Non-Chemical Water Conditioner??

Jump to latest Follow Reply
V

vsumner

0
Jul 15, 2017
5
Austin, Texas
Hello :)

I am new to the forum. I am about to begin my first pool build and my builder is trying to sell me a "Non-Chemical Water Conditioner". It sounds very interesting and appealing. It is supposed to be an in-line unit that helps with efficiency and maintenance from calcium scale and corrosion. The only information I can find about it is in the flyer (provided by my pool company and which I've attached). Google search turns up nothing :-( I tried researching the "Broached Concept Water Conditioner" but was unable to find anything online about it or a company...which I found rather odd considering the flyer states it has been in the "marketplace since 1964".

Any help, advice, info would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!!

Water Conditioner .jpg
 
Good lord, that’s total pseudoscience nonsense.

Pure profit for your pool builder, zero efficacy for the pool owner.
 
It is just a bunch of "fancy" words to try to sound technical and confuse the buyer /user into thinking that it must work. It doesn't do anything except drain your wallet and keep the user from actually paying attention to what will really prevent scaling ... water chemistry.
Do yourself a favor and don't buy/install this. Since your pool builder may be pushing this, stay away from any other fancy gadgets he may be offering as well. Post all your equipment here and we can offer advice on how suitable and useful it will be for your pool.
 
Water pseudoscience and quackery

Above website is written and maintained by a retired professor of chemistry. His site details all of the bogus and nonsense products and ideas about water. He even includes links to various governmental agencies for lodging fraud complaints.
 
Welcome to TFP!

If you don't have a contract signed yet you might want to consider another builder. Attempting to charge you $1500 for a 'magic' magnet should be a massive red flag towards both his credibility and honesty. We also welcome you to ask us any questions about anything you are planning and getting thoughts on good water chemistry. We would be happy to try to save you money and headache in your build and water maintenance and point you in the most efficient and proven direction.
 
Thank you so much everyone! All of the trees were cleared last week, so we should be starting to dig this week.

20,335 Gallons
Pool Equipment & Plumbing:
PUMPS:
Pentair IntelliFlo 2 VST (Variable Speed)
Pentair WhisperFlo 2.5 HP
Pentair WhisperFlo 2 HP
FILTER:
Pentair Clean & Clear 420 Cartridge
FILL LINE:
Auto w/ RPZ
DRAINCOVERS:
(6) SDX, VGB compliant
(1) Superflo
SKIMMERS:
2 Std
WATER PURIFICATION:
In-Line Color w/ Ultra UV Sys
HEATER:
Pentair MasterTemp 400k - LP
POOL LIGHTING TYPE:
(3) Pentair GloBrite LED 12v - Pool
(1) Pentair GloBrite LED 12v - S[a
POOL CLEANER:
KK Racer w/ booster
SPA AIR:
Blower - Silencer 1.5 HP
(6) Standard Jets
POOL/SPA CONTROL:
Pentair EasyTouch PS-8
REMOTE:
Screen Logic Bundle (adapter & wireless)

INTERIOR:
PebbleSheen Black Onyx

I am using a very large well known company. I'll definitely pass on this item. I have never built a pool before and I don't know anything about the equipment, so any pointers would be very much welcome :) I appreciate all of the help! Truly, thank you :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pass on the UV system too -- useless in an outdoor pool. The SUN is your UV system.

I assume you plan to use liquid chlorine with daily additions to chlorinate? Why not add a SWCG?

Take care.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Agreed...would love to see the layout of a 20k gallon pool that requires a total of 7.5 HP worth of water pumps [emoji15]

I can only assume you have some kind of in-floor cleaning system and then a separate water feature (waterfall & bubblers, maybe) all on their own separate plumbing loops?

Also, if an attached spa is designed properly and doesn’t have a large number of high flow rate jets, a separate air blower is not needed. Again, it depends on the distance of the spa to the equipment pad and the number of jets being used, but mine has no air blower and the jets are plenty powerful, to the point of being annoying and painful, if my IntelliFlo variable speed pump is on high speed.

We all realize that you’re locked into this builder but there can still be time to revise some of the plumbing before anything is laid out.
 
Thank you! I have been busy, but I think these docs (attached) areView attachment Construction Plan Pool.pdfView attachment Construction Plan Pool.pdfView attachment Construction Plan Pool.pdf what you all are asking for...I went ahead and told the company no on the "water conditioner".

Thanks for everyone's help!


JoyfulNoise said:
Agreed...would love to see the layout of a 20k gallon pool that requires a total of 7.5 HP worth of water pumps [emoji15]

I can only assume you have some kind of in-floor cleaning system and then a separate water feature (waterfall & bubblers, maybe) all on their own separate plumbing loops?

Also, if an attached spa is designed properly and doesn’t have a large number of high flow rate jets, a separate air blower is not needed. Again, it depends on the distance of the spa to the equipment pad and the number of jets being used, but mine has no air blower and the jets are plenty powerful, to the point of being annoying and painful, if my IntelliFlo variable speed pump is on high speed.

We all realize that you’re locked into this builder but there can still be time to revise some of the plumbing before anything is laid out.
Click to expand...
 
So the 2HP is for the sheers ... which you will need if you to have them running while using the spa.

The 2.5HP I do not understand, what is the NE return? Do you have a pseudo-swim pump to add resistance to swimming? It also is plumbed to a Vac Suction port, but there is no filter on that port, so I don't get it.

Agree, ditch the booster pump and cleaner and UV.
 
OH, the spa is all infinity edge around it? That would be the 2.5HP pump. Still do not understand the vacuum port.

I really want to see pictures of this build, look nice.

So the spa is almost 3 feet below the pool level. So as the pool overflows into the spa, then the spa overflows into the catch basin, and then the 2.5HP pump puts the water back into the pool ... I think.
 
NE is Negative Edge. The vac port is probably for vacuuming. So, it should go to the filtration pump.

I wouldn't use a vacuum port. Using a skimmer is better because vacuuming directly into a line risks clogging the line.

For all pumps, I would recommend variable speed so that you can control the flow.
 
If the NE is pumping from the spa overflow back up to the pool (I am not sure if that is what it really does) .... seems like it could be used to run the water sheers instead of a separate pump. Although that may mean the sheers can't be run with the spa in spa mode still ... :scratch:
 
It could but the flow might be too much. An Infinity edge typically uses more flow than sheers.

I suspect that the pumps are probably high head (like WhisperFlo) where they should be low head like a water feature pump.

Variable speed would be best to allow maximum control.

A 2.5 hp WhisperFlo will be too loud and use too much energy.
 
Our backyard is on a grade/slant, so I'm not sure if that could possibly be the reason for the pumps? I really don't know anything so I definitely could not tell you why. I was trying to attach some more photos but I can't seem to figure out how to get more space for images as it seems the other images I uploaded are taking up all the space :-(



JamesW said:
It could but the flow might be too much. An Infinity edge typically uses more flow than sheers.

I suspect that the pumps are probably high head (like WhisperFlo) where they should be low head like a water feature pump.

Variable speed would be best to allow maximum control.

A 2.5 hp WhisperFlo will be too loud and use too much energy.
Click to expand...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply