Expert Advce Needed

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Bochadley

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Aug 1, 2011
5
Hello all. I just stumbled onto this forum and I'm looking forward to putting in a pool! I'm hoping to learn as much as I can about the pros and cons of the difference ideologies around SW pools, Chlorine Pools, this "Pool Prodigy" Technology, and the ECOsmarte Technology.

I grew up with a Chlorine pool and I remember the smell, the buring eyes etc.. etc.. EVERYONE is going Salt.. Only problem I see with salt is the issue with it attacking Natural Stone. We're going to do Flagstone coping and decking so salt scares me! I read a lot about this and I understand you can seal the stone to help slow the errosion attack. But most owners have given me feedback from their experience that this really doesn't help...

As I mentioned earlier, I'm looking for advice, coaching from professionals. The pool we have designed is 103' perimeter feet. roughly 22,500 gal not including the 7' x 9' spa. Also note, we're in the Houston Area so its HOT and Humid if that adds into your recommendations/advice...

Thanks all! Looking forward to the responses
 
1. a salt pool is a chlorine pool. You still have the same level of chlorine, it's just generated by a salt water chlorine generator instead of adding chlorine manually.
2. stinging eyes will be due to a chemical or pH imbalance. Properly maintained chlorine pools don't cause stinging eyes.
3. chlorine pools smell like chlorine when something is wrong. A properly maintained chlorine pool has no smell.

I strongly recommend staying away from Pool Prodigy or ECOsmarte. Do a search on this forum and you'll find lots of complaints and people asking how to switch to a normal chlorine pool.

I would also stay away from Nature 2 and Pool Frog, again search the forum, you'll see why. These add stuff to your pool that you don't need and that can also cause issues.
 
Like they said..

A chlorine pool only smells like a chlorine pool when it's not had proper chlorine levels & is having issues w/sanitizing the water.

A chlorine pool only stings to the eyes and nose when the ph levels are not in balance.

Spend some time here reading pool school and learning more about how to manage a chlorine pool. When you had a pool growing up, likely your parents only had minimal test kit options available and were at the mercy of what the pool store recommended. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy a chlorine pool is to maintain and how nice it can feel.

If you're concerned about salt effecting your stonework, I would recommend (like the others) that you stay w/chlorine and avoid the salt systems. They are a nice thing to have, but if the stone work you have is possibly going to have problems w/it the chlorine is your best bet. Avoid the automatic systems all-together unless you go with a liquid chlorinator that uses simply liquid chlorine.
 
Be cautious about going with salt when using natural flagstone around the pool edges. Ive seen several friends pools that have had the flagstone flaking heavily due to the salt. most of them have told me they would not do it again.

Search the forums for salt and flagstone to see some of these issues.

Good Luck.
 
Wow! That was quick! I'm so thankful I found this website! Ok, so my memories of chlorine wasn't positive. It also seemed that there was a lot of maintainence with my parents pool... I need to look liguid chlorinators.. I already have enough things to do so i do want to keep the maintaince to a min!
 
I have an 8 gallon Liquidator.
http://www.ezpool.com/
This gives me one place to put a few bottles of chlorine in all at once, occasionally, rather than daily or every other day. It also maintains my chlorine level for me when I'm out of town, so I don't have to worry about coming home to a green pool.
 
Stay away from the alternative sanitizers (N², Frog, EcoSmarte, Etc.), you don't need them and they can create problems that are very hard to correct. The refills are very expensive as well.

Also, UV and Ozonators are useless in an outdoor pool.

If you're worried about salt water causing a problem, you should look at a liquid chlorine system. You're on the edge of what I'd suggest a Liquidator (LQ) for. I suggest an injection pump and tank. I had a LQ and it worked great and there are a lot of people using them. You'll have to refill it about every two weeks or sooner on a pool your size. I have a Stenner peristaltic pump and a 15 gallon drum. I have to refill the drum about every 5 weeks. I test regularly but rarely have to adjust anything.

We're glad to help with any decisions you need to help with.
 
We bought our house in Dec 2010 and the salt water chlorine generator was broken. I opted to use the BBB method to chlorinate my pool and I do not regret it. We have no burning eyes or smell to my pool! What I have learned as a first time pool owner is that proper maintenance and proper testing will keep you pool clear, clean and trouble free.
 

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In order of simple to maintain:
Swcg
Injection pump
LQ
Manual dosing.

One caveat with the swcg is that if your pool requires frequent acid additions you'll have to add a pH adjustment system if you can't be there on a regular basis to add it.
 
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