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EmilyOTR

EmilyOTR

Bronze Supporter
Feb 15, 2017
640
Ferndale, MI
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hi everyone! I grew up with a pool in my backyard, and have swam competitively for years. We just bought a house with an in ground pool! I am beyond excited! it's in ground and uses chlorine, I'd like to switch it to a salt water generator, but just in the early stages now. Just trying to limit our exposure to toxic chemicals. We have 2 kids too 8 and 5 and need to learn about safety too.

Emily
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave:

Please understand that a "salt" pool is actually a chlorine pool. It is a chemical process that converts the salt in the water to chlorine on a consistent basis.

Don't believe the "scare" articles you read, chlorine is not a "toxic chemical". We find that many people who claim alergies to chlorine are actully having reactions to an unbalance pool.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
 
yes, I'm aware it's chlorine. and I don't have to read scare articles, I'm knowledgeable about toxic chemicals and bleach is toxic. Don't get me wrong, I will chlorinate my pool if i have to, but I'd prefer to use a SWG.
 
EmilyOTR said:
yes, I'm aware it's chlorine. and I don't have to read scare articles, I'm knowledgeable about toxic chemicals and bleach is toxic. Don't get me wrong, I will chlorinate my pool if i have to, but I'd prefer to use a SWG.
Click to expand...

An SWG is probably the best way to sanitize your pool. Once set up and dialed-in, it requires very little maintenance. But, please, make no mistake, installing an SWG will be chlorinating your pool. An Salt Water Generator (SWG) is more correctly called a Salt Water Chlorine Generator. As mentioned above an SWG breaks salt (NaCl) apart into gaseous forms of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl). This pure chlorine is the sanitizer for your pool. Unused chlorine rebonds with the sodium and the process restarts in the SWG.

I recommend you go to the Pool School pages of the TFP website and read all about the Pro's and Con's of SWG. Here's a link to get you started: Pool School - Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Good Luck!:)
 
Emily, I'd like to add to tucsontico's reply as well. With respect to any research you may have seen previously, I would like to provide you with the following quotes/links which may help explain why we (TFP) encourage or say some of the things you will see here on the forum:

I'm knowledgeable about toxic chemicals and bleach is toxic.
Click to expand...
This page discusses that very topic: How safe is using bleach?

I will chlorinate my pool if I have to, but I'd prefer to use a SWG.
Click to expand...
From another TFP Expert's quote: "There are only three sanitizers approved by the EPA in the US for use in swimming pools: chlorine, bromine, and baquacil. Bromine is impractical for use outdoors, works alright indoors. Baquacil has several problems, read our Baquacil area. That leaves chlorine. If you don't use one of those three chemicals you are putting your life and the lives of your friends and family at risk."

As noted so well above, a "salt water" pool is indeed a chlorine pool. Many folks confuse the two. It just uses a machine (SWG) to produce its own chlorine. Pool School - Salt Water Chlorine Generators

In the end, FC (Free Chlorine) enters the pool either by conversion (SWG changing salt to FC via electrolysis), or directly (manually) by dispensing liquid (chlorine which is also regular bleach) - the main ingredient being Sodium Hypochlorite. The rest is simply water & salt.
 
Yes I do know SWG are chlorine. Thanks. I do plan to chlorinate my pool, clearly I misspoke. I'd prefer to do it with a SWG.


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:goodjob: Outstanding! We have TONS of SWG owners who will gladly help you with various sizes and brands. Some of their recommendations will be based on your existing pool characteristics. At some point when you get a moment, please update your signature with all of your pool info (size, type, equipment, etc) and the folks here will give you some fantastic SWG options. Have a great day.
 
One more recommendation for you Emily - when you do get ready to shop around for SWG, you might consider starting a new thread in the "Salt Waster Chlorine Generators" forum and title it something like "Need Advice on a New SWG", or something like that. You'll get much more hits for that specific issue as opposed to this initial "Intro" thread. :)
 

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Emily.

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all your pool questions... :shark:

You will love a Saltwater pool!!! One thing that you will notice, following TFP's process, is that you will not even know there is any chlorine in your pool. No smell like you get at some public pools.

We do a lot of "Magic" here at TFP, but I'm pretty sure that changing the weather in Michigan, is not one of them... :laughblue:

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
EmilyOTR said:
yes, I'm aware it's chlorine. and I don't have to read scare articles, I'm knowledgeable about toxic chemicals and bleach is toxic. Don't get me wrong, I will chlorinate my pool if i have to, but I'd prefer to use a SWG.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you mean something else but bleach is absolutely not Toxic. Chlorine generated from a SWG will not differ in any practical way from those added by using bleach or other forms of commercially available Chlorine.
 
kimkats said:
Is it a block of ice? Yeah that would make it hard to inspect. I would ask for an escrow to be set up until you CAN have it inspected. There is so much that can be wrong and costly to fix that you will not know about.

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

It's winterized. It was replastered in 2013 and appears to have been well taken care of so we are hoping for the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Since it is winterized that is why I say have them set up an escrow (money set aside to pay for anything wrong when it is opened). IF there is nothing wrong they get the money. If there is something wrong the money is there to fix it.

Kim:kim:
 
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