New pool for a beach rental property - need advice

[cynth555]

My husband and I will be purchasing a beach vacation property and will need to install a pool to help with the rentals. I would prefer to have a SWG but the contractor we spoke with said there were problems with algae blooms. After reading in the forums I figure they are not maintaining it properly so I take that with a grain of salt. Also my take is that if we build the pool from scratch and use equipment that is intended for SWG then that is better than converting a chlorine pool to SWG. Since this will be a rental property and a pool company will be maintaining the pool, what sort of questions can I ask that will show they know how to maintain a Salt Water Pool?

Any other considerations since this will be a rental?

Thanks!
Cynthia

 

[Richard320]

A SWG pool is a Chlorine pool. You're just generating the chlorine on site rather than in a factory somewhere and trucking it around.

 

[Bama Rambler]

With a rental property you're at the mercy of someone that may not care for the pool as carefully as they should. While this site is geared toward people that take care of their pools daily you can gleen some things from it. I would interview the pool service and get a feel for how they percieve a swg pool. I'd also ask for references of other swg pools they maintain. I'd get an itemized list of functions they perform at each visit and extra charges for handling problems.

How often will you (or DH) be at the location?
Is there onsite personel (maintenance, cleaning, etc.) that could make sure the equipment is running daily?

If I were you, I'd get a good test kit and test the water with it as often as I could myself to make sure it's balanced whenever you're there. That will give you the best chance of it being correct when you're not.

 

[cynth555]

I do realize that the SWG makes its own chlorine. But it is much less than a regular chlorine pool. I have a been in SWG pool and I thought it was great. I would hope that the renters would feel the same.

I think we will be there at the most 2 weeks out of the year. I think a standard pool contract is to come clean and check chemicals 2x per week (which isn't bad).

@Bama Rambler - those are all great suggestions! We will not be there often enough to test the water, etc. Unfortunately I will be at the mercy of the pool company. It sounds like I will really have to research the companies for maintenance down there to see how on top of it they are. My fear is that they pay lip service and then just dump in chlorine when it gets out of balance without considering other issues. At that point I may as well get a chlorine pool.

Any other suggestions are more than welcome...

BTW this is for Hilton Head, SC if anyone knows any good SWG contractors out there let me know!

Thanks,
Cynthia