New house, Green pool

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poolmetwice

Member
Aug 30, 2023
7
Houston
Pool Size
18000
1st time pool owner, so please be patient.
Pool is located in Houston, Tx.

We bought a pool and a house. The pool was green. Pool guy came home and said this pool has always been green and eats up chlorine. "its a monster". We figured out the filter was leaking DE powder in the pool, the filter had a hole.
Next, we have had him shock the pool 5 times in the last week, lots of vacuuming and pool brushing.
The water is clear when undisturbed, but white powdery white when I go to brush it twice a day, every day.

He recommended changing to saltwater generator to keep up with the chlorine demand.

Got 3 quotes, they ranged from 1800 to 3900 for SWG.

Jandy Truclear system - $2800
Pentair IC40 - $3600
Jandy PureLink - $3900
Pentair iChlor 30 - $1800

Its 18-20K gunite pool that eats up chlorine like there is no tomorrow.
CYA level - 73
Copper - 0
Calcium - 95

Since I have no idea what the pool parts do, I am learning and reading up.

What would you do, if you were me?
I like automation and less tweaking would be a bliss.
 
Hello! Welcome :). I don't trust that pool guy's assertion that the pool is a "monster". What I *can* believe is that they've added potions and problems themself to the pool and its perhaps gotten away from them.

Can you provide us pics of the pool? And equipment please.

Lets start with some basics:
Pool Care Basics

Maddie 🌻
 
That's a lovely pool, albeit green :alien:

Your pool guy is right in the sense that Salt Water Systems are *wonderful* for pools and owners. The frequent production of small doses of chlorine into the water helps maintain sanitation. You can also go away for the weekend and know the pool is getting it's daily dose. www.troublefreepool.com/blog/2019/01/18/salt-water-chlorine-generators/

Looking at your pics, I wonder if you don't have copper staining in addition to the algae? Do you use CloroxXtraBlue pucks, or has the pool guy been adding low cost copper containing algaecides?
www.troublefreepool.com/wiki/index.php?title=Copper_in_Pool_Water
Next time the filter cartridges are cleaned check and see if they look blue?

Are you on city or well water? The reason I ask is that the only way to *remove* copper from the water is to drain and refill.
Alternatively, you can use a sequestrant to "hide" the copper in the water solution but it requires routine dosing to keep it there.
www.troublefreepool.com/wiki/index.php?title=Draining
You can take a water sample in to a pool store and ask them for a metals test. Its the only testing we ask them to do.

As to testing... its really important, even when using a pool guy, to monitor your water. You want to know its being treated properly and in addition to being sanitized the water tests confirm proper balance which protects your pool surface and equipment.
Test Kits Compared

As for the pool's algae (ignoring the stains at this point) we need to know a few test results:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt level

As we wait to get more info, you can add a gallon of Liquid Chlorine to the pool in a small stream over a running return. Then brush the pool to get at all surfaces to disrupt any biofilm. Do that daily for now. Walmart has pretty good price on liquid chlorine in the pool section, but there are many other sources too. Janitorial supply houses, pool stores, hardware stores...just make sure you buy fresh product that is no older than 3 months, not has it been stored in the sun outside.

Get any pucks out of the chlorinator tower.

Maddie :flower:
 
There is no copper. Checked at Leslie’s twice. Copper was 0.

Just need a lot of chlorine and maybe he is right just getting a SWG might fix the issues.

Biofilm formation is disrupted by brushing it twice a day. The pool already looks tons better today after 3 weeks of staying on top of it. Will posts pics when I get home this evening.

What SWG should we get for a 18-20K pool?
IC40?
 
IC40 would be the minimum to me. i would seriously think about even larger. You’re in Houston like me, so your season will very long and you will have very strong sun in summer. At summers peak I was running 30% for an IC40 on a 10k gallon pool with a 24/7 pump time. You would be likely be 60% with a 24/7 pump running.

A bigger salt cell gives you not only more flexibility but more service hour life for the same amount of chlorine generated daily.

What pump do you have? The running time needed for the pump is also a function of SWG setup. Eg a larger SWG needs less pump time than a smaller one - so if you have single speed definitely get bigger.

The sweet spot of SWGs are a variable speed pump and a decent sized cell.
 
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Hey PMT and Welcome !!!! You're name makes me chuckle everytime I see it on the online member list, so thanks for that. 😁


poolmetwice said:
What SWG should we get for a 18-20K pool?
IC40?
Click to expand...
You have loooooooooooooong and hoooooooooot seasons so I'd want an IC60. Currently for just the cells, the IC40 is $1050 and the IC60 is on sale for $1200. (They both need the same controller so that's a wash)

But the IC60 which has 50% more lifespan is a little over 10% more expensive, so it's a no brainer. I would have gone 3X in a heartbeat in NY for ROI.

Cells are rated for 100% runtime so a 2X unit will produce the same FC in 12 hours, a 3X unit will do the same as a 1X in 8 hours (etc). Less hours 'on' means proportionately longer lifespan.

Bigger cells also save on pump runtime.
 
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Newdude said:
Hey PMT and Welcome !!!! You're name makes me chuckle everytime I see it on the online member list, so thanks for that. 😁



You have loooooooooooooong and hoooooooooot seasons so I'd want an IC60. Currently for just the cells, the IC40 is $1050 and the IC60 is on sale for $1200. (They both need the same controller so that's a wash)

But the IC60 which has 50% more lifespan is a little over 10% more expensive, so it's a no brainer. I would have gone 3X in a heartbeat in NY for ROI.

Cells are rated for 100% runtime so a 2X unit will produce the same FC in 12 hours, a 3X unit will do the same as a 1X in 8 hours (etc). Less hours 'on' means proportionately longer lifespan.

Bigger cells also save on pump runtime.
Click to expand...

Ok so here is the dilemma.
Ic40 or ic60 can only be purchased for the pool equipment installers since I am not able to trust me skills and sawing off pvc and rejoining pvc and hooking up electrical and screwing things up.

The prices offered by the pool equipment installers is very different than what you are stating over here.

This is a quote from one of the pool installers in the area.
 

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BDY said:
IC40 would be the minimum to me. i would seriously think about even larger. You’re in Houston like me, so your season will very long and you will have very strong sun in summer. At summers peak I was running 30% for an IC40 on a 10k gallon pool with a 24/7 pump time. You would be likely be 60% with a 24/7 pump running.

A bigger salt cell gives you not only more flexibility but more service hour life for the same amount of chlorine generated daily.

What pump do you have? The running time needed for the pump is also a function of SWG setup. Eg a larger SWG needs less pump time than a smaller one - so if you have single speed definitely get bigger.

The sweet spot of SWGs are a variable speed pump and a decent sized cell.
Click to expand...
Don’t have a VSP
We have a 2HP Hayward pump.
That’s an upgrade after the salt cell system is installed probably next year?
 
poolmetwice said:
This is a quote from one of the pool installers in the area.
Click to expand...
It is what it is if you need pool people to do it. You could also buy it yourself and hire a plumber and electrician. Some electricians may even do the PVC work because PVC is a regular part of their day. Any last one of them *could* easily do it, but some will be wary bevause you said pool equipment plumbing.
 
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Figure out what pump and automation and cell combination you want before you buy it piecemeal. Certain combinations work with others (eg all pentair) while others are more standalone.

My 2 cenrs
 
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Newdude said:
It is what it is if you need pool people to do it. You could also buy it yourself and hire a plumber and electrician. Some electricians may even do the PVC work because PVC is a regular part of their day. Any last one of them *could* easily do it, but some will be wary bevause you said pool equipment plumbing.
Click to expand...
That’s what I figured. “My” pool guy said he can install a pentair IC40 for $2700. Imma call him tomorrow and check.
 
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So they both use the same power center. When it dies, it's a 2 min swap that's a plug and play kinda thing. Seriously, it was 10 minutes from couch to porch to equipment pad to garbage can in driveway to back on couch. So next time you can just buy the IC60 and put it in yourself.

Ask your guy for his IC60 price, it can't hurt and if the unit is less than 50% more, go for it.
 
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Does his price include controller / power center etc? You only need those once the first time but it does make a first time install more expensive than any future replacement cell
 
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