Pool Advice

LORIJ

0
Jul 21, 2016
11
Cowley County, KS
I am looking to purchase a AG and would like opinions, please. So far I am planning to order a 27'x54" Saltwater LX Round Pool, 30 gauge uni-bead liner, Hayward 2230T 23" sand filter system, 1.5 HP 2 speed matrix pump & Solaxx Saltron Reliant saltwater chlorine generator up to 30,000 gallons. Am I headed in the right direction? I've NEVER owned a pool, but I'm going to now! I want to keep things as easy and simple as possible. Any changes or suggestions?
Has anyone had any experience with Swimming Pools Supplies | The Pool Factory
I appreciate any help or advice!
 
We got the 24 footer with a cartridge filter because we didn't want to backwash the saltwater. We got the same liner and it is very nice, don't forget the track. It shipped quick and was easy to put up sans the ground prep. You will not regret the 27 feet or the large swg. Our swg (rated 25 k) has to run 8 hrs to maintain fc but our pool has zero shade and a lot of trafic. We really enjoy having this pool. Whatever pool you get follow the water protocol found here, the water is awesome and aside from startup salt, borax, and cya, we have spent less than 45 bucks on bleach and muriatic acid.
 
That is where I got my pool. Seems as good as any other above ground I've seen and I could not ask for better service. I found a rail had gotten damaged in shipping, this was on Memorial weekend, so I emailed them on Monday, memorial day, not expecting to hear from them until the next day. They responded right away and asked for some pics of the damage, so I sent a few and was told they would get the new rail sent out right away. I was at work the next morning and my wife texted to say the part had arrived at my house at 9am! I had her open it, then send a pic because I could not believe it. I'm still not sure how that was even possible! The part was at my door less than 24hrs after contacting them.

My pool is an LX 24x54 with a unibead liner. I went with a Hayward EC50 DE filter and 1.5 pump and I'm loving it. It has been running 2 months and I have yet to do anything to the filter other than dump the skimmer basket. Thanks to the filter and TFP my pool has been sparkling since day one. I had a sand filter on my previous pool and hated backwashing my water and chemicals down the drain. I knew if I added a SWG I did not want to be wasting salt too. I intended to go with a SWG and still may, but the daily testing and dosing with bleach is extremely quick and easy. The pool, replacing the deck and a new vinyl privacy fence shot my budget, so I decided to wait on the SWG and just use bleach this year. Having read about problems and premature failures of SWG I believe the cost is about a wash. Bleach is more pay as you go and a SWG is a significant up front expense, plus maintenance costs down the road. I'm pretty happy using a couple gallons a week and knowing right where I stand.

I heard the hype about how saltwater pools just take care of themselves and so much nicer than a chlorine pool, and lots of other talk. In case you aren't aware a salt water pool is a chlorine pool. Chlorine is created from the salt water. Many people like the feel of salt water better but the chlorine is the same. You can add salt to your chlorine pool if you wish and a SWG does not mean you don't add chlorine. You need to get your pool running and balanced with chlorine before starting your SWG. Under normal conditions the SWG can maintain the FC level, but does not have the capacity to get it up and going quickly or to reach shock level if needed. Your salt water pool needs testing and maintaining just as any other pool would.

While waiting for your pool I suggest studying the Pool School link above and getting a recommended test kit on the way. You will be far ahead doing this and not blindly jumping in to something you don't understand. It is a simple process but there is a lot to learn to keep your pool clean, healthy and looking beautiful.
 
Thank you! I've really struggled about online ordering or going to a pool store - huge difference in price! You mentioned salt, borax and cya - what is that? I'm so uneducated about this! LOL

Use the pool math to get the volume of your pool then get the salt level recommended for the swg, mine is around 4000 ppm. This salt is converted to chlorine as the pump move the saltwater past the swg. Just get plain water softener NaCl from Walmart, I think we had 11 bags. Borax (borates) are optional and you can read about them in the pool school section. CYA (stabilizer) is a molecule that protects the chlorine from sunlight degradation. Both of these can also be bought at Walmart, Lowes, etc. Use pool math to find out how much you will need.

We use plain bleach to raise chlorine levels and the swg to maintain them. You will have the pH go up slowly so use pool math to add muriatic acid to bring it down. I ordered the test kit from here before I had the pool and tested my well water. After posting the result I got great guidence on how to handle the chemicals.
 
I just got a saltwater 8000 from the pool factory. From order time to delivery was one week. My installers almost always install locally purchased pools and they were very impressed with the quality of this s pool compared to local offerings. I really wanted to buy local but the two stores I shopped did not have exactly what I was looking for. Splash pools of Jax was very helpful, but I just didn't like their liner choices. Unique pool and spa couldn't guarantee delivery within 60 days and I wanted to get the pool installed in two weeks.
 
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