new pool/chlorine/water 'feel'

[jtm60]

after going through the SWG vs. regular chlorine debate..we decided to go 'the old way', with regular chlorine...mainly due to concern over hardscape. that's our decision.

we are having a pebble finish put on our pool, and I will be starting it up initially in accordance with all of the PB's recommendations.

we are going to have a rainbow 320 chlorinator...

1) for people out there using chlorine tabs in a chlorinator like this...what are you using, or prefer? i assume there are a whole bunch of different brand tabs out there. from what i have read so far, i want to stay away from the ones with any copper/algecide..and trichlor will tend to raise my CYA levels over time. I know my brother uses Bioguard smart sticks and seems happy (except for the cost)...dont know if they offer the same product in puck/tablet form.

2) my wife claims that she really feels a difference in salt pools she has been in, and notices that her (and our daughter's) hair reacts differently, versus when they have been in 'chlorine' pools..what can i do to my water chemistry to try and minimize any differences that she is claiming? I am intrigued by the idea of adding a small amount of salt for 'feel' but not sure how many have done that, and what kind of ppm level would be required to feel a difference, if any.

I will likely switch over to BBB after I get started and get comfortable with what I am doing, and I will likely use a liquidator at that time.

Any advice or words of wisdom would be appreciated.

thanks,

john

 

[JasonLion]

There are only a couple of companies that actually manufacture trichlor tablets. The difference from brand to brand is minimal, except that a few of the brands add things that you don't want. You can buy trichlor tablets in bulk at discount places and get a product that is just as good as the expensive brands at a pool store.

It is quite possible to add some salt without a SWG and it will improve the feel of the water. Different people notice the effects at different levels, typically between 1000 and 2000 ppm. One good approach is to add a 40 lb bag once every couple of days till it feels "right".

 

[jcichocki]

When we were setting up our pool, we had to have a dedicated "hard water" line to the pool. The pool builder was very emphatic that the pool line was in no way connected to the soft water system I have in my home.

Is this correct? If it is ok to add salt to get a better feel, is it ok to have the water softener connected?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[JasonLion]

Home water softeners are not designed to handle the volume of water that a pool requires. Withe some effort it is possible to use a home water softener but it will require constant attention and frequent recharging while water is flowing to the pool. None of which really relates to using salt, except that water coming from the water softener will have more salt in it than unsoftened water will.

 

[ideliver]

we are going to have a rainbow 320 chlorinator...

Since you are seeking opinions...it is probably much simpler to add some bleach every night than worry about an inline chlorinator...just my .02


2) my wife claims that she really feels a difference in salt pools she has been in, true...but you can add salt to get the same feel...also...most people that use borate at a level of 50 ppm report a similar benefit. I would suggest using borates first. Keep in mind that this is not voodoo...Bioguard and Proteam suggest borates also...they just charge WAY more. A 5# box of Borax at Wal-Mart is $2.50 (.50/lb) and at the poolstore... a 40# bucket is $80...($2/lb)...but at the pool store it comes in a nice bucket!!


I will likely switch over to BBB after I get started and get comfortable with what I am doing, and I will likely use a liquidator at that time.

No better time to start that now...just get a good test kit and post any questions here...

 

[AnnaK]

We use trichlor tabs with the chlorinator set to 1/4. My primary reason for using the chlorinator at all is to maintain the CYA level. We have to do a lot of backfilling, several inches each week, because our primary swimmer load is dogs and they do drag out enormous amounts of water. We normally begin and end the season with CYA = 50. For our system and usage of the pool the trichlor tabs have done an excellent job keeping the CYA level constant.

We use liquid bleach as sanitizer because at the 1/4 setting we're not injecting enough chlorine to maintain the level of FC which we like. For brief absences we increase the setting on the chlorinator to 3/4. We've not had any undue increases in CYA in the two years we've used this process.

For water feel we add salt. Last year was the first year we tried this and added three bags over a period of 10 days. We'll do that again this year and will keep replenishing it as the salt concentration drops from the backfilling.

This is just our experience and practice which works for our pool.

AnnaK