Considering a SWG but want an alternative to using acid

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armyb77

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Jan 15, 2012
9
Little River, SC
Hello all!

I am considering having a SWG put in my pool, however I don't really want to deal with adding acid that often if possible. So at the same time that I put in a SWG we are considering adding something called an ORGANIC PH unit http://www.poolsmith.com. It uses CO2 to keep the PH where it needs to be. My pool is about 18000 gallons so I would require 2 35lbs CO2 tanks, and they would have to be refilled about once every 3 months. Of course I'm not sure of the cost yet on refills, but I may also be able to just have a 50lbs tank put in and then have a service contract done to refill it on site for me.

So my questions are as follows:
1. Has anyone ever heard of this option?
2. Does anyone know if this works well? Even if there is added costs, if it works, I would rather have this "safer" method.
3. Aside from cost what would be the drawbacks of this? (Chemistry issues)

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Armyb77
 
I looked into the sense and dispense system and decided not go that route just due to the expense! Also every pool is different, so I'm not sure who told you the bottles would last 3 months. You may go through a bottle a month or a bottle every 3 months! Refills in my area where at the time (2 years ago) $60 a bottle and that was a small bottle. Why are you opposed to MA? You could build yourself a dosing system that way you may only be dealing with it maybe once a week. How much acid are you using now?
 
Really my consumption isn't that bad (~32oz a week) but it's just something I don't want to mess with, I'm trying to go as chemical free as possible. This would make it so I don't have to worry about the kids or pets getting into the stuff. This is the reason I said aside from cost what are some of the other drawbacks?

The 3 months was given from the poolsmith vender they said 2 35lbs tanks should last 3-5 months depending on the chemistry of the pool.

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Armyb77
 
Army, I only talked with one person that I knew who had the Hayward system and he was not pleased. Constant leaks in the tubing, losing his gas. Installer had been out numerous times for service. Funny thing was the installer was being trained by a Hayward Tech. specialist on installing these systems!
 
Using CO2 to regulate PH tends to raise the TA over time. The net effect is that you end up needing to use acid, but only at fairly long intervals.

If you balance your levels correctly, and don't have a waterfall or negative edge or similar large amounts of aeration, the PH increase is very very small. I ended up adding acid to my pool (with a SWG) exactly once last year.
 
I'm running a Kegerator :cheers: with a 5lbs CO2 canister, and I do leak tests so I have been fortunate enough to not have any problems so far. Of course it's only $7 to refill, so I'm not too worried about it if it did, but this would be much more expensive (probably $45~60) so extra care would have to be taken to ensure there are not leaks.

I like the Homemade Acid injector, I'm just not sure I want to tinker :hammer: that much and I also don't know the long term effects that it would cause to my pump :?:

JasonLion answered the question I think though with the TA increase...thanks!

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Armyb77
 

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The first couple years I had my salt water pool, I was stunned at the PH rising up all the time. Initially, I was using PH down powder until I found troublefreepool. Then I switched to muriatic acid, which I found to be much cheaper than the powder at the pool store. Still, I found myself adding MA farily regularly (maybe four litres in a month).

After more research here at troublefreepool, I lowered my TA to 70 from 110 and the PH drifting up slowed dramatically. Last year I added 50ppm of borates and I think I added MA acid twice the entire summer.
 
DeadAquaRite said:
Army - one tap, or even one pressure, is fairly easy. When you star adding 3 or 4, the number of fittings, gauges, valves makes leaks more common.

Brew your own?
Click to expand...

No I haven't made the jump to brew my own, but that is mainly because I don't think the wife would allocate me the space or the kitchen to do it...laughs

I do have friends that bottle their own and offered to brew me a corny if I bought one. Right now I'm running Yuengling Bock on tap! :cheers:
 
armyb77 said:
I like the Homemade Acid injector, I'm just not sure I want to tinker :hammer: that much and I also don't know the long term effects that it would cause to my pump :?:
Click to expand...
It doesn't effect the equipment because the change in PH at the injection point is very small (<0.2 PH drop) so it isn't much different than adding the acid to the pool and dropping the PH. In fact, it is probably better because dosing a pool with acid tends to have larger swings while continous dosing keeps the PH at a near constant level.

Also, you can add a peristaltic pump to make the dosing more precise to take out some of the guess work.
 
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