SWG vs Ozonator?

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Bart

LifeTime Supporter
Jan 24, 2010
309
Northern Virginia
We met with a pool guy this weekend (Northern VA) and I asked about a SWG instead of chlorine, but he recommended an Ozinator instead. He said we would get none of the discoloration/corrosion with the Ozinator that we would with the SWG.

I haven't seen much on Ozinators in the forum. Is this the way to go? Or am I in for big troubles down the road?

Thanks!
Bart
 
An ozonator is at best a supplement to another method of sanitizing. It cannot be used as the only source of sanitization.

An ozonator effectively kills pathogens in the water within its chamber, but it produces no residual sanitizer within the pool. This means the pool water has nothing in it to eliminate pathogens from bathers or other sources while you are swimming.

A SWCG or other method of chlorination results in chlorine remaining in the pool to sanitize the water while bathers are using it.
 
Seeing any discoloration/corrosion with a SWG is extremely unusual.

Ozone is usually a waste of money for an an outdoor residential pool. You have to have chlorine anyway (from a SWG or otherwise), and chlorine alone does a great job, so there isn't anything to be gained by adding an ozone system. Ozone is much more useful in a spa or in some situations where you have an extremely high number of people swimming every day (think commercial pool).
 
Interesting. I'm confused. I'll list what he had down for the water cleaning part of the estimate and maybe this will clear things up:

Purifier - Ozone & Clear Vision Purifer
Floor System - Solar Recirculating System
Cleaning System - Polaris 380 w/Booster Pump

Does that cover everything I need or is there still something missing?

A little background: I told him I was interested in a SWG I recently swam in a pool that had one (or so I thought) and he recommended ozone instead. He asked if I could taste salt in this other pool and I said no. He said it was probably an ozonator.
 
The purifier is probably a copper or copper/zinc mineral system. Does a reasonable of job algae control, little to no pathogen reduction, and can lead to pool, hair and fingernail staining. Green hair isn't from chlorine, it's from copper used as an algaecide. You'll also have to buy a new cartridge at least once a year, and he hopes it's from him. Steer clear.

The only US approved pool sanitizers are Bromine, Chlorine and Biguanide(Baquacil). He's proposing a pool with no sanitizers. He'll probably tell you to shock the pool once a week, which is unnecessary if you follow our methods here either with an SWCG or with conventional chlorine additions.

Stand firm for the SWCG. You won't taste the salt, and you'll be happier. If he doesn't go along, just have him leave enough straight pipe in the plumbing and tell him you'll just buy one online and add it yourself. That will bring him to your way of thinking.
 
It is common enough to build a pool without a SWG, ozone system, chlorine tablet feeder, or anything else of that kind. Manual addition of chlorine has been quite common for a long time.

The threshold at which people can taste salt in the water varies from person to person. The average level at which people can taste salt is just below the salt levels commonly used with swimming pools, so perhaps 60% of everyone will taste a slight bit of salt in a SWG pool. There is nothing wrong with tasting salt, nor does failing to taste salt mean that there wasn't an SWG.

I wouldn't bother with the Ozone & Clear Vision Purifer unless it is going to be completely free. Actually, even if it was free I probably wouldn't want it since the Clear Vision portion is likely to be a copper/silver/zinc system and they can cause problems sometimes.
 
Bart - you are getting excellent advice from knowledgeable pros who have no stake in the outcome. There's science and experience behind their advice. Don't get snowed by someone trying to sell you stuff. I keep our concentration around 3400 ppm salt - most can taste it a little, some can't.
 
Bart,
Great advice here. I will go one further. If your builder refuses to listen thank him for his estimate and get another. Better yet get 2. We interviewed and received estimates from 5 builders before we chose ours. Look for a builder with an open mind. We talked to many who were not and were very stuck in their ways and did not want to listen to our needs/wants at all. Very funny for such a large investment. For us it was $40K 10 years ago and that was just for the pool and equipment.

After 20 years of taking care of 2 different pools I have been through quite a bit. I am also just switching over to a SWG this spring as both of my neighbors have had them for 4 seasons now and really like them.

Best of luck with your project and I hope all goes well,

JD
 
Thanks everyone! I have some more information on what the pool guy is proposing.

I asked what the sanitization method was and he said, "The ozonator works in conjunction with the Clear vision purifier (MINERALS) to sanitize your pool. " Then I asked what were the minearals and he said, "Copper and silver, minute levels". He then added this, "Zodiac is the company and nature 2 is the product I have used it for years on my pool"

So with that knowledge and what was said above in this thread, the advice would be to ditch the "clear vision purifier" and go with the SWG, correct?
 

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Yes, Ditch both the clear vision purifier and the ozonator. Make sure your bid line-items everything you are getting with the pool - what make/model of pump, filter, heater, cleaner, pool finish, diving board, steps, ladders. Does the bid include electrical, concrete work, cleanup, permits etc. You want to be able to directly compare bids. We had to lean on a couple builders who were lazy and did not want to line item everything - just one lump sum total and no way to tell what the parts of the pool were. Believe me we had friends who went with the lowest bid and got just exactly what they paid for - in fact one is still struggling to get the pool structurally sound again.

JD
 
Bart...as was mentioned before I second staying away from minerals and the Nature2 system. A SWCG uses electricity to covert the salt in the pool water to chlorine. Whether you use a swcg or plain old bleach, if you your pool is properly maintained you will barely ever smell bleach.

Folks always love to tell me "I love your salt pool"...my reply "it's still a chlorine based system, you just can't smell it". The added benefit of salt is that it does to some give the water a softer feel. I would suggest reading pool school on this forum and feel free to keep asking questions. Friends of our use nature2 and I do not let our kids swim in it...the water has a green tint to it and the chlorine level is always below 1ppm...bottom line it may work for a while but IMHO not safe
 
As a former mineral ionizer user, I can personally vouch for how well they work. :evil:

After the first year I began to have problems, and several family members, friends and my dog ended up with green tinted hair. :shock: The mineral levels left staining and did nothing to prevent a huge area of organic staining on the bottom of my pool. To make a very long story short, 3 months after switching to BBB the organic staining was gone and has never returned. I would never recommend an ionizer system to anyone and will always advise against one. Total waste of money. :grrrr:
 
Not really. The first "B" is Bleach, which is chlorine. The SWG produces the chlorine. So it's different in the sense of in that with simple "BBB" you haul a jug of bleach to the pool and pour, and with an SWG its there always doing that part for you :) so no need to haul a jug. That's really all there is to it.
 
Bart said:
Thanks frustrated!

BBB and SWG are two different cleaning methods, correct?
Click to expand...

Don't be confused by the term BBB. It's not really an accurate name for the pool care method we endorse. Here's a post Jason made that kind of sums it up:

What we tend to call BBB actually has several more or less unrelated principals:
Use inexpensive chemicals whenever possible (often from the grocery store)
Test your water to know what is going on
Don't add things that aren't required or which you don't understand
Empower the pool owner and stop depending on the pool store/pool service
Be consistent, pay attention to the pool and measure chemicals (don't just ignore it for a week and then nuke it)
Use simple/reliable/proven techniques, avoid fads and miracle cures

Bleach, baking soda, and borax are only a small part of that, but they do make for a catchy name.
Click to expand...

A SWCG is just one alternative for providing the sanitizer that fits in with our ideas of knowledge and simple pool care.
 
I'll also add my one line summary of BBB:

BBB is really just knowing what is happening in your water and knowing how to fix it.
 
Of course, a big advantage of using bleach or SWCG rather than other sources of chlorine (e.g., solid forms) is that you are adding chlorine without CYA (which buffers the free chlorine from degradation due to sunlight). Inherent to the BBB method is that you have relatively independent control over the main chemical components needed to maintain a sanitary, stable pool.
 
Bart,

I may be able to shed some light on your dilema since I actually have an Ozonator and a Nature 2 with my system. Actually, Im currently not using the Nature 2 since its time to replace the cartridge. As far as any issues that I have come across with the current set up is that my FC is always too low for my liking (1 ppm). Therefore, Im always checking my levels with a test kit that I purchased from TFP and adding bleach when needed to keep my FC at acceptable levels. I do have an inline chlorine feeder that utilizes Trichlor tabs and have not had any issues with my CYA getting to high. I believe that my non issue with rising CYA has to do with the fact that the Texas sun and heat causes one to add fresh water periodically to their pool during extreme heat. I will admit that I have researched adding a SWG to my system and ditching the Ozonator. The only set back with doing this, at least in my situation, is that a large portion of my pool is flag stone and from personal experience and observation SWG's can and will chew up the flag stone, at least with the flag stone that is being used here in Houston. I may revist the installation of a SWG and just deal with the flag stone issue when that time comes. In regards to the Nature 2, I never experienced the green affect that some have referenced. I may not replace the cartridge this year and strictly run the ozonator and manaually add bleach. If I had to do it all over, I would have installed a SWG and used a different coping for my pool thus allowing me to have a better peace of mind. I hope this helps and didnt cloud the issue for you.

Chris.
 

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