Automatically putting chlorine in the pool?

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E

Elle

0
May 16, 2007
62
Northern NY
I'm not sure this is the proper place for this.

I'm terrible at remembering to dump chlorine in the pool on a regular basis. Especially when it's not been the best summer for swimming. I've been fighting keeping it clean all summer and I know it's my own fault for not going out and dumping bleach in. So I'm looking for a way to do it automatically.

I've heard of the SWG but I'm not sure if that's the same thing or if there is something else. Please help me with this.

Thanks
~Ellen
 
There are several methods of automatically adding chlorine to a pool.

SWCG is Salt Water Chlorine Generator. You add salt to the pool, and the generator produces chlorine from the salt. The chlorine later recombines back into salt. Very convenient, but also high equipment cost.

Liquidator. This is a device that feeds a small amount of bleach using the pressure differential across the filter pump. Moderate cost, but some people are having problems with solids build up in the small parts used to control the flow.

Chemical feed pump. This is a special pump that is used to pump a measured amount of bleach into the pool. Higher cost than the Liquidator, but perhaps easier to control.

There is also a topic where someone home brewed a system using irrigation flow reducers to feed bleach.
 
Thanks! I guess I just want something easy and automatic!!! Cake and eat it too ya know ;)

I'm interested in the liquidator. Can anyone share a link for where to buy one and what to get etc? Unless someone thinks the SWG is better? Either one sounds good, I just would like to research it more and don't really know where to begin.
 
Thanks Jason!

How much more money is the SWG and can you tell me why it's better? I've been looking around and it seems like it's only about $50-$100 more than the liquidator depending on the make and model. I was looking at the intex SWG is that right for my pool?

If you use a SWG do you still need Bleach? It doesn't matter to me what I use as long as it keeps my pool clean and I don't have to remember to put stuff in it all the time. I just seem to always have such a hard time keeping my chlorine levels where they need to be.
 
Elle said:
Thanks Jason!

How much more money is the SWG and can you tell me why it's better? I've been looking around and it seems like it's only about $50-$100 more than the liquidator depending on the make and model. I was looking at the intex SWG is that right for my pool?

If you use a SWG do you still need Bleach? It doesn't matter to me what I use as long as it keeps my pool clean and I don't have to remember to put stuff in it all the time. I just seem to always have such a hard time keeping my chlorine levels where they need to be.
Click to expand...

I'm considering the Intex SWG myself, it's not too expensive...even with a SWG you still need bleach for shocking your pool, it's not a good idea to superchlorinate with an SWG unit, always better to use liquid chlorine when you need to bump up the FC quickly. Sounds like it might work for you!
 
One advantage to a SWCG is that you do not have to buy bleach on a regular basis. The SWCG produces the chlorine needed from the salt in the water. So in essence you can have a "zero" additions pool. In reality you will need to add certain chemicals on a as needed basis. This is usually once a month or less frequent.

The liquidator on the other hand is just a bleach dispensing device. You will need to purchase bleach and routinely fill the liquidator with it. How often depends on the amount of bleach needed on a daily basis, and how large is the liquidator.
 
With an SWG you will rarely or never have to add chlorine manually and you will have to test chlorine and pH levels only about once a week. I have to add muriatic acid one or more times a week, so it's not trouble free but low maintenance. Two gallons of acid will last me a month or so, resulting in fewer trips to the pool store. I'd sing a couple bars of "I Love My SWG" (sung to the tune of "I love my MTV), but I cannot carry a tune.
 

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Elle,
I've got an Intex SWCG, and rarely have to add anything. You will have to adjust your TA and CYA to optimize the use of the SWCG, but once you get your chemistry right, they really do make life much easier.

I can second Jason's statement about the ChlorEase, too. I had that particular unit last year. The cons for that unit (at least for me) was (a) higher salt level required, (b) was an "over the wall" unit, which meant disconnecting one end of one of your rails, sliding the unit over to the middle of the space between the two posts, and connecting the top rail back down, then living with the rail being "humped" up in the middle, and (c) cleaning the cell.

One thing I will mention - you are adding salt to your water, so if your pool has cheap hardware, you might have problems with corrosion. I used some uncoated screws with my ladder, and quickly decided to replace them with stainless steel screws,as the uncoated screws started rusting very quickly. If you have stainless steel hardware, you should be good to go.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones - my pH doesn't hardly rise at all, and my FC stays between 3 -4 ppm. I added some acid on Sunday, and it was the first time I've had to add it since I installed the unit and got my chemistry dialed in about a month ago. IMO, it's the way you want to go.
 
Thanks so much everyone! After doing some reasearch I think that's the way I'm going to go. Too bad it's so late in the season to do it now. :(

At this point our pool is so gross we can't even use it. I just can't keep up with it this year for some reason. It's been so miserable here this summer.

I get it cleaned out and most of the green gone and then 2 days later it's green again. I'm tempted to just close it for the year now. If it got hot outside we can't use it anyway b/c it's gross.

Hopefully I will be able to keep it cleaner next year with the SWG. At least more consistently anyway. I don't have much patience for this right now.
 
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