Has anyone gone back to regular chlorine from SWG?

[arl0726]

Has anyone changed their mind and gone back to a regular chlorine pool after transitioning to SWG?

This is our second full summer with a SWG pool. Our pool system needed to be re-plumbed, as the former owner's DIY job to transition the pool to SWG was leaking. We are currently using liquid chlorine only while waiting for parts, and I kind of like it. The salt water pool seems to attract bees and the equipment was never changed to accommodate salt water, so the ladders have rust, the heater died (something about a switch that wasn't installed to prevent salt water from sitting in the pipes), and who knows what's next!

Am I just in a honeymoon phase of pool maintenance with liquid chlorine? It seems easy so far. The biggest pro of SWG for me is how low-maintenance it is, but I'm not finding liquid chlorine to be much tougher. At least not yet!

 

[reggiehammond]

SWCG usage is not responsible for any rust. It's also not possible it caused damage to your heater.
Poor water chemistry, including anything the previous owner did that you don't know about, is the source of those issues.

SWCG is 2-3x cheaper than liquid chlorine, and reduces daily maintenance to basically zero.
You'd have to pry my SWCG from my cold, dead hands.

 

[dfwnoob]

A "chlorine pool" is a salt water pool and vice versa. A pool using chlorine for sufficient amounts of time will build up salt levels that come very close or match "salt pool" levels.

As @reggiehammond said, your water chemistry is what wrecked your heater, not your SWCG. Pool heaters usually get destroyed from chlorine tab feeders leeching acidic water back toward the unit. There are no changes needed in them - or any other part of your pool - to "accommodate salt water".

 

[Jimrahbe]

arl,

It is your pool and you should do whatever you want..

That said, most of your comments are Bull Feathers...

Low pH is the main cause of heater failure.

All pool equipment comes from the factory as compatible with saltwater pools. You do not need any 'special' equipment.

The salt level in most Liquid Chlorine pools is almost the same as in a saltwater pool.

I have had three saltwater pools for well over 10 years and I have no corrosion or rust of any kind..

To answer your question directly, I'd say that about 95% of pool owners that have switched to a SWCG, would never go back.. The other 5% switch back for various reasons or excuses..

I would also say that the pool owner has to actually understand how a saltwater pool operates.. It is not hard, but it is not as "hands off" as many are told to believe. You still have to routinely test, and keep things in balance, including monitoring your CSI..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jgofnj]

Never in a millions years would I ever go back to Liquid Chlorine. SWG is by far the best move I ever made with my pool.

 

[SJPoe]

SWG here. Never going back.

 

[wireform]

Never knew bees were attracted to salt water. I guess all the pools I manage with SWCG don't have enough salt to attract bees but the chemistry seems to be doing great.

 

[Newdude]

Technically I had my 2nd SWG on-site before I had a 2nd pool builder. It was *that high* on my priority list after having one for 8.5 years.

We're building again ? Kewl.

*secures SWG*
*signs build contract when it's convenient after that*

 

[reggiehammond]

I would also say that the pool owner has to actually understand how a saltwater pool operates.. It is not hard, but it is not as "hands off" as many are told to believe. You still have to routinely test, and keep things in balance, including monitoring your CSI..

This is a good point. Once you understand the FC/CYA relationship and have the SWCG operating properly, monitoring CSI is the additional thing that a SWCG requires you to do. But then once you understand how TA influences pH, even that becomes easy.

 

[Darin]

Salt pool attract bees? No, but it is an easy place to get a drink. The flowers or trees that you or your neighbor planted would attract them. Keep planting, bees are cool.

 

[Tagle281]

I'd stay with Salt generator but keep in mind you'll probably need to budget for a new generator about every 3-5 years. I wouldn't want to lug around bottles of chlorine all the time. It's bad enough with just muriatic acid.

 

[kul]

If the SWG is working I would hesitate to lug chlorine. If it’s broken and the price is not within reason, that’s a different story.

 

[aussieta]

imo managing a pool without a swg would be too much time lost
imo a swg is a necessity
99% of problems attributed to a "salt" pool are caused by other factors
only problem that is true is that you can taste the salt over around 3500ppm

 

[TinFoilHat]

I have had a SWG on my pool for the last 22 years and I'm only using Walmart chlorine while I save up for a new salt cell, I'm not having any issues with the liquid but I sure miss my SWG.

Edit by Jim R.

 

[Tagle281]

I do find the quality of the cells sorely lacking. My current one didn't even last 3 years. I'm currently trying to get it replaced under warranty but it's still costing me money paying someone to come tell me what I already know.

 

[arl0726]

It is true that the previous owners appeared to think they were very smart in terms of maintaining the pool and actually it was in tough shape chemistry-wise when we bought it mid-summer 2022. High pH, high FC, low CYA, salt was 4700! I don't know how they were chlorinating it before they switched it to SWG just before we bought it, but there is one of those old chlorinator things for pucks so maybe that was it.

So what is causing rust, if not the salt?

The internet and I will kindly disagree that salt water pools don't attract more bees than regular pools. If you don't have that issue, GOOD! It's the pits. Bees' Salt-Sensing Feet Explain Swimming Pool Mystery

 

[Jimrahbe]

The internet and I will kindly disagree that salt water pools don't attract more bees than regular pools.

Arl,

At least half of what the internet says is just flat out wrong.. I know that TFP is on the same internet, but I don't base my answers on what the internet says, but rather my personal experiences..

I have a large Texas Sage bush out by my mail box, right in front the my house.. When in bloom, that bush will have about a million bees on it. It is just amazing how many bees can use the bush at the same time.. The point is, that there are obviously bees near me..

But.. I have yet to see a single bee near my pool which is only 100 or so feet away. I really doubt my bees are any different than your bees.

In any case, it is your pool and you are free to chlorinate your pool any way you want.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

So what is causing rust, if not the salt?

Inferior materials, or other imbalances in the water chemistry.

The internet and I will kindly disagree that salt water pools don't attract more bees than regular pools. If you don't have that issue, GOOD! It's the pits. Bees' Salt-Sensing Feet Explain Swimming Pool Mystery

I'm sorry... This article states that "Saltwater swimming pools don't require chlorine or other chemicals..."

This statement alone brings into question the validity of anything else the writer has written.

--Jeff

 

[arl0726]

But.. I have yet to see a single bee near my pool which is only 100 or so feet away. I really doubt my bees are any different than your bees.

That is GOOD! They must have a preferred alternate water source.

We had 10-20 bees on our ladder, stairs, and pool walls around the clock when we inherited our pool. They floated in the water and my kids and I swam into them and got stung many times. Our pool WAS the preferred water source. Our regular chlorine neighbors on all sides did not have this problem, so I did a deep dive and found that it's common that they prefer salt water pools. The pool did have a bonkers high salt level when we bought it. Keeping the salt levels much lower and opening the pool later has significantly helped.

 

[SoDel]

You need to do whatever works for you. And you can always add salt and activate the SWG down the road when, oh err, I mean if you get sick of lugging chlorine and having to add all the time. To test the bee salt water theory, you need to get (and keep) the salt out of the pool. With 29k gallons, that’s not easy no matter how you go about it. I’d suspect that the bees are interested in the water, salt or not and it happens to be a convenient spot for them to get it, but who knows.