A house divided: SWCG vs ozone+uv+Mineral sterilizer

[TheBiin]

I found this forum too late and my pool was installed last week. First time pool owner in Indiana, we installed an imagine 10x26 fiberglass pool 5ft deep (~10,000 gallons) and automatic pool cover (under track). The decking will be techo block. The PB put in a Jandy 1.85 hp vs pump, cs 200 cartridge filter, ozone+uv+Mineral sanitizer, in-line chlorinator & iaqualink. After researching and reading through the forums I don’t see the point of ozone/uv. I want them to come back and remove the in-line chlorinator and add the Jandy 1400. My partner thinks I’m being crazy and unreasonable because those systems have benefits. They kill pathogens and lower chlorine levels of which her research suggests are approved levels by the epa. She thinks the input from this forum is “old school chlorine guys” so they don’t see the benefits of the new technology. We are paying for a service and I think we should get what we want. Should I push for the swcg now or just wait and install later? Pic attached of current state of pool progress.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Biin and Welcome !!!

They kill pathogens

No they don't. At least for 99.9999999 % of the water. Only the water in the unit is sterilized. The other water which returns by mixing may take days to get. So the pool needs a full amount of residual sanitizer.

lower chlorine levels of which her research suggests are approved levels by the epa.

This is true. It is approved by the government. If your partner wishes to use decades old (seriously from the 80's) sanitization and disease transmission standards, ask her how 2019 went. I'll wait.

She thinks the input from this forum is “old school chlorine guys”

I am a use electrolysis to split salt into a sanitizing agent kinda guy. I bought my first jug of chlorine on year 7. A lot of folks on the forum are a high tech as it comes whipping out a cellphone to adjust levels or turn on a spa. We can be as low or high tech as needed. But no matter what manufacture claims what, chlorone is fully needed at proper sanitizing levels. Either by you from jugs, or by a SWG adding chlorine for you.

Should I push for the swcg now or just wait and install later?

They are expensive as all get out right now due to the supply shortages and the season around the corner. If you can get it done as a swap, you'll save a ton. If you have to purchase it, but already have the workers on site, you'll still save in labor to do it now.

 

[Jimrahbe]

T,

Ask her if she realizes that tap water is approved to have up to 4 ppm of chlorine? Then ask her, if it is ok to drink it, and bath in it, why would it be bad to swim in it?

TFP believes in science and your other half believes in marketing...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Poolnewb71]

No, since you are the one who did all of the research and knows what you want and why, your partner wants you to call the PB and deal with it

 

[pjt]

ozone+uv+Mineral sanitizer, in-line chlorinator

All four of those are undesirable.

For viable long-term chlorination, your options are liquid chlorine or a SWG.

 

[PoolGate]

Truth is that it is hard to deprogram someone that has been dazzled by the snake oil sold by UV/Ozone and mineral system makers. What they want is for you to buy consumables at $400 plus/season. These products are sold primarily with new pools with low chlorine requirements and when you don't use enough chlorine because you believe the hype you will probably be ok for a year or 2. By the time you realize you've been had, your pool is unsanitary and you've spent a lot of unrecoverable money only to find out all you needed to do was increase your chlorine by a point or 2. The strength is convincing marks that chlorine is the enemy. They also lie. I am on a FaceBook UV/Ozone group just to monitor and am appalled at the outright lies. They frequently tell people that "those guys on TFP tell people to use so much chlorine that you're asking for problems". If you have to lie to sell your product, that says a lot.

 

[Oly]

The unique aspect of TFP and the members here is nobody is selling you anything. Look around the site, no advertisments no pop-ups directing you to sales links, only free advice from pool owners like you with years of experience from all around the world. Ask yourself, have the members here been down those dead end roads already? Are we attempting to steer you clear of known headaches? Why is all of the science based water chemistry tools and information at TFP available for free? Why are there so many supporting members donating their time and $?
Welcome to TFP

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

We get MANY people per day switching from all 4 of those and within weeks there pools can be so clear they can not believe they swam in there old water... The problem is it usually takes a year or 2 and thousands of dollars spent and there pool is still green.. They do a search and they land here just like you did.. You just showed up 2 years early and still have thousands of dollars in your bank..

Get a great test kit and start your own Trouble free pool journey..

Test Kits Compared

I always recommend a Salt water chlorinator / generator, they are just too easy and work great.. The PLC 1400 is the one you want but it only does 1.25 pounds a day if you run 24 hours.. We recommend the biggest SWG you can afford, I just installed a Circupool RJ 60k on my 15000 gallon pool.. The RJ 60 does 3.1 pounds a day...

 

[curtisimo81]

Had a friend swear by ozone ( just had pool installed) and told me I was dumb for going SWG. Thanks to the SWG and this site my pool water stays crystal clear now that I know how to properly maintain it. He has nothing but problems and blames the rain, not the ozone system……….. Just a thought…

 

[wireform]

Have one pool last year was brand new with the bells and whistles you speak of. All summer long it was a battle against green looking water because that equipment just doesn't work. Now that they had a jandy 1400 installed and bypassed the bells and whistles the water is a breeze with no fuss.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

ozone generator and UV light questions

Good day, I am a new pool owner. I had my contractor install an ozone generator and uv light but after a few weeks, my pool has been cloudy and has been turning green.

 

[convan23]

As someone that was enamored by everything I was reading online about UV and ozone systems a little over a year ago…I’m so glad I followed advice of this site and went with the SWG. Regardless of whether you buy into the competing information you’ll find on google Vs these super smart folks, consider this:

- SWG system is cheaper, by far. The upfront cost is lower. Once you add salt, you will never have to add chlorine again, so compared to buying UV bulbs, as well as chlorine, the ongoing cost is also lower

- SWG systems are more reliable and can be tested. Other then looking to see if the UV light is “on”, there’s no way to test that the system is working. You can reliably test the proper functioning of a SWG system which is safer for all your swimmers. With UV/ozone and low chlorine levels, you risk other dangers to your swimmer that is far worse then “higher” chlorine levels

- SWG system is much simpler and easier for you to maintain, meaning that it will more likely give you better results and a more trouble free experience

As for everything else…these folks are simply not buying into technology that is gimmicky and not provable to work, and I would 100% believe what they’re saying

The common negatives I heard from my PB and others around salt had to do with corrosiveness of salt. Proper salt level of 3000ppm is less corrosive then poorly maintained pool water. Products like flagstone will corrode just from water on its own. And the consensus here is there are plenty of people here with decade+ old salt pools that have properly maintained their pool water with no ill effects from the salt.

There’s plenty of people that come by these forums with problem pools from alternative sanitization techniques that can cause more damage then salt or chlorine.

 

[PoolGate]

As someone that was enamored by everything I was reading online about UV and ozone systems a little over a year ago…I’m so glad I followed advice of this site and went with the SWG. Regardless of whether you buy into the competing information you’ll find on google Vs these super smart folks, consider this:

- SWG system is cheaper, by far. The upfront cost is lower. Once you add salt, you will never have to add chlorine again, so compared to buying UV bulbs, as well as chlorine, the ongoing cost is also lower

- SWG systems are more reliable and can be tested. Other then looking to see if the UV light is “on”, there’s no way to test that the system is working. You can reliably test the proper functioning of a SWG system which is safer for all your swimmers. With UV/ozone and low chlorine levels, you risk other dangers to your swimmer that is far worse then “higher” chlorine levels

- SWG system is much simpler and easier for you to maintain, meaning that it will more likely give you better results.

Thing is, it is not either/or. You still require chlorine even with the magical mystery box. This can be liquid or SWG but of course the SWG is way more convenient. They just scare people into thinking chlorine is evil and then one-two punch them with the UV/Ozone is the solution scam.

 

[RHanna]

I'm going to assume that one of the concerns for SWG is the chlorine smell and its harsh on the skin. I can assure you that it's neither. If you have the pool balanced to the recommendations on this site then you'll never have that "chlorine" smell. My skin feels better coming out of my pool than any other pool I've ever been in.

 

[cowboycasey]

That smell is from Chloramines or CC that you test.. You will get that smell from a UV/Ozone/Mineral pool because the CC is not being burned off in most cases and the first sign of a pool going green in short order...

I think we have given plenty for @TheBiin to think about, lets see what they are thinking when they come back on..

 

[TheBiin]

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful discussion! I’ve requested the PB provide a quote for the Jandy 1400. Unfortunately I’m stuck with the other items, but I plan on getting the swcg put in asap.

 

[Newdude]

They will sell for full price in no time. FB marketplace, CL , or the offerup app. Equipment is still hard to get and yours is brand spanky new.

 

[Toxophilite]

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful discussion! I’ve requested the PB provide a quote for the Jandy 1400. Unfortunately I’m stuck with the other items, but I plan on getting the swcg put in asap.

Of all the sanitation equipment in your bid, that SWCG is the only item I would consider something you will thoroughly be thankful that you had done and over with. Trust me, my pool is but 2 months old, and I'm now realizing the mistake I made not having the PB install one. I will be getting one soon enough, but it's a project that should have been done and over with at build, but, I didn't know at the time the value of the thing.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Don't let the PB install them (if you've already paid for them ask if he'll refund or hand them to you in the box onopened) or if they're already installed I would unplug them. The Ozone light will burn away some of your chlorine so you'll have to make sure you're keeping enough in there to avoid algae.

 

[TheBiin]

Update: PB wanted $2750 for purchase/install of the Jandy 1400. That was including a $500 change fee. I convinced them to remove the change fee, so 2250 in total.