Converting to SWG... the good, the bad and the ugly??

[jseyfert3]

Good! Then I'll only have to adjust PH once during a season because that's all I have to adjust it now!

I was wrong, and called out on it. A SWCG causes some amount of pH rise, even though in theory the reactions are pH neutral. chem geek outlined some theories as to the pH rise but I didn't find anything conclusive.

This is the part that concerns me. This is the time I most want/need a system that feeds or generates automatically. The rest of the summer when my wife or I are around, it's a matter of walking out and adding about 1/2 gallon every night. This is why I'm debating SWG vs designing a system to automatically dispense chlorine throughout the day. I could program a pump to dispense a measured amount two or three times throughout the day and keep my chlorine levels at a pretty steady level but that requires me buying and storing chlorine which I'd like to get away from.

Don't bother designing it. Buy a Stenner pump or Stenner knockoff if you want to dispense liquid chlorine automatically. It's just a chemical resistant, slow feed pump. If I remember correctly, you just put it on a timer to control the output. Runs somewhere around $300-$400 for a setup. Some people here use it as an alternative to a SWCG, probably due to the cheaper upfront cost. Search on this site for more info on them.

Personally, I'll be doing a SWCG on both our future spa and pool, since while a pump gives you the constant chlorine additions like a SWCG, you still have to buy/lug tons of chlorine bottles around, and remember to check and refill the pump reservoir. Plus there's just too many members here saying they would never put in a pool in the future without a SWCG. I can't ever remember seeing someone say they put in a SWCG and hated it. A couple of people mentioned rust after SWCG, but they either had cheap pools and rust was reported on similar brand non-SWCG pools in similar time frames, or they had had the pool for several years already and the rust appeared after a season of SWCG. Chances are good they would have gotten rust without the SWCG had they waited another season. In other words, "correlation does not imply causation."

 

[Newdude]

I get that my swearing by the SWG doesn’t ... um.. hold much water. I am the ‘new dude’ and all...... but trusted expert after trusted expert after trusted expert recommend it too.

 

[Jimrahbe]

OH,

If you can swim in the water than a SWCG will work.. As long as the water temp is above about 55 degrees most SWCG's will work just fine.

If you don't want a saltwater pools, that is fine, just don't get one.. It appears to me that you are just looking for an excuse to not install one... It is your pool and you can do anything you like, you don't need an excuse..

You will just not find an easier way to maintain your pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[OHcabanaboy]

OH,

If you can swim in the water than a SWCG will work.. As long as the water temp is above about 55 degrees most SWCG's will work just fine.

If you don't want a saltwater pools, that is fine, just don't get one.. It appears to me that you are just looking for an excuse to not install one... It is your pool and you can do anything you like, you don't need an excuse..

You will just not find an easier way to maintain your pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Where would you ever come up with the idea that I want an excuse not to install one? I'm not into wasting time or money. I want an excuse to install one! I want whatever I do to be the best bang for the buck and have the best chance of producing the outcome I desire which is minimizing my time maintaining something I spend very little time in.

 

[OHcabanaboy]

Depending on brand of SWCG, most have a lower temp limit of ~55F water temperature. Some a little below that, some a little higher.

At that water temperature, you should only need to add liquid chlorine every 3 or 4 days, at most, to maintain a proper FC.

That's what I'm looking for! Thank you.
I've never really taken temps in early season to know if this will work for what I want it to do or not. Something else that would help is knowing about how much salt I'd have to add each spring. I know I can almost buy a SWG with two years worth of liquid Chlorine purchases. I'm just not sure how much the salt will cost to add each spring. I'm sure that depends on various things but a "rule of thumb" or someone who has experience with SWG's in my climate would help.

 

[mknauss]

How much salt is needed depends on how much you drain at closing and how much over flow occurs in the spring.

Salt is cheap. ~$5 a 40# bag. Use plain water softener salt.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I've never really taken temps in early season to know if this will work for what I want it to do or not.

Not sure if it helps, but in my climate now, day temps are in the mid-60s and night temps in the mid 40s (+/- 5 degrees). Water temp has been steady at 52 degrees. My SWG was still working when I shut it down at 52 degrees. My FC losses are down less than .03 ppm per day so I just add a bit of CL every 2-3 days. I might use a gallon every 2-3 weeks. I would just float some tabs, but my ph and TA tend to stay on the low side in winter.

 

[ar26pt2]

It’s easy. It seems price neutral. In an earlier reply i said I added bleach until it warmed up- About a jug twice a week for a couple weeks depending when I uncover the pool. I spend more time cleaning up pool toys.