Buying older home and want to upgrade pool controls including SWG

[Vegas Mike]

Getting a new home, and want to switch to SWG when I upgrade the pool. First, do you really have to run the pump 24 hours/day for SWG? And second, this home has a septic. Where do you drain a salt pool? Finally, thoughts on using potassium chloride for the salt?

 

[jtburf]

Mine only runs roughly 4 to 5 hours a day. Never heard 24 hour run.

It is not salty like the ocean, I have yard drains that run to my street, thar she goes!!!

Cannot answer for potassium chloride, I only added salt to kick start the pool 1 time after first fill..

John

 

[Jimrahbe]

Mike,

I run my IntelliFlo 24/7, because I like to skim all the time, and generate chlorine all the time.. I also like the pump not having to go through the prime cycle each day..

But, I do that because that is what I want to do.. It is not because having a SWCG requires it... It does not...

You can run your pump however you like.. The only requirement is that you run the SWCG long enough to generate the chlorine you need.. With a 10K pool, an IC40 set to 100% will produce .7 ppm of FC per hour... So, my guess it that means a run time of 5 to 6 hours a day .. Keep in mind that you should be run the SWCG when your in-floor system is working..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[KDpoolguy]

Getting a new home, and want to switch to SWG when I upgrade the pool. First, do you really have to run the pump 24 hours/day for SWG? And second, this home has a septic. Where do you drain a salt pool? Finally, thoughts on using potassium chloride for the salt?

Mike, Check with your local municipality about pool water draining. Some can allow emptying anywhere, but some require a service—trucks come to do a sort-of reverse osmosis of the water.

I only run my SWG for 8-10 hours and just adjust the output (25-40%) since I need 10 hours to turn over the pool water and effectively skim the pool.

 

[mknauss]

turn over the pool water

Public Service Announcement -- turnover is a myth!
See Determine Pump Run Time - Trouble Free Pool

 

[mguzzy]

You don't need to run 24 hrs unless you have a VS and want to...
Why are you planning to drain a salt pool.. just for fun?
I have never seen potassium chloride for pools.. I guess it could be done... seems expensive. There is likely a lot of sodium chloride in there are already from the other chemicals.

 

[Vegas Mike]

mguzzy, excellent point on draining the pool. I'll have to once because the pool needs some plaster work (and uses trichlor now with likely high cyanuric acid), but thereafter there should be no reason. Thanks!

 

[mguzzy]

Oh Ok.. nothing special about draining a salt pool.. you just have to put more salt in it when you refill to get the salinity back up to what the generator needs.

 

[rowiac]

I'm not a chemist, but you need sodium chloride (NaCl) in the proper concentration for the SWCG to work. The system uses the sodium and the chlorine in the salt to essentially create sodium hypochlorite, NaOCl (aka bleach). The chemical formula doesn't work with potassium chloride (KCl). The O in the NaOCl comes from the oxygen in the water (H2O) and hydrogen gas (H2) is a byproduct, seen as the tiny bubbles emanating from the SWCG.

 

[Vegas Mike]

Just to clarify for anyone that finds this thread in a search. Yes, you can use potassium chloride in a salt water pool, although Pentair says you shouldn't and it costs three to four times more than sodium chloride. Have done so for 3 years now. For my area, refill water is pH 8.1 with 200ppm calcium (or higher), so calcium will build up and require at least a partial drain / refill every two or three years to keep calcium levels below 1500ppm. Have septic, so have to drain the pool into the street gutter. Seems either sodium or potassium work fine -- the key is the chlorine ion. Have to add sodium hypochlorite in winter when the pool is below 52F and SWG won't work, so will get some sodium then.