SWG vs Hauling Jugs

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belgique

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Jun 16, 2009
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Cedar Island NC (Outer Banks)
Been surfing the forums and the School and am wondering the merits of SWG's. Our pool is 20x40 Above Ground, 29,000 gal and we're on a Sound on the Outer Banks. Full sun and often, windy. Reading some of the threads, I'm doomed to look like a terrorist buying pallets of Clorox just to keep up with normal demand (slight exaggeration).

Some facts bearing on the problem:
  • --We're in the country and Walmart is about our only source and that is an hour away;
    --We really don't have anyone to do stuff to the pool beyond dumping a jug twice a week...testing is out of the question;
    --We are RV'ers and travel a bit
    --We do vacation rental so the pool needs to be presentable
Would a SWG be a solution for many of these challenges both in terms of cost and pool maintenance? If so, recommendations on which one?

Thanks in advance, Steve
 
Sounds like a SWG is perfect for you then. If you are gone for long periods and can't keep a close eye on it, then I don't think the 'dump 2 jugs' and hope for the best method will work well for you. :) Once you get the SWG dialed in and the other chemicals where they need to be, you should be in pretty good shape.
 
The real question is are you willing to put forth the money for the initial cost of the equipment, and all of those bags of salt? Not to mention if you have a sand filter and how often you backwash, rinse, and vacuum to waste. So factor in those frequent buyings of salt, stabilizer, and acid if you can't keep things in balance. And finally a replacement cell down the road.
 
Thanks!!! And Thanks for not flaming me for an inadequate search!!! Lots of forums would have melted my asbestos suit...I did search but didn't use the right verbiage.

I'd like to leave this thread as is because the Haywood stuff looks like the way to go if I want to swallow the SWG expense. My initial top of the head calculations say it would pay for itself in a couple of years plus, more important, keep the pool clear while we RV...an important thing for our vacation rental guests?
 
DBfan187 said:
The real question is are you willing to put forth the money for the initial cost of the equipment, and all of those bags of salt? Not to mention if you have a sand filter and how often you backwash, rinse, and vacuum to waste. So factor in those frequent buyings of salt, stabilizer, and acid if you can't keep things in balance. And finally a replacement cell down the road.
Click to expand...

Ah, this came in as I hit send.

Re cost: what I see from Haywood, we're talking about around $800. I've already spent $300+ on bleach (and stuff from the pool store be fore I found this site) and the pool is still not clear. What alarmed me was that once clear, I would still be dumping a gallon+ a day of bleach! At this rate, the SWG would pay for itself in 2 years to say nothing of the logistics of hauling that much bleach.

Re Bags of salt...I assume these are like the bags of salt that we use in our Kinetico softener? If so, the Island's store has them and, I presume, with minimal training our friend could add them?

Our friend can backwash etc twice a week.

Stabilizer and acid???? Tell me about that. Our friend can do basic stuff but not testing. In the summer, we are talking being gone no more that a couple of weeks at a time.

Thanks all for what may be dumb questions. :cheers: Steve
 

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Salt water chlorine generators have an ongoing cost, in addition to the steep upfront price. They use a considerable amount of electricity to generate the chlorine and the generation cell also has a limited life. 3-5 years seems to be average. A replacement cell is several hundred dollars. :shock: Convenience is the main benefit of the system. It isn't completely "set it and forget it", as chlorine demands change depending on bather load, water temp, etc. But it sure beats trying to remember to pour in the chlorine every evening. :cheers:
 
belgique said:
DBfan187 said:
The real question is are you willing to put forth the money for the initial cost of the equipment, and all of those bags of salt? Not to mention if you have a sand filter and how often you backwash, rinse, and vacuum to waste. So factor in those frequent buyings of salt, stabilizer, and acid if you can't keep things in balance. And finally a replacement cell down the road.
Click to expand...

Ah, this came in as I hit send.

Re cost: what I see from Haywood, we're talking about around $800. I've already spent $300+ on bleach (and stuff from the pool store be fore I found this site) and the pool is still not clear. What alarmed me was that once clear, I would still be dumping a gallon+ a day of bleach! At this rate, the SWG would pay for itself in 2 years to say nothing of the logistics of hauling that much bleach.

Re Bags of salt...I assume these are like the bags of salt that we use in our Kinetico softener? If so, the Island's store has them and, I presume, with minimal training our friend could add them?

Our friend can backwash etc twice a week.

Stabilizer and acid???? Tell me about that. Our friend can do basic stuff but not testing. In the summer, we are talking being gone no more that a couple of weeks at a time.

Thanks all for what may be dumb questions. :cheers: Steve
Click to expand...

Bags of salt - once your salt level is in range, it's not something you'll need to adjust often at all. Just an initial expense (Morton water softener salt in the blue bags is ok - no additives!)

CYA - again, once you get it into range its not something you need to add often, test for it monthly once it's at the proper level. Acid - well, as long as your numbers are at the recommended levels, you shouldn't see your PH creep up too much. That's what the acid would be for, and I think it would be manageable with 2 week trips, certainly.

You shouldn't have to backwash twice a week with normal filtration (once the pool is clear.) It's more based on pressure rise, and if your pool is basically clean I can't see it being that often (Of course I have a cart filter and I'm not real familiar with backwashing frequency...)

Once a month you'll likely need to make adjustments because rain and backwashing will alter the recommended levels but not drastically I don't think.

I think your situation is fine for an SWG, considering your need for convenience.
 
Hey FPM...I know the intex is a real cheapo, but I have been running mine 2-3hrs a day...if I run it at 3hrs a day...avg sunny week my FC rises about 3 FC per week (I wish it had a setting for 2.5hrs :rant: )...a single 3hr run raises my FC by 2ppm (13,500 gallon pool) so if I'm doing my math right....a six hour run should be able to add 2FC per day on a 27K gallon pool...not to far off...given the intex can run in 12 hour increments, I think it could work...but i'll admit, it's not a fancy SWG at all, but not luging bleach has been a joy :goodjob:
 
I know...it's huge :shock: I didn't think they made 20x40' abg pools :mrgreen:

I'm pretty sure they would work on a small inground as well...but IMHO it's to cheap to be plumbing into a nice inground set-up...I think I saw someone here plumb it from their return with flex hose and then directed back into pool with flex hose...wasn't the prettiest set-up...but it seemed to work
 
Cost: a SWG will save you money by staying out of a pool store. However, you could just stay out of the pool store. Consider a SWG to be a break even. Your traveling makes a SWG a good idea but do not expect big savings over the BBB method.

Hayward makes a good SWG [actually it is made by Goldline & marketed by Hayward] A 29,000 gallon pool is large. You generally want to purchase a SWG for a larger capacity pool. At least consider a SWG that generates more Cl.

Salt: You want solar salt. Usually in blue bags. Most water softener salt will work – but not all. Do not buy any salt with additives to preventing caking or rust. You want pure salt.

Backwash: Why do you think you need to backwash twice a week? Pool stores tell you to backwash so that you have to replace the chemicals. A sand filter works better with less back washing.

Stabilizer is important for SWG. Get your CYA up to 70 or so & test it several times a summer with a torpidity test. No test strips.

The outer banks are beautiful. Give me free rental & I will make your pool sparkle & teach you how to maintain your pool. Or you can get free advice here & pocket the money!
 
I'll digest all this in the AM.

Yep, the pool is a Splash Super Pool, 40x20. It's gone through 2 hurricanes, totally flooded and been fine. In fact Splash uses pictures of it that I took during Isabel in their advertising. Here's one that was taken early in the storm...the water got 4-5 ft higher and eventually collapsed the pool. Water almost came to the top of the deck. Only damage was several support legs bent. Pool itself was fine and still is, 5 years later.
 

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I must say that pic rocks :rockon: ...should have asked to pool co to give ya a new pool or lifetime supply of parts for use of that pic....I'm sure it was scary, but that is an amazing pic
 

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