New pool owner here = are in-line chlorinators useless?

[TooBlueStu]

I'm on my third summer with a pool that came with the house I bought in 2022.

So far, I've been using trichlor tablets in my chlorinator and as-needed cal-hypo 73% powder with varying levels of success. I certainly have not achieved the level of low-maintenance awesomeness that experienced TFP users seem to be capable of. Green algae is a constant menace, and I find myself dumping pounds of cal-hypo in every few weeks to get things back to a temporarily stable state. Every time I test my water (with a Taylor K2005 kit), I have between 5-8ppm FC with a CYA level between 40 and 50.

The understanding I was operating under the past two summers was I should kill the algae by raising the chlorine level to 30ppm using cal-hypo, then let it return to normal and maintain 3-5ppm with tablets. This made sense with the in-line chlorinator. However, after getting up to speed on the TFP SLAM process and the TFP guidance in general, the only two recommended treatments for maintaning chlorine are manually adding liquid chlorine (which I have never once used) or investing in a SWG. Should my take-away be that the chlorinator I've been using with tablets is basically useless? Is this primarily because the philosophy here is to balance each chemical independantly, and the tablets add too much CYA?

Overall I have three goals for my pool situation:

1. Save money in the long term by not buying hundreds of dollars of chlorine products every summer.
2. Reduce the maintanance burden on myself to just running the robot vaccum, skimming debris, and testing water once every day or two.
3. Have the ability to leave for a few days at a time without having to hire someone to maintain the pool perfectly while I'm gone.

I definitely do not want to have to measure out and pour chlorine - liquid or powder - into my pool on a routine basis. It's 2024! This should be automated!

Are these goals realistic? Will a SWG help with them? Or will it be easy enough to maintain with just liquid chlorine if I use the SLAM process at the beginning of each season?

Finally, I currently have a sand filter which last had the sand changed 4-5 years ago, as reported by the previous owners of this home. When is it worth having the sand replaced? Or should I be switching to a different filter entirely to help achieve my goals?

 

[PoolStored]

Should my take-away be that the chlorinator I've been using with tablets is basically useless? Is this primarily because the philosophy here is to balance each chemical independantly, and the tablets add too much CYA?

Overall I have three goals for my pool situation:

1. Save money in the long term by not buying hundreds of dollars of chlorine products every summer.
2. Reduce the maintanance burden on myself to just running the robot vaccum, skimming debris, and testing water once every day or two.
3. Have the ability to leave for a few days at a time without having to hire someone to maintain the pool perfectly while I'm gone.

I definitely do not want to have to measure out and pour chlorine - liquid or powder - into my pool on a routine basis. It's 2024! This should be automated!

Are these goals realistic? Will a SWG help with them? Or will it be easy enough to maintain with just liquid chlorine if I use the SLAM process at the beginning of each season?

Lots here...^^^

You are getting algae, because you are not maintaining enough FC for your CYA...Link-->FC/CYA Levels
To clear algae, you need to follow the SLAM process. Link-->SLAM Process
To perform the SLAM process, and to maintain your FC properly, you need to add the FAS-DPD test to your kit (FAS/DPD Chlorine Test Kit), or get a recommended kit. Link-->Test Kits Compared
To meet your objectives, the SWCG will do all three.
If you use Liquid Chlorine, you will need to test and replace ~daily, maybe every two days, but not likely in the summer.

 

[Bperry]

I'm on my third summer with a pool that came with the house I bought in 2022.

So far, I've been using trichlor tablets in my chlorinator and as-needed cal-hypo 73% powder with varying levels of success. I certainly have not achieved the level of low-maintenance awesomeness that experienced TFP users seem to be capable of. Green algae is a constant menace, and I find myself dumping pounds of cal-hypo in every few weeks to get things back to a temporarily stable state. Every time I test my water (with a Taylor K2005 kit), I have between 5-8ppm FC with a CYA level between 40 and 50.

The understanding I was operating under the past two summers was I should kill the algae by raising the chlorine level to 30ppm using cal-hypo, then let it return to normal and maintain 3-5ppm with tablets. This made sense with the in-line chlorinator. However, after getting up to speed on the TFP SLAM process and the TFP guidance in general, the only two recommended treatments for maintaning chlorine are manually adding liquid chlorine (which I have never once used) or investing in a SWG. Should my take-away be that the chlorinator I've been using with tablets is basically useless? Is this primarily because the philosophy here is to balance each chemical independantly, and the tablets add too much CYA?

Overall I have three goals for my pool situation:

1. Save money in the long term by not buying hundreds of dollars of chlorine products every summer.
2. Reduce the maintanance burden on myself to just running the robot vaccum, skimming debris, and testing water once every day or two.
3. Have the ability to leave for a few days at a time without having to hire someone to maintain the pool perfectly while I'm gone.

I definitely do not want to have to measure out and pour chlorine - liquid or powder - into my pool on a routine basis. It's 2024! This should be automated!

Are these goals realistic? Will a SWG help with them? Or will it be easy enough to maintain with just liquid chlorine if I use the SLAM process at the beginning of each season?

Finally, I currently have a sand filter which last had the sand changed 4-5 years ago, as reported by the previous owners of this home. When is it worth having the sand replaced? Or should I be switching to a different filter entirely to help achieve my goals?

The calhypo use is going to bite you eventually whether you use a SWCG or not. That raises calcium and if it gets high enough you may start seeing scaling on pool surfaces.

Algae is always caused by a lack of chlorine. The age of the sand doesnt matter. The SWCG will help with all three of your goals though.

A bit of advice would be to upgrade your test kit to a K2006 so you can use the FAS-DPD chlorine test. The DPD test in the 2005 doesnt test above 5ppm.

 

[User777]

I was in the same situation you were in. I had to constantly babysit the inline chlorinator because it only met chlorine demand when it was filled to the top with tablets. I had to supplement every couple weeks with cal-hypo. After a bad day of inhaling chlorine gas from the inline chlorinator and paying an insane amount of money for tablets and cal hypo ($1000+/year), I bought a CircuPool RJ+ 45 SWG 2 years ago and haven't looked back.

I can't say enough good things about a salt pool. I literally do nothing each week except test my levels, clean out the skimmers, and toss in the automatic vacuum. No more worries about coming back to a green pool after being on vacation. I use cal hypo in the spring to speed up the opening process, toss in a few bags of salt to get the levels back up, and adjust the PH and alkalinity as needed. No algaecide, no floc, no clarifier, no special potions. Pool is crystal clear every day, all day.

 

[TooBlueStu]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I think since the pool is only going to be open for another six weeks, I'm going to just cal-hypo shock the pool a few more times as needed to get it to closing time, then next spring I'll have a SWG installed and start the season with the SLAM process using liquid chlorine.

After a bad day of inhaling chlorine gas from the inline chlorinator and paying an insane amount of money for tablets and cal hypo ($1000+/year)

^^^ THIS! I got my nose hairs burned off a few weeks ago after trying to load up my chlorinator with enough tablets to keep the algae at bay. Meanwhile my family complained that the chlorine levels were too high, so I had to go back to letting the pool gradually get green and then shocking it again. So tired of it!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Randomly shocking the pool is only going to be a bandaid measure at best. You'll simply be limping along with algae always present. We have a saying here -

"A clear pool is not evidence of a CLEAN pool."

Just because you get some clarity back in the water and the green looks like it's gone, it isn't. Once an algae bloom has started, it is everywhere in your pool and it requires the SLAM process to eradicate it because you have to maintain a high enough chlorine level to kill all the algae where it is hiding. That process is not a one day deal or even a weekend deal. The time it takes varies a lot and you can only know that your pool is CLEAN when it has passed all of the exit criteria for a SLAM. Otherwise, you've simply beaten back the algae a little bit and it will return as soon as you slack again.

If you limp along and just wait it out until the spring next year, you will be opening your pool up to a giant green mess that will cost you a good deal of money to get right. It would be better to get the pool fixed up now and then close it in the fall using TFP's recommended closing process. Then if you open it up early in the Spring, you'll get the water balanced and ready to go with minimal cost and effort.

It's certainly your pool and you can do whatever you like, but your current plan is just setting you up for more headaches down the road ...

 

[TooBlueStu]

All good points! There are a few other factors at play, such as I NEED the pool to be open and clean enough to swim in without much downtime for the rest of August. Why, you ask? My wife is 9 months pregnant and floating in the pool is one of the only ways she can get relief from constant pain and discomfort.

The good news is that September may be the perfect opportunity to SLAM, since women aren't supposed to swim for at least 4-6 weeks after giving birth. I'll also be home consistently for a few weeks and waking up at weird hours anyway so I can do the overnight chlorine loss test and really commit to the whole process.

 

[Bperry]

All good points! There are a few other factors at play, such as I NEED the pool to be open and clean enough to swim in without much downtime for the rest of August. Why, you ask? My wife is 9 months pregnant and floating in the pool is one of the only ways she can get relief from constant pain and discomfort.

The good news is that September may be the perfect opportunity to SLAM, since women aren't supposed to swim for at least 4-6 weeks after giving birth. I'll also be home consistently for a few weeks and waking up at weird hours anyway so I can do the overnight chlorine loss test and really commit to the whole process.

You can safely swim during the slam. There’s no reason to wait until September.

 

[Pv2]

follow Drs orders, but you can swim during slam and it will be more sanitary than your conditions are currently. also there is a birthing option out there (that many feel is OUT THERE ha!) of birthing IN water. I had my kids at home and my second midwife actually had her babies in water. I was freaky enough to do home births but at that time, not in water. after learning TFP...who knows now?

 

[Lilredrubi]

All good points! There are a few other factors at play, such as I NEED the pool to be open and clean enough to swim in without much downtime for the rest of August. Why, you ask? My wife is 9 months pregnant and floating in the pool is one of the only ways she can get relief from constant pain and discomfort.

The good news is that September may be the perfect opportunity to SLAM, since women aren't supposed to swim for at least 4-6 weeks after giving birth. I'll also be home consistently for a few weeks and waking up at weird hours anyway so I can do the overnight chlorine loss test and really commit to the whole process.

I would absolutely not get in that water while pregnant, there are infections that she and the baby can get, please follow the slam now. It is safe to swim in waters up to slam level.

 

[TooBlueStu]

You can safely swim during the slam. There’s no reason to wait until September.

Oh, I didn't realize this! That's awesome. I was used to following the Taylor guide of raising the FC PPM to 30 which is absolutely not something you want to swim in.

 

[Bperry]

Oh, I didn't realize this! That's awesome. I was used to following the Taylor guide of raising the FC PPM to 30 which is absolutely not something you want to swim in.

The amount of FC that is safe to swim is completely dependent on how much CYA is in the water. If the CYA was high enough, you could safely swim when the FC was 30ppm. Maybe wouldn’t be safe wallet in that situation though.

Although I’m not aware of where Taylor has that recommendation? It sounds suspect.