Salt or Chlorine Pool Decision

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B

beantownace

0
Aug 4, 2015
84
Boston, MA
Hey all,

Okay so I know a salt water pool generates chlorine. I am rehabing my current vinyl liner pool with a new liner and equipment. I am debating going to a salt switch over or stay traditional tab based etc. I have two small kids and I hate the chemicals but also worry about corrision so there lies the decision. Looking for feedback on those who have salt water vinyl pools if happy or regret etc. Tx
 
Chlorine is chlorine so there is not a bit of change (-/+) in risk to the liner from how you get it.

ALL pools essentially are salt water pools. Each ingredient you add does add some salt once it breaks down, so in a few years time you might be sitting in water with about 1000ppm salt already. SWG use between 2500-4000ppm. The ocean is 35,000ppm!! So....no risk there either to your liner.

Go forth and Generate (with your SWG!) !!! :splash:

Maddie :flower:

Addendum: The biggest risk to your liner is poor pH management.
 
bean,

What corrosion??? Do you have any direct knowledge of corrosion that was caused by a saltwater pool?

When using the 3" tabs, do you also have to throw in a bag or two of Pool Store "Shock" once a week? Do you find that this makes your pool have that public pool smell? Do your swim suits smell like chlorine when you get out?

I have three saltwater pools and have seen zero "corrosion" on any of them..

There is zero chlorine smell around my pools and nothing on your swimsuit when you get out.

Living in Boston and being near the ocean, maybe there is some cause for concern that I don't understand, but before I made a decision I'd want to see first hand proof of damage caused by a saltwater pool.

I would pick a saltwater pool, or Liquid Chlorine pool, over a tablet chlorinated pool everyday of the week.. There is just no comparison..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
+1 +1 = 2, or is that now +3?

Most anyone that makes the switch never looks back. It's too easy!

I do four family pools, three on salt water. My mother-in-law's pool is on chlorinating liquid, and each two weeks that I haul in a 35 lb jug of chlorine, I think of her disappearing fugitive pool guy. He converted her to pucks, stole her salt water chlorinator, did her pool on pucks for 18 months, then did the Harry when it turned green! Great learning experience for me!
 
The best decision we made when having our pool installed in 2004 was to go with salt/SWCG. It makes maintaining FC much easier and the water is easy on the eyes (no irritation at all!). It’s also nice to go out of town on vacation and not worry about coming home to a green pool.

Several years ago the pump motor died and I had to manually chlorinate (with bleach) until it could be replaced. What a pain! I was so happy when the new motor came and I could go back to using the SWCG!

If we ever move and get another pool, we will most definitely go with salt/SWCG again.
 
justinS said:
all of those with SWG, when you backwash, can you use the water on your lawn? or must it go someplace else?
Click to expand...

You have live grass in Tucson :scratch:

It’s ok to discharge a salt pool backwash water onto a part of the yard you don’t like (aim for some mesquite trees you really hate) but I wouldn’t water the lawn with it. Unless you grass has really good drainage and you flush the lawn with lots of irrigation water, the salt will build up overtime and create a very sodic soil making it harder to grow in. Soil in Tucson sucks (highly alkaline and lots of calcium) and you can only make it worse by drenching it with brackish water.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
You have live grass in Tucson :scratch:

It’s ok to discharge a salt pool backwash water onto a part of the yard you don’t like (aim for some mesquite trees you really hate) but I wouldn’t water the lawn with it. Unless you grass has really good drainage and you flush the lawn with lots of irrigation water, the salt will build up overtime and create a very sodic soil making it harder to grow in. Soil in Tucson sucks (highly alkaline and lots of calcium) and you can only make it worse by drenching it with brackish water.
Click to expand...

Yes I have some grass, I do not like this desert landscaping. I was hoping to do the right thing and reuse the water
 
justinS said:
Yes I have some grass, I do not like this desert landscaping. I was hoping to do the right thing and reuse the water
Click to expand...

Do the right thing??? Then don’t build the pool :laughblue:

Joking....but after you get your fifth or sixth >$300 water bill, you’ll be ripping that grass out and installing turf in no time (I have 800 sq ft of turf).
 

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justinS said:
with the pool, I am losing some grass, I should be good, unless you are telling me the pool is going to run me $300 in water
Click to expand...

Class A pan evaporation data for Tucson -

Evaporative Loss - >90 inches/year
Precipitation Gain - < 10 inches/year

An uncovered pool will evaporate away its entire pool volume over the course of a year here. Your calcium hardness (CH) will increase annually by whatever your fill water CH is. Depending on the surface area of your pool, you can expect your May-Oct water usage to have an additional 5-7CCFs of water per month just from the pool.

Welcome to the desert!!! Just remember - it’s hot, but it’s a DRY heat.....
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Class A pan evaporation data for Tucson -

Evaporative Loss - >90 inches/year
Precipitation Gain - < 10 inches/year

An uncovered pool will evaporate away its entire pool volume over the course of a year here. Your calcium hardness (CH) will increase annually by whatever your fill water CH is. Depending on the surface area of your pool, you can expect your May-Oct water usage to have an additional 5-7CCFs of water per month just from the pool.

Welcome to the desert!!! Just remember - it’s hot, but it’s a DRY heat.....
Click to expand...

I knew I shouldnt have gotten this darn thing! I wonder if they can bring all that dirt back
 
Nice to meet you via TFP :)

I've seen comments from experienced pool owners watering lawns with pool water successfully (both SWG and liquid chlorination), but from wetter climates. Salty irrigation water is not uncommon, but the soil has to be leached periodically, for example by snow melt, rain, or irrigation with less salty water.

Forme here, I backwash/rinse with 200 gallons, 10 times a year, 2000 gallons, or about $15, so it kinda pales in comparison to the 15,000 gallons of irrigation water I use annually for lawn irrigation (about 1000 sq ft - I like a real lawn as well :)). Along with our 50" of rain, there would likely be enough dilution that I could use at least some of the pool water. Our drain water goes to water treatment or surface waterrunoff, so the water is all still useful, and not any real environmental issue. It can certainly be an issue for a constrained supply, but as Matt illustrated,backwashing is a fraction of total pool water consumption. A cover is the best approach for water conservation, but has to be set up for ease-of-use, or may not get used.

The downside with salt contamination of soil is that when you blow it, it's bad. Below is a picture of a spot that got flooded by pool water for 2 or 3 days around four years before the picture was taken. It's been re-turfed onceand failed. The damage covers about 25' of the perimeter around the stone. To fix it, they'll need to remove 6" of soil and replace it, before new turf.The drain was added after the damage to stop it from happening again. This is the only acute damage from a pool I've seen. It was probably made worse, or wouldn't correct, because of splashout. It's more common for salt contamination effects to arise after a long period of time, sometimes years.
View attachment 72910
 
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