Help thinking out a SWG plan

[Jsf721]

So I closed the pool last weekend. Things went well. Water temp was 70. Hoping that won’t be a problem. Took the FC up to 24 and my Cya was 70. I do have an empty puck floater teathered and centered. I’ll be able to pop the corner in November test water and fill floater as needed.

I am only at this house on weekends and sometime not every weekend. So the pucks are what I use and it creates a Cya problem every year. Last year I got into quite an algae bloom that took over a week and many filter cleanings to clear. This year I just ran my FC very high compared to past years but in line with the TFP Fc/Cya chart.

Now I am beginning to plan next season. I really want a SWG and since my pool is 34,500 gallons I think I need a 60 thousand gallon rated unit. Wish there was an 80 thousand gallon residential unit.

I see pentair and circupool make a 60k unit. I will read up on those but I’m wondering if anyone can tell me the good , the bad and the ugly on them.
A few questions:

1. I would like to know how big a problem rising PH is with a SWG. I’m going this route to stop my season after season rising CYA Issue. I don’t want to create a PH problem equal to the issue with the CYA only different.

2. What PH test if any would be accurate with FC above 10-11ppm?

3. Are the systems that remotely tell you your chemical levels reliable ? If so then I could adjust the FC levels by remotely accessing the SWG.

4. What else am I not thinking about that I should be?

Thanks

 

[reggiehammond]

I have a RJ60+, it works well. pH rise is not a big issue if your TA is under control. If you are testing weekly, you’ll be able to manage the pH, no problem.

No pH test I’m aware of that tests well above 10ppm, but with the SWCG, you’ll quickly get a sense for acid demand from testing. I can generally add a similar amount of MA, in a similar time frame based on how it always seems to be. You could consider a Pentair SWCG with Pentair IntellipH system to manage acid addition automatically.

No way to test FC remotely, but also with SWCG it’s not something I worry much about, at all. As long as your pumps runs, the SWCG happily chugs along. A VSP running low RPMs 24/7 would be a good idea.

SWCG takes almost all the effort out of the pool. Once a week I test, empty skimmers and robot basket. I doubt I spend much more than 10 minutes a week on it all.

 

[almostakeeper]

Switching from a liquid chlorine to a swg (circupool) this past spring has made my life so much easier. Got it down pat now. The morning of and the day after when all my grandkids will be over I'll put the generator on 100% to keep the FC roughly around 6, otherwise I have it at 70% for 12 hours a day and once a week pour some MA in to lower the PH and boom done. Like posted above, about ten minutes a week.

 

[Lake Placid]

An IC60 with an Intelliph once dialed in can reduce you down to 1x a week testing for verification/adjustment. It can be a little finicky until you get the feel for it through an entire season as your demand for both chlorine and acid will change throughout the season.

If you’re referring to an intellichem type of system in question 3, with an ORP and PH probe to monitor and adjust, it’s feasible but not an absolute solution. I’m not sure if the extra cost would really be justified to accomplish what you want. Probe systems come with their own issues and still require routine testing with a known good test kit so you have a known standard to calibrate/reference them to.

If you entertain an IC60/intelliph combo, know there is a documented power feed issue with the intelliph and the ic60. Theres a workaround that’s detailed in other posts and I’ve implemented it in my setup due to components beginning to fail. The fix is easy enough that it shouldn’t be a deal breaker for consideration, but it does create a potential warranty conundrum.