Liquid Chlorine Feeder?

[JPMorgan]

I moved to an HOA a year ago and am helping to maintain an indoor and outdoor pool here. The indoor pool has a bromine feeder plus a large tank that feeds acid to keep the pool water balanced. An Aquasol Controller is used to set the sanitzer level and the pH level and it all works really well.....very little effort is involved to keep the pool properly sanitized and balanced...... just need to fill the feeders once a week or so.

As for the outdoor pool, I have been manually adding liquid chlorine this year and using the dichlor feeder to supplement. In this way I have been able to keep CYA at a good level..... between 30 and 50.
Recently a pool company told me I could set up a liquid chlorine feeder, so that I don't have to manually add chlorine to the pool. It would work just like the pH feeder tank does in the indoor pool.... fill the tank with chlorine (instead of acid) and let the Controller keep the FC at the predetermined level. Then, periodically refill the tank. I have never heard of this before and was wondering what the TFP community thinks about this. I know that any changes to equipment at a "public" pool requires approval by the state, but this seems like a pretty straightforward change (assuming it make sense). We would simply turn off the dichlor feeder and add a tank to feed liquid chlorine to the pool, as needed. Thoughts? Has anyone seen this type of set up before? Any thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[Newdude]

Stenner is a popular brand here, or you could DIY.

Stenner Pumps - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Lake Placid]

It’s a fairly common setup although Cal-Hypo feeders tend to be more common from my experience. What pool company is proposing this for you? You‘re correct being in IL you have to have an approved contractor perform the work. What size pool are you talking about? Is there a controller monitoring the tank setup for dispensing? There’s a chem company that likely serves your area that will propose the same thing, of course they want to sell you the chlorine that goes in the tank but if memory serves the tank is provided at minimal expense if any. They don’t provide controllers to my knowledge.

 

[JPMorgan]

What pool company is proposing this for you?

A company named Quantus suggested this would be a possibility.

What size pool are you talking about? Is there a controller monitoring the tank setup for dispensing? There’s a chem company that likely serves your area that will propose the same thing, of course they want to sell you the chlorine that goes in the tank but if memory serves the tank is provided at minimal expense if any. They don’t provide controllers to my knowledge.

60,000 gallon pool
Yes we have a Controller. It currently is set up to monitor the chlorine dispensed by a dichlor feeder, but we want to get away from dichlor (to eliminate build up of CYA).
Can you suggest a chem company to contact for further information.... or how I would go about looking for such a company. We wouldn't have a problem buying chlorine from a chemical company that provides the equipment as long as the price is somewhat competitive.

THANK YOU!

 

[Lake Placid]

A company named Quantus suggested this would be a possibility.

60,000 gallon pool
Yes we have a Controller. It currently is set up to monitor the chlorine dispensed by a dichlor feeder, but we want to get away from dichlor (to eliminate build up of CYA).
Can you suggest a chem company to contact for further information.... or how I would go about looking for such a company. We wouldn't have a problem buying chlorine from a chemical company that provides the equipment as long as the price is somewhat competitive.

THANK YOU!

Give Hawkins chemical a call. I think they service in your general area. When I was working in Peoria they made the conversion from a Cal Hypo feeder to liquid chlorine after I left. This was a 250,000 gal pool. My contact there relayed to me they provided the tank setup and integrated it into the Siemens controller we had in use. I assume Hawkins provided a Stenner pump with the setup as well because the Cal Hypo feeder didn’t use one. If need be I can get ahold of my contact in Peoria if you need more specifics about the installation. Of course Hawkins will want to sell you chlorine and they’ll probably pitch you on muriatic or their “ph down low” (Which they love - I assume better profit margins for them) . I always told them to fly a kite and just give me the full strength 20 Baume. Hawkins pricing was always very competitive.

 

[JPMorgan]

Any thoughts on which would be the most cost effective and simple solution for feeding chlorine and avoiding build up of CYA..... liquid chlorine feed system of SWG?

 

[Lake Placid]

Any thoughts on which would be the most cost effective and simple solution for feeding chlorine and avoiding build up of CYA..... liquid chlorine feed system of SWG?

Either is an option and both have their own nuances. Obviously with LC you have the tank, controller, and pump to deal with. If you would opt for the SWG route with 60,000 gallons I believe you’d have to plumb in an array or multiple cells in a loop in parallel to meet demand (for example two intellichlor IC60’s). I can’t speak to the cost effectiveness between the two.

SWG Multiple Cells - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

3ppm FC is almost 2 gallons a day, which is likely your average across the season.

The exact cost effectiveness all depends on how cheap you source the bulk chlorine, but in a large pool, the SWG will be cheaper everytime. My single IC60 will pay me back more than double its cost with a 34k gallon pool VS $5 a gallon Home Depot chlorine. You would need 2 of them, but also double the daily chlorine so it's a wash and you would need to find LC for $2.50 a gallon to match the cost of the twin IC60s.

Then subtract the costs of the LC dosing system. The SWG costs on the other hand, come from money that you would have used on LC.

The climate doesn't matter in the maths because the longer the season, both the more chlorone is needed, and the sooner the unit reached end of life, proportionately.

 

[Lake Placid]

I didn’t think about one thing….Illinois….just to confirm you are getting regular health inspections by an IDPH inspector on this pool yes? If so the plumbing changes needed by the change for the SWG are likely going to require engineered plans that are sealed. Factor that cost in. The tank setup will require an approved contractor but shouldn’t require plans because your technically replacing a current chlorinator. Running from memory on that stipulation between the two, but you’d definitely want to verify how the work will impact the cost plans/engineering.

 

[Lake Placid]

So I just confirmed with my contact in P-town the tank change also required plans. That was arranged by Hawkins but it appears you’d need to factor that cost either option you choose if you fall under the IDPH public pool regs.

 

[JPMorgan]

I didn’t think about one thing….Illinois….just to confirm you are getting regular health inspections by an IDPH inspector on this pool yes?

We do fall under the IDPH regs, but..... I have yet to see a health inspector. Been here about a year and heve never seen one come out yet.

 

[JPMorgan]

So I just confirmed with my contact in P-town the tank change also required plans. That was arranged by Hawkins but it appears you’d need to factor that cost either option you choose if you fall under the IDPH public pool regs.

We do fall under the IDPH public pool regs. Sorry to hear that tank changes also require plans. I have been told that drawings and permits alone can cost $3,500. I was advised to make any planned changes all at once instead of doing things piecemeal because we will incur that cost every time we make any change to the system. Too bad..... you try to improve things and government rules and regs make it difficult to do so.

 

[Lake Placid]

We do fall under the IDPH regs, but..... I have yet to see a health inspector. Been here about a year and heve never seen one come out yet.

Yeah we saw ours once a year in late July or August. There were a couple of years mine made me make changes to flow meters that were contrary to common sense, contrary to legitimate physics for them to work correctly, and contrary to the flow meter manufacturers install instructions, but he wouldn’t license us without the stupid change so I made it to get the pass. Government at it’s finest.

We do fall under the IDPH public pool regs. Sorry to hear that tank changes also require plans. I have been told that drawings and permits alone can cost $3,500. I was advised to make any planned changes all at once instead of doing things piecemeal because we will incur that cost every time we make any change to the system. Too bad..... you try to improve things and government rules and regs make it difficult to do so.

Yep that’s solid advice.