Chemical Controller

[JPMorgan]

Does anyone have experience with chemical controllers, especially wi-fi enabled ones? Looking for a recommendation as we are making upgrades to our system. Which brand/model would you recommend? Specifically... does the wi-fi feature work well and is it worth the extra expense? Seems to me like it would be pretty cool to be able to monitor the pool chemistry remotely and might even pay for itself in reduced maintenance costs... if the pool company can monitor our water chemistry remotely maybe we can cut down on maintenance visits!

 

[Flying Tivo]

The best monitor for your pool chemistry is yourself with the K-2006C. No way around the fact. There are systems that can monitor Ph and CL but they are not very reliable and need more close attention then a regular Taylor drop test, like your aquasol(pentair has intellichem). They need more maintenance and cleaning of the probes. So its more work. Now if you are looking into automating acid and chlorine additions, then there are: Stenner Pumps - Further Reading
I have a stenner for my acid additions and refill every 4 months a 5 gallon tank. If you use larger tanks then its less work.
Probably a simple controller can automate additions but probably that is what your aquasol is doing now. So basically i dont have an answer for you.

 

[Katodude]

A bunch of us are using Atlas Scientific probes for pH, and ORP and some other things.

 

[JPMorgan]

Now if you are looking into automating acid and chlorine additions, then there are: Stenner Pumps - Further Reading
I have a stenner for my acid additions and refill every 4 months a 5 gallon tank. If you use larger tanks then its less work.
Probably a simple controller can automate additions but probably that is what your aquasol is doing now. So basically I dont have an answer for you.

We will be using acid and chlorine tanks to (mostly) automate the pool water chemistry. I thought maybe the WiFi enabled controller would allow even more "hands off", i.e., I would be able to read the ORP and pH levels from my phone instead of having to actually go look at the controller. We do also use a pool service that comes out once per week. Maybe having the pool company do a monthly maintenance check of the controller (cleaning probes, etc.) would keep it working well and providing reliable readings.

 

[Katodude]

Reading pH is fairly easy and very accurate. The Atlas Scientific industrial probe works great and does not require frequent calibration. Quite a few folks here use it (including me).

ORP is a different story. With CYA those readings become less useful. Although a few members here still use ORP.

Calling @MyAZPool he can tell you how he uses ORP.

 

[MyAZPool]

Reading pH is fairly easy and very accurate. The Atlas Scientific industrial probe works great and does not require frequent calibration. Quite a few folks here use it (including me).

ORP is a different story. With CYA those readings become less useful. Although a few members here still use ORP.

Calling @MyAZPool he can tell you how he uses ORP.

Yes, I monitor "Oxidation Reduction Potential" (ORP), which simply put is "a measurement of sanitizer effectiveness" in the water and is measured electronically in millivolts (mV)-.

The rise or fall of ORP values will indicate a rise or fall of free chlorine levels (FC) in my pool. However, that simple explanation can be VERY deceiving unless one understands that there are a great many variables that actually affect ORP values.

I merely use ORP as nothing more than a "trend indicator", since the actual ORP values are not accurate in themselves due to the higher CYA levels (70-80 ppm), that I maintain in my pool.

I still backup this ORP monitoring with regular FC testing just to insure that my chlorine levels are properly maintained.
r.

 

[JPMorgan]

I merely use ORP as nothing more than a "trend indicator", since the actual ORP values are not accurate in themselves due to the higher CYA levels (70-80 ppm), that I maintain in my pool.

I still backup this ORP monitoring with regular FC testing just to insure that my chlorine levels are properly maintained.

Since our HOA pool is considered a "commercial" pool, we are required to test and record pH and FC levels daily. We already have a Controller on our indoor pool so I am somewhat familiar with ORP, but I do test the bromine levels in the water daily. I think (and hope) that the main advantage a feeder system with a Contoller will be keeping the FC and pH levels stable without a lot of need for adjusting chemicals manually. Our outdoor pool currently has a trichlor feeder. To avoid rising levels of CYA over the season, I have been manually dosing the pool with liquid chlorine and keeping the trichlor feeder turned down.

We are replacing the trichlor feeder with a liquid chlorine feeder, so that system, along with a Controller should help to keep FC levels very steady and (mostly) eliminate the need for manual dosing. I like to keep CYA around 40-50 and this should be much easier to do with the liquid chlorine feeder system. All in all (even without a WiFi-enabled Controller) it should be a big improvement and make maintenance a lot easier next season.

 

[DavidLast]

Not sure about prices or availability. Look up amperometric free chlorine probes, this technology can read chlorine as your dpd test does. With the corresponding controller they can also read independently of pH in the normal swimming range. Another option is termed colour comparator, although I have not had any direct experience with them. These devices use a reagent and an in-line photometer.

Please realise there is a whole range of chemical controllers and technology in this area and prices range, locally for me, from $4000 to in excess of $50,000. There are significant differences in technology in the steps in between.

The amperometric probes we use sell require an annual membrane cap replacement. I'm including this to give some idea of what part of the market these devices are for.

Please be aware ORP/pH technology is generally not suited to this request. The principle of operation, in simple terms, benefits from a constant pH for one, and if you read from, say, 6 points around your pool, you will see how difficult that is. Generally, where we have to use them and are testing more than once a day we adjust the controller on every single test. If you want more information, please let me know. I can look around and find an article I wrote for clients somewhere in my archives.

 

[OfficeReefer]

We will be using acid and chlorine tanks to (mostly) automate the pool water chemistry. I thought maybe the WiFi enabled controller would allow even more "hands off", i.e., I would be able to read the ORP and pH levels from my phone instead of having to actually go look at the controller. We do also use a pool service that comes out once per week. Maybe having the pool company do a monthly maintenance check of the controller (cleaning probes, etc.) would keep it working well and providing reliable readings.

There is one that does this for half of what Atlas offers. I built one for a reef tank experiment and the Tentacle T3, with 3 ISE probes and I2C circuits was like $500. The benefit is that you also don't have to deal with firmware and it's bluetooth or wifi. DM me directly for more info....