I may have to give up my beloved SWG :(

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slickrock22

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Mar 25, 2017
127
Austin, TX
I bought my home in February of 2017. I knew it was a fixer-upper so I went in eyes wide open. I didn't want to be nickeled and dimed to death so I pretty quickly after purchase replaced all the pool equipment. After a ton of research here I went with all Pentair and have been very happy. Last summer it was finally time to replace the pitted coping, plaster and deck. After a lot of research here on the effect of Salt pools on limestone, I decided to move forward with using an SWG with my new pool. I had finally started to master it and my pool, aside from the leaves, was very easy to keep in balance. I did coat the limestone coping with a coating to protect the stone. DECK-O-SHIELD PLUS - Natural Stone and Salt Water Resistant Sealer - Deck-O-Seal Now I was a little bit late applying it this year and WOW my coping is getting pitted and showing serious signs of damage. I think I am at the point where I need to convert my pool to a non Saltwater chlorine base sanitation approach. I prefer to keep salt but it is eating me alive after on 1 year. I welcome any thoughts about what I might be doing wrong or what is the next best recommendation from this amazing forum.

Thanks!
 
Hey slick !! Limestone is used heavily in TX because it’s local and cheap with much less delivery fees. It is not suited for a wet environment being compressed sand. The salt content (1/10 of seawater) shouldn’t matter but it’s nearly impossible to convince somebody with erosion of that.
 
slickrock22 said:
I bought my home in February of 2017. I knew it was a fixer-upper so I went in eyes wide open. I didn't want to be nickeled and dimed to death so I pretty quickly after purchase replaced all the pool equipment. After a ton of research here I went with all Pentair and have been very happy. Last summer it was finally time to replace the pitted coping, plaster and deck. After a lot of research here on the effect of Salt pools on limestone, I decided to move forward with using an SWG with my new pool. I had finally started to master it and my pool, aside from the leaves, was very easy to keep in balance. I did coat the limestone coping with a coating to protect the stone. DECK-O-SHIELD PLUS - Natural Stone and Salt Water Resistant Sealer - Deck-O-Seal Now I was a little bit late applying it this year and WOW my coping is getting pitted and showing serious signs of damage. I think I am at the point where I need to convert my pool to a non Saltwater chlorine base sanitation approach. I prefer to keep salt but it is eating me alive after on 1 year. I welcome any thoughts about what I might be doing wrong or what is the next best recommendation from this amazing forum.

Thanks!
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Everyone's situation is different. However, my 10 year old pool had been chlorinated with tabs before we bought the house. We did 2 years of TFP bleach method before I decided to convert to SWCG. My salt level was 1800ppm before I converted. Remember that bleach has sodium in it...
 
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According to pool math, I am adding 6 ppm of salt to my pool every day just by adding chlorine. So, if I have been chlorinating for six months, I am probably at about 1,000 ppm. If I assume that splash out and the drain to close the pool is around 20 percent , I will be at 800 at opening next spring and at 1,800 by next fall and around 2,400 by the end of the following year.

My point is that a lot of non-SWCG pools may have as much salt in them as those using a SW chlorine generator.

EDIT: I should type faster! :) @sean.a.hyde
 
Newdude said:
Hey slick !! Limestone is used heavily in TX because it’s local and cheap with much less delivery fees. It is not suited for a wet environment being compressed sand. The salt content (1/10 of seawater) shouldn’t matter but it’s nearly impossible to convince somebody with erosion of that.
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Thanks! Is there an alternative that is better to use for coping that looks similar?
 
Chasarms said:
According to pool math, I am adding 6 ppm of salt to my pool every day just by adding chlorine. So, if I have been chlorinating for six months, I am probably at about 1,000 ppm. If I assume that splash out and the drain to close the pool is around 20 percent , I will be at 800 at opening next spring and at 1,800 by next fall and around 2,400 by the end of the following year.

My point is that a lot of non-SWCG pools may have as much salt in them as those using a SW chlorine generator.

EDIT: I should type faster! :) @sean.a.hyde
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Thanks for the feedback. This is a perplexing situation for sure!
 
Do you have pictures? Also, how have you been managing your pH?

I know limestone is easily dissolved by acids, so I suspect it would be impacted by pH especially if it is on the low end. The same concept is what happens when you use vinegar or CLR on the white limescale that builds up on your faucets.
 
I cannot explain the various quality of materials available in Texas. High quality stone has no problems with SWG salt levels.
 

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Attached are some photos from my pool. This coping is all 12 months old. Last year I put sealer on it. You will notice the first picture is a spillway that is frequently covered in water during pump operation and looks fine. Thanks for all of the replies. Not ecited to write another check for this pool but maybe that is the answer.
 

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Its hard to tell from the pics, but you can see something going on with it but not terrible. You probably have a couple of choices:
- try resealing
- drain and go non-SWG for another 12 months and see how the coping is doing
- redo the coping to something harder, like travertine

I still keep going back to the pH, and now I see you have an intelliPh listed in your signature. I dont know anything about the system, but is it possibly keeping your pH too low? I try to keep mine between 7.6-8.
 
q
kimkats said:
I see you have been on TFP for a while now. What I don't see is what test kit you are using. How often do you test? How has your pH and TA been over the few months?
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Sorry that I forgot to answer that. I monitor weekly, at a minimum, using the Taylor Test kit. My Free Chlorine is between 5-7ppm, CYA - 80, PH is 7.5-8.0, CH 375, TA 85 and Salt 4000ppm. If I find something is outside of bounds I will usually add whatever is needed and then check again in 1-2 days. My PH is never too low and always rising. I usually have to add a little bit of Muriatic Acid via bottle because my IntelliPH cant keep up with my Intellichlor. Matter of fact I have modified acid dilution in the IPH from 1:1 Acid:Water to 1:0.5 to try to boost acid effectiveness based on 100% dosage.
 
JJ_Tex said:
Its hard to tell from the pics, but you can see something going on with it but not terrible. You probably have a couple of choices:
- try resealing
- drain and go non-SWG for another 12 months and see how the coping is doing
- redo the coping to something harder, like travertine

I still keep going back to the pH, and now I see you have an intelliPh listed in your signature. I dont know anything about the system, but is it possibly keeping your pH too low? I try to keep mine between 7.6-8.
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Great. I am on the same page. What is recommend for a non-SWG approach with limited manual intervention like the SWG approach?
 
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slick,

I have seen pitting like yours in travertine and limestone in both chlorine and salt pools. I don't believe it has anything to do with salt pools. I think it has more to do with the water balance and the quality of material. it seems there are three different types of limestone and only type 3 is really resistant to the chemicals used for pools. I knew nothing about coping materials when my pool was built but it seems I was lucky my builder selected a concrete bull nose material for me and his design. the pool is in it's eight year and second year of salt. My coping looks brand new.

Sorry you are having to deal with this so soon and I hope this is helpful.

Chris
 
Therea also many different types of sealer. You want a high end penetrating sealer. Do you know the brand and type you used? As said chlorine pools add salt as well amd aren't far off from swg pools after a while. Often PBs use cheaper material for larger profit. Theres a huge difference in cost with material grades
 
setsailsoon said:
slick,

I have seen pitting like yours in travertine and limestone in both chlorine and salt pools. I don't believe it has anything to do with salt pools. I think it has more to do with the water balance and the quality of material. it seems there are three different types of limestone and only type 3 is really resistant to the chemicals used for pools. I knew nothing about coping materials when my pool was built but it seems I was lucky my builder selected a concrete bull nose material for me and his design. the pool is in it's eight year and second year of salt. My coping looks brand new.

Sorry you are having to deal with this so soon and I hope this is helpful.

Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris. Could you share some photos of your coping when you have a moment? Thanks!
 

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