We're (me, wife, kids 10 and 7) moving in to my first home with a pool on May 7th. It is located in Club Estates (Centerville and S. Country Club Dr. in Garland). It has approximately 15-20K est gallons (30 ft x 15 ft est L and W w/ what appears to be a 7-9 foot deep end). The current owner is supposed to keep it up until the closing (but will they?) They have a Nitro cleaner, but may not be running or cleaning it consistently (no over hanging trees anywhere near). They do have dogs that they apparently let share the pool (dog hair in the Nitro and skimmers). The pool has a built in spa which jets, but the heater is disconnected and somewhat rusty (salvageable or worth it? , TBD). The equipment is on its last legs: bearing noise in the pump, high pressure in the filter gauge 30 PSI (inspector from Pool Stop wrote FNS + 60), backwash valve has a slight leak at shaft, spa light not coming on, two valves missing handles, equipment pad not elevated (actually there is a slight clearance above the ground, about 1/2 - 3/4 inch, but not perfectly level). Visually, the pool looks pretty nice (saw several during the house search in much worse condition and few if any better) and mostly well cared for. I ordered "Cruising Through Pool Care the Easy Way" by Merry Wise, and a K-2006 Chemical Test Kit. First, chlorine or salt? I've read salt (I understand it still changes to chlorine) is preferable for comfort, and fewer complications (fading clothes, green hair, stinging eyes, chaffing skin, etc.) but a friend of mine said it will not work effectively in hot Dallas summer weather. Your thoughts? I'll know more about where I stand once I get my kit, move in and learn to test accurately. I know this is long, thanks for taking your time to read it.
Moving in next week
- Thread starter Aircooled6
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
I recommend a salt system. Forum members are about equally divided between chlorine and salt, either one is good. But I would never give up my salt system (which we call a SWG). A SWG will work just fine in Dallas if you get an appropriately sized unit (1.5 to 3 times larger than your actual pool size) and balance your chemistry correctly.
I recommend a salt system. Forum members are about equally divided between chlorine and salt, either one is good. But I would never give up my salt system (which we call a SWG). A SWG will work just fine in Dallas if you get an appropriately sized unit (1.5 to 3 times larger than your actual pool size) and balance your chemistry correctly.
Hi, welcome to TFP! Congrats on the new pool and house.
Maintaining your pool TFPC-style will result in water that does NOT result in (fading clothes, green hair, stinging eyes, chaffing skin, etc.) no matter whether it is saltwater or bleach/chlorine. I have a bleach hot tub and a saltwater pool and the water is essentially the same from a comfort standpoint. Except the hot tub is nice and warm right now?
SWG will certainly work fine in Dallas, I've had two saltwater pools for many years. I will never have another pool that isn't saltwater either. The main benefit of SWG is not having to buy, haul and add bleach/chlorine to your pool every day or two.
Here are some links to Pool School articles that will get you started on the way to TFPC.
TFPC for Beginners
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
Maintaining your pool TFPC-style will result in water that does NOT result in (fading clothes, green hair, stinging eyes, chaffing skin, etc.) no matter whether it is saltwater or bleach/chlorine. I have a bleach hot tub and a saltwater pool and the water is essentially the same from a comfort standpoint. Except the hot tub is nice and warm right now?
SWG will certainly work fine in Dallas, I've had two saltwater pools for many years. I will never have another pool that isn't saltwater either. The main benefit of SWG is not having to buy, haul and add bleach/chlorine to your pool every day or two.
Here are some links to Pool School articles that will get you started on the way to TFPC.
TFPC for Beginners
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
Yeah, I moved in to my first pool a few years ago too.
Had pucks when I moved in, pool was mostly OK but I just had some guy come take care of it (expensive). Started getting green water periodically, hard to fix, etc.. as this site would tell you.
So drained to get CYA under control, changed over to bleach. Worked well, 0 issues but it's a bit of work. You have to lug bleach, acid, test frequently, etc... It became an ordeal, and just dealing with the stupid empty jugs even annoyed me
So I overhauled it all this year, and went to a salt system plus an acid injector (IntelliPh in my case). So far I'm extremely happy with the system (see sig). I wish I had just gone straight to this and skipped pucks or bleach.
The economics are hazy. In my case, salt is cheaper if I consider the cost of my time saved by using an SWG. But purely from a $$ perspective it's probably slightly more expensive.
Had pucks when I moved in, pool was mostly OK but I just had some guy come take care of it (expensive). Started getting green water periodically, hard to fix, etc.. as this site would tell you.
So drained to get CYA under control, changed over to bleach. Worked well, 0 issues but it's a bit of work. You have to lug bleach, acid, test frequently, etc... It became an ordeal, and just dealing with the stupid empty jugs even annoyed me
So I overhauled it all this year, and went to a salt system plus an acid injector (IntelliPh in my case). So far I'm extremely happy with the system (see sig). I wish I had just gone straight to this and skipped pucks or bleach.
The economics are hazy. In my case, salt is cheaper if I consider the cost of my time saved by using an SWG. But purely from a $$ perspective it's probably slightly more expensive.
Just to give you some more options, you can use a Stenner or any other kind of pump to inject liquid chlorine instead of a SWG. Salt is just fine, but just in case you want another option.
Yes we all tend to like what we have. SWG is a great thing, and I may try it at some point.
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