SCG + Auto Cover on Well Water

[wgipe]

Happy Tuesday! I am trying to work up my final equipment list for our new 18x36 liner pool to be installed in about 8 weeks, and i am thoroughly confused. I was told today by a maintenance company that we should not use a Salt Chlorinator on a pool with an auto cover if we are on well water. He said that the cell get calcified and fails quickly, and I'm far better off using a chlorine tab dispenser. This has not come up in any of my postings here, so I'm confused. Am I making a mistake? Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Wes

 

[JoyfulNoise]

...I was told today by a maintenance company ....

Right there is your problem.

Are you planing on taking care of this pool yourself OR are you going waste huge sums of money and incur vast oceans of frustration and time wasted dealing with a pool service company??

(I think you can figure out what TFP would tell you is the correct choice )

PS - There is nothing wrong with an SWG and well water as long as you are careful about the saturation balance of the water, ie, the calcite saturation index or CSI....perhaps you should consider reading TFP's PoolSchool and thoughts on pool maintenance and water chemistry....hint, hint.

 

[wgipe]

Matt,

Thank you! Yes - I will head over there now and get schooled. I definitely want to learn to maintain it myself. Thanks for your patience with this newbie.

Wes

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You know if your well water is hard or not? Could be soft as a baby's bottom and some pool guys will still try to use that scare tactic.

Got an autocover and SWG myself. Not one problem in 9 years from the combination.

Maddie

 

[YippeeSkippy]

p.s. ONLY clean the cell if it needs it....not just because. I got 8 years out of my first cell and never once cleaned it.

 

[avspin]

I'm on well and have swg and have an auto cover for about 18 years. I have hard water but still need to raise the hardness a little. Started out as a puck feeder for a year then switched to swg and never looked back.

 

[wgipe]

You know if your well water is hard or not?

Yes - I just had a full water analysis done for a water treatment system I installed, and it came back at 200PPM.

 

[wgipe]

perhaps you should consider reading TFP's PoolSchool and thoughts on pool maintenance and water chemistry.

OK! I just did a whole bunch of reading - super helpful, and not sure why I didn't start there. I'm beginning to understand all of this a little better now. I'm going to stick with the SWG. I also just ordered a TF-100 test kit based on the recommendations there.

One additional question, if I may. I'm still struggling with the type of filter I'd be best off to get.

Pentair specified the Tagelus 100 for my 20,000 gal pool. That seems like a lot of filter for 20k gallons, but oversizing is good, from what I understand, and the VS pump will handle it no problem. The question is this: I see that the 60 series models in both the Tagelus and Triton line offer the "ClearPro Technology", which claims to approach the filtration effectiveness of a cartridge filter. Am I crazy to consider moving down to the 60 to get that feature? Is it worth it? Am I going to get kicked off the forum for asking too many dumb questions?

Wes

 

[JoyfulNoise]

OK! I just did a whole bunch of reading - super helpful, and not sure why I didn't start there. I'm beginning to understand all of this a little better now. I'm going to stick with the SWG. I also just ordered a TF-100 test kit based on the recommendations there.

One additional question, if I may. I'm still struggling with the type of filter I'd be best off to get.

Pentair specified the Tagelus 100 for my 20,000 gal pool. That seems like a lot of filter for 20k gallons, but oversizing is good, from what I understand, and the VS pump will handle it no problem. The question is this: I see that the 60 series models in both the Tagelus and Triton line offer the "ClearPro Technology", which claims to approach the filtration effectiveness of a cartridge filter. Am I crazy to consider moving down to the 60 to get that feature? Is it worth it? Am I going to get kicked off the forum for asking too many dumb questions?

Wes

Every question is a dumb question because asking a question means you don't know the answer to that question which is the definition of being dumb (or, more politely, being uninformed) ... you only get kicked off this forum if you use the words "alternative to chlorine" or you make fun of Maddie's ( @YippeeSkippy ) accent ....

Personally I'm not a fan of sand filters and, due to where I live, they make no sense. I have a Pentair QuadDE-100 filter on a 16,000 gallon pool which is vastly oversized...but I love it because it means I only have to clean the filter once per season and I never backwash it. Without knowing specifics, and if you asked me, I'd say stay away from sand and DE and just get a HUGE Pentair Clean & Clear cartridge filter (either a 460 sq ft or 520 sq ft model). Those filters will have the absolute lowest hydraulic head of any filter and, when oversized, will barely ever need to be cleaned. If you want to minimize your equipment pad maintenance, bigger is always better with filters and having a removable media like a cartridge makes it super-easy to maintain.

One point on autocovers - be sure that the track is installed properly and uses high quality stainless steel screws (marine grade if the builder is willing to take a suggestion). Cover tracks are often made out of aluminum and aluminum in contact with cheap steel screws will cause the screws to corrode. The presence of chloride ions (Cl-) enhances certain forms of iron corrosion and the higher TDS of pool water allows for galvanic corrosion to occur easily. An easy solution to this is to have the track connected to a sacrificial anode (magnesium works best) that is buried in moist soil near the the pool. It's an easy solution in theory BUT in practice can be difficult if the pool build is complicated. Good quality (316L) stainless steel screws will hold up very well so, even if you can't do the sacrificial anode thing, that's the first line of defense....good materials.

 

[wgipe]

Every question is a dumb question because asking a question means you don't know the answer to that question which is the definition of being dumb (or, more politely, being uninformed) ... you only get kicked off this forum if you use the words "alternative to chlorine" or you make fun of Maddie's ( @YippeeSkippy ) accent ....

Personally I'm not a fan of sand filters and, due to where I live, they make no sense. I have a Pentair QuadDE-100 filter on a 16,000 gallon pool which is vastly oversized...but I love it because it means I only have to clean the filter once per season and I never backwash it. Without knowing specifics, and if you asked me, I'd say stay away from sand and DE and just get a HUGE Pentair Clean & Clear cartridge filter (either a 460 sq ft or 520 sq ft model). Those filters will have the absolute lowest hydraulic head of any filter and, when oversized, will barely ever need to be cleaned. If you want to minimize your equipment pad maintenance, bigger is always better with filters and having a removable media like a cartridge makes it super-easy to maintain.

One point on autocovers - be sure that the track is installed properly and uses high quality stainless steel screws (marine grade if the builder is willing to take a suggestion). Cover tracks are often made out of aluminum and aluminum in contact with cheap steel screws will cause the screws to corrode. The presence of chloride ions (Cl-) enhances certain forms of iron corrosion and the higher TDS of pool water allows for galvanic corrosion to occur easily. An easy solution to this is to have the track connected to a sacrificial anode (magnesium works best) that is buried in moist soil near the the pool. It's an easy solution in theory BUT in practice can be difficult if the pool build is complicated. Good quality (316L) stainless steel screws will hold up very well so, even if you can't do the sacrificial anode thing, that's the first line of defense....good materials.

Thanks for answering my dumb questions! I've never been too afraid of them... I really want to go the cartridge route - just seems so simple and easy. They specified the C&C 420, but I'll certainly look into the 460/520.

Thanks, also, for the advice on screws. I've seen that happen with other projects and it is NO FUN. The builder is a super great guy, and will happily take suggestions. For no more than screws cost, it's a really small investment. I'll also look at the anode idea - really interesting, and wouldn't be hard with our build - it's very simple. Thanks again for your patience!

Wes

 

[avspin]

I also started out as a sand filter for a couple of years and switched to cartridge (420CCP) And it has so much easier, for me, to maintain and keep the water perfect.