Like the analogy, but would have preferred the uncut version

Becuase back in the day they didn't realize this FC/CYA Levels and the CYA went up up up with more use of pucks and it took more Cl to sanitize... most pool stores still don't realize this CYA/Cl relationship.

 

[anthonypool89]

M...I'm sorry, but wanted to make sure that the info from the store was seen on both threads. Combining would be fine...whatever works. I'm just about done with all this for now I suppose. Is the store just trying to mostly sell me the idea of having them do all the sand filter conversion ($$$) and equipment sales?

 

[anthonypool89]

M...that's a bit over my head without really taking time to study it all, especially being totally out of the loop relative to virtually anything chlorine-term related since probably the mid to late 90s! Looks like great info though. All I know is that I was using a product called stingy sticks (basically very similar to what you're referring to as 'pucks' I presume) and the other thing was bags of this granular "burn out" that had to be added every week if I recall correctly. Here's where I'm at with regards to an option moving forward - I like the idea of not having to mess with liquid chlorine nor care for the idea of figuring out what to do with a spent load of 300 pounds of sand once it needs to be changed. I like the idea of the softer water feel since that's what I'm used to. Just feels like SWG would be a better 'fit' for me overall.

Next email from the pool store. TFP is now on notice that I'm receiving "uncommon information" LOL Here it is: "Not likely for a swimming pool to have high CYA. It gets diluted through top off and rainwater. Burn out didn't and still doesn't contain cyanuric acid so it would be impossible to have high levels of CYA in your pool that burn out was used as your weekly maintenance. We see this more in Indoor pools and even that is rare. I'm not sure what internet sites you are using, but unfortunately you are getting uncommon information.

Bet you guys didn't know you were so "uncommon"????

 

[mgtfp]

I see it like that: Main reasons for high chlorine demand are (a) chlorine loss due to UV and (b) chlorine loss due to an algae infestation.

Both are covered by the TFP guidelines: (a) have enough CYA in your pool to minimise UV losses and (b) adjust your chlorine levels to your CYA level according to TFP's FC/CYA table.

If you follow TFP guidelines and never let your FC fall below the recommended minimum, you should not run into chlorine demand problems. If in doubt, keep FC a bit higher.

And don't let CYA sky rocket. By overfixing (a), usually not deliberately, but just by adding what the pool store recommends, (b) will follow. I assume that is the main reason why the pool store considers chlorine demand to be "still a thing" and blames it on non- determinable environmental reasons.

Yes, if you get lazy with testing and topping up with chlorine, you might run into problems. But especially with a SWG, that is manageable.

You might have a green pool at opening after winter, and if you don't deal with it properly in the first place (SLAM!!!), you will have a high chlorine demand all season. But that's all well understood, and we know what needs to be done.