SWG or Not? (plus info about better Intex type filters)

[gpgyo]

Re: SWG or Not?

Personally, I'll never have a pool again that doesn't have a SWCG. My pool has never looked better. Yes, BBB works great but I could not keep up with the daily dosing routine. And by the way, white salty film on the patio and around the yard...I've not seen it around my pool (I think it's a myth.)

 

[frogabog]

Re: SWG or Not?

It's too bad this information is hidden in a SWG thread that the average Intex owner might overlook, although I'm not sure if I should bother to post anew just to report about it.

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Day two with the walmart filters. I rinsed them out yesterday, the paper was grey and the pool was incredibly free of fine floor dirt. When I ran the brush over the floor, only 3 spots poofed up with a small dirty cloud. MUCH improved!

With the vacuum non-functional, I ran the garden hose vac that came with the pool which I hate (with a thick toddler pair of stockings inside the bag). It grabbed all the heavy stuff and filled up the pool, higher than I'd prefer so now I can't vac at all.

The result however has been incredible. Half hour after swimmers last night, the pool was nice and clear and the floor has NO debris at all. This morning... perfection still!

I would like to thank toadydodee again for bothering to point this out. I'm so happy with the results and I think every Intex (type) owner should be made aware of this. The filters are like night and day, one is trash and the other actually works.

I do think that for trash pumping, the dryer sheet kind would be a good first run choice to grab junk and allow for a longer run time (say, opening w/hawthorne stamens raining down, or initial pumping for a swamp) so I'm going to keep a couple around just in case. The good filters might clog quickly in those kind of situations.

And well... like toadydodee said... I'm questioning the necessity of the sand filter now hehe (JK, I still want it).


This frog no longer has a bog and she has a toad to thank for it!

 

[toadydodee]

You are welcome. You know, if you have lots of intex filter hoses, you can fasten them together with tape, and vacuum using your pool filter. I also found the same size of intex pool hose fits exactly inside the cheap intex vacuum head, right where the bag hangs off. Just ignore where a garden hose goes in, it's too small to matter. The other end of the hose goes to your intake, just use the blue connector that would go to the intex skimmer. Then you don't have to add the extra water from a garden hose.

You see, my pool is directly below a couple birch trees. Kids don't get sunburned, but I had to learn how to get debris out constantly. And without money to buy much more than a roll of gorilla tape, i had to make do. It works.

 

[frogabog]

SWG and low CH - Risks?

Got my walmart SWG & sand filter/pump bundle in my back yard. In boxes.

Got me some Target brand #20 silica sand that the pool store guy says is just fine for Intex (we shall see...).

Got NO salt yet. Still undecided on that. After watching the youtube video last night from Intex... I am still thinking trying to remember which button to press and in what order and blah blah blah... is seriously more time consuming than putting 2-4 cups of bleach in every night as I sit by the fire and have me a beer.

At any rate, our fill water is about 2ppm calcium hardness. I've been letting the CH fall down after raising it when we set up the pool last year based on bad information. We drained 50% and reduced CYA to 30ppm and have not added any calcium since. Last test was about 50ppm, I bet it's closer to 40 now. I do intend to check it again soon but before I didn't care how low it went.

SWG Water Balance School says CH at 50ppm is the minimum for SWG. If I set, or leave it at 50ppm, by the end of the summer it will dip under that due to splashout and refilling. What is the risk to the SWG should this occur, and should I raise CH to say, 60 or 70ppm instead of 50 to prevent any problems?

I expect to close the pool around mid to late September (we're hoping for a nice late summer).

As a side note, the walmart brand cartridge filters do an excellent job of clearing fines. They DO plug up fast. I have cleaned them twice so far. Today the flow is still good post 24hr's, but yesterday they had nearly no ability to move water at 24hr's.

 

[frogabog]

Vacuum saga and CYA Question

Oh, thanks for the info on the Intex vacuum. Interesting concept if I had extra hoses.

I didn't get to try it though, as dad stopped by and fooled w/my aqua broom spring and it's working great now (w/new batteries of course). It still runs faster when I turn it upside down, oh well. Vacuuming was a dream today, quick and easy because there was much less dirt on the floor than ever this season. The normal hour job took about 10 minutes. YAY! I am unsure if I'll bother to employ a std vacuum to the sand filter, the aqua broom is nice and simple with just a pole to manage.

I guess I'll ask in this separate post about CYA. With my location, I know that normally 30ppm works great. I read that the Intex SWG can work well with lower CYA levels, say 60ppm. What would you all recommend for me to raise it to at first? Is 40 (current) ok to start with? 50? or just hit it with 60 and call it good?

 

[linen]

Re: SWG and low CH - Risks?

Got NO salt yet. Still undecided on that. After watching the youtube video last night from Intex... I am still thinking trying to remember which button to press and in what order and blah blah blah... is seriously more time consuming than putting 2-4 cups of bleach in every night as I sit by the fire and have me a beer.

Give me the beer and I will tell you what buttons to push.

At any rate, our fill water is about 2ppm calcium hardness. I've been letting the CH fall down after raising it when we set up the pool last year based on bad information. We drained 50% and reduced CYA to 30ppm and have not added any calcium since. Last test was about 50ppm, I bet it's closer to 40 now. I do intend to check it again soon but before I didn't care how low it went.

SWG Water Balance School says CH at 50ppm is the minimum for SWG. If I set, or leave it at 50ppm, by the end of the summer it will dip under that due to splashout and refilling. What is the risk to the SWG should this occur, and should I raise CH to say, 60 or 70ppm instead of 50 to prevent any problems?

This I am not so sure about. My CH is around 70-80 and the swg has been fine.

 

[frogabog]

Re: SWG and low CH - Risks?

Got NO salt yet. Still undecided on that. After watching the youtube video last night from Intex... I am still thinking trying to remember which button to press and in what order and blah blah blah... is seriously more time consuming than putting 2-4 cups of bleach in every night as I sit by the fire and have me a beer.

Give me the beer and I will tell you what buttons to push.

Well in that case, if I have to give MY beer away rather than share one from the fridge...

NO SWG FOR ME!