Hi - building a pool and I have some questions

[RHanna]

Haven't read everything but I installed a pool last summer with a SWG and heat pump with chiller.
1) SWG pool should have a higher chlorine level than the traditional chlorine pool. This is because the CYA is higher and the CYA is higher so the chlorine is protected more from the sun and the SWG doesn't have to run as much leading to a longer life. I haven't been in a traditional pool that follows the advice on this pool but I hear that most of the negative things people say about chlorine pools is because the balance is off (not following the advice here). And the effectiveness of chlorine is lower when the CYA is higher.

2) I'm surprised they have you installing a gas and heat pump. Seems like overkill to me. I went with a heat pump because I wanted a chiller and the electric rates where I live are good. I'm guess you'll end up using the chiller more than you expect given where you live and the size of the pool. I think it also depends on how often you plan on using your pool. If you are more of a weekend only type pool user then the gas heater is probably better but my family uses the pool almost everyday during the season (wife and son are both swimmers) another reason to run the heat pump to keep a consistent temp. I think you can get a separate chiller if you went with the gas heater (not 100% sure on that)

3) I guess it depends on SWG and heat pump but for my system the pump has to run at a higher speed while running the heat pump or it won't kick on. I can run a much slower speed and the SWG continues running.

4) I don't believe you can reduce your CYA level without draining and filling the pool, at least partially.

 

[march2012]

Whether you need a chiller depends on how much sun exposure the pool gets. I dont think our pool ever got to body temp in Austin but it was shaded by the house for half the day. We are building a new pool and a chiller wasnt a consideration. We also dont really swim unless the air temp is at least 90, otherwise it is too cold for us.

As far as burning eyes, that is 100% an issue of pool chemistry imbalance and has nothing to do with liquid chlorine vs SWCG. They both use chlorine to sanitize.

The chlorine smell that you smell from some pools are actually chloramines. They are formed from the incomplete oxidation of organic molecules. They occur when there is not enough chlorine to sanitize the pool. A pool with enough chlorine doesnt smell like "chlorine". When someone pees in a pool you can sometimes smell that "chlorine" smell as the pool oxidizes the urine.

Burning eyes is likely because the pH is off. With a proper pH you can open your eyes in the pool and feel nothing.

In texas I liked a CYA of about 60, FC of at least 5 and as high as 8.

I like a stenner pump to automatically inject chlorine. In my old pool I had a 15 gallon tank which was good for about 23 days. We are going to up the volume to 20 or maybe 30 gallons in the new pool. And yeah buying that much bleach is a pain. In the summer for a 15K gallon pool we used about .6 gallons/day.

Im unusual in that I consider my pool water as an emergency water source so I dont want to have a ton of salt in the pool. Bleach does raise the salt level, but rain dilution keeps the salt (and calcium) levels down. I realize that Im a bit crazy and my concern isnt relevant to the vast majority of the population.

 

[ajw22]

Why do you prefer the Polaris Quattro Sport? Does it provide a similar clean to the a robot?

It has the cleaning brushes and mechanisms of a robot but powered by water pressure instead of an electric motor.

A Polaris 280/380 cleans with only vacuum suction into its bag with no brushes other then the tail sweep.

 

[ajw22]

1) SWG pool should have a higher chlorine level than the traditional chlorine pool. This is because the CYA is higher and the CYA is higher so the chlorine is protected more from the sun and the SWG doesn't have to run as much leading to a longer life. I haven't been in a traditional pool that follows the advice on this pool but I hear that most of the negative things people say about chlorine pools is because the balance is off (not following the advice here). And the effectiveness of chlorine is lower when the CYA is higher.

That is incorrect. I suggest you read the way CYA works in pool water - CYA - Further Reading

A pool with high CYA has less active chlorine then a pool with no CYA. The CYA buffers the chlorine and releases reserve chlorine as the active chlorine is consumed. The effectiveness of the chlorine is the same as long as you maintain the proper FC/CYA ratio as shown in FC/CYA Levels.

 

[RHanna]

That is incorrect. I suggest you read the way CYA works in pool water - CYA - Further Reading

A pool with high CYA has less active chlorine then a pool with no CYA. The CYA buffers the chlorine and releases reserve chlorine as the active chlorine is consumed. The effectiveness of the chlorine is the same as long as you maintain the proper FC/CYA ratio as shown in FC/CYA Levels.

When I say this I'm not trying to argue, I don't know, but what part of my statement is incorrect?
The link you provided seems to agree with me. I know I didn't explain that chlorine wasn't as effective.

 

[ajw22]

When I say this I'm not trying to argue, I don't know, but what part of my statement is incorrect?
The link you provided seems to agree with me. I know I didn't explain that chlorine wasn't as effective.

Well let's tune up what you said...

SWG pool should have a higher CYA chlorine level than the traditional chlorine pool. The higher CYA level will require a higher Free Chlorine level as some chlorine will become active chlorine and some will become reserve chlorine. This is because the CYA is higher and In a SWG pool the CYA is higher so the chlorine is protected more from the sun and the SWG doesn't have to run as much leading to a longer life. I haven't been in a traditional pool that follows the advice on this pool but I hear that most of the negative things people say about chlorine pools is because the balance is off (not following the advice here). And the effectiveness of chlorine is lower when the CYA is higher. The effectiveness of the chlorine is the same as long as the FC/CYA ratio follows the FC/CYA Levels.