SWG and flagstone coping

[dannyk58]

I talked with a neighbors pool builder about an SWG like he installed for my neighbors pool. Theirs is similar to mine with tile and then flagstone rock coping. He the pool builder advised me not to switch to SWG as it will eat away at my flagstone coping and my pool will be full of sand. Honestly my pool (without a Polaris now, broken) without a cleaner if full of what appears to be the coping "sand" anyway. My neighbor did seal their coping with some product.

So do any of you have flagstone coping with an SWG?

My wife likes the neighbors SWG pool and the way the water feels vs the chlorine we have now.

Thoughts?

 

[pooldv]

Yes, the great debate. We're on our 7th swim season with unsealed flagstone and saltwater. Our flagstone looks pretty much the same as it did in 2012. It all depends on the flagstone. Some will flake or turn sandy whether it is near a saltwater pool or not. And some will not. Pics and more discussion in my pool thread, link in sig.

 

[Dirk]

My flagstone got sandy pre-salt (though my pool had built up plenty of salt anyway, as pools do). Sealer will not halt the flaking or sand. My stone guy solved my sandy problem, and slowed the flaking with a chemical designed for that. Very expensive stuff. I converted to salt last year. Flagstone will last or it won't. I'll let you know in 10 or 20 years!

 

[dannyk58]

Yes, the great debate. We're on our 7th swim season with unsealed flagstone and saltwater. Our flagstone looks pretty much the same as it did in 2012. It all depends on the flagstone. Some will flake or turn sandy whether it is near a saltwater pool or not. And some will not. Pics and more discussion in my pool thread, link in sig.

So it sounds like I can go SWG since you guys did, and what the worst case is if I notice the flagstone going nuts I can switch back to chlorinated injection.

Thanks

 

[Dirk]

It's not clear from your posts if this is clear to you or not, please forgive if I'm explaining something you already know: this flagstone issue has nothing to do with how chlorine is introduced into your pool. It's not the SWG itself that affects the coping, and reverting back to "chlorinated injection" would not solve any coping issue in and of itself. SWGs work by converting salt into chlorine, so you have to add that salt to the pool in order to make use of an SWG. It's the salt water that affects the coping. So if you tried SWG and then decided to abandon it for coping reasons, you'd also have to drain your pool and refill it, to get rid of the salt.

Ironically, a non-SWG pool, which never had salt added to it, will eventually end up as a salt water pool anyway. Salt is often found in fill water, and chlorine and acid (and perhaps other pool chemicals as well) all contribute salt to your pool, in various amounts. Salt doesn't evaporate, so it all just stays in your pool, and builds up over time. When I wanted to convert to a SWG pool, they measured the water and it already had nearly enough salt in it, and my pool was five years old at the time. I presume that was just from the salt build up I'm describing.

So regardless if you use a SWG or not, you'll have salt in your pool, eventually, one way or another (you already do). Your coping will either survive that or not. The only way to be sure to avoid this problem is to use a "salt-proof" material for your coping.

Further, an SWG pool IS a chlorine pool. Same-same. An SWG "makes" chlorine. Your pool water will still have just as much chlorine in it as before. The primary difference, is that an SWG makes and adds chlorine at a constant amount, just enough to keep your chlorine level where it's supposed to be. Pool guys and most pool owners spike the level of chlorine once or twice a week, so some days there's a lot of chlorine (too much) and other days not (too little chlorine).

And what your wife likes about the neighbors pool is the salt. That has nothing to do with the SWG itself, or how chlorine is added. She likes their pool because, in essence, she is swimming in soft water and it makes her skin feel nice when she gets out.

Some people add salt to a pool that has no SWG, just because they like the feel of the soft water. Of course, that would subject the coping to the salt.

Hope that all makes sense...

 

[Phillbo]

My wife likes the neighbors SWG pool and the way the water feels vs the chlorine we have now.

Thoughts?

Dump some salt in it and she will be happy... It softens the water even if you do not have a SWG....

 

[Mr. Haney]

Ironically, a non-SWG pool, which never had salt added to it, will eventually end up as a salt water pool anyway. Salt is often found in fill water, and chlorine and acid (and perhaps other pool chemicals as well) all contribute salt to your pool, in various amounts. Salt doesn't evaporate, so it all just stays in your pool, and builds up over time. When I wanted to convert to a SWG pool, they measured the water and it already had nearly enough salt in it, and my pool was five years old at the time. I presume that was just from the salt build up I'm describing.

I'm just now bring back up a SWG that is installed on my pool previously. I did a complete drain and fill 2 years ago and have been using liquid chlorine since. I just received my salt tester and my pool already has 1690 ppm of salt. I'm already half way to what I need when I fire up the SWG.

 

[Phillbo]

You have 1690ppm from tap water?

 

[pooldv]

Salt primarily comes from tap water, people, acid and bleach. Human tears are about 9000 ppm salt. And of course sweat is very salty. Not to mention pee if you have kids or dogs swimming.

 

[Dirk]

Thanks pooldv for reminding us of the other sources of salt. You know, our pools would be so much better off, so much easier to take care of, if there weren’t those pesky humans swimming around in ’em all the time!!

 

[Mr. Haney]

You have 1690ppm from tap water?

I don't know how much came from tap water, but my point was the use of liquid chlorine adding salt to the pool water.

 

[Dirk]

I don't know how much came from tap water, but my point was the use of liquid chlorine adding salt to the pool water.

And Mr. Haney was helping make my point, that unless you're going to change your water every year, you're going to have a good amount of salt in your water no matter what, so you might as well enjoy the convenience of a SWG! OK, that's a bit of a stretch, but your coping is going to be subjected to water with some amount of salt in it, so while it might hold up a bit better if you don't bring the salt level up to 3500ppm, if salt water is going to ruin it, that might happen SWG or no.

 

[dannyk58]

It's not clear from your posts if this is clear to you or not, please forgive if I'm explaining something you already know: this flagstone issue has nothing to do with how chlorine is introduced into your pool. It's not the SWG itself that affects the coping, and reverting back to "chlorinated injection" would not solve any coping issue in and of itself. SWGs work by converting salt into chlorine, so you have to add that salt to the pool in order to make use of an SWG. It's the salt water that affects the coping. So if you tried SWG and then decided to abandon it for coping reasons, you'd also have to drain your pool and refill it, to get rid of the salt.

Ironically, a non-SWG pool, which never had salt added to it, will eventually end up as a salt water pool anyway. Salt is often found in fill water, and chlorine and acid (and perhaps other pool chemicals as well) all contribute salt to your pool, in various amounts. Salt doesn't evaporate, so it all just stays in your pool, and builds up over time. When I wanted to convert to a SWG pool, they measured the water and it already had nearly enough salt in it, and my pool was five years old at the time. I presume that was just from the salt build up I'm describing.

So regardless if you use a SWG or not, you'll have salt in your pool, eventually, one way or another (you already do). Your coping will either survive that or not. The only way to be sure to avoid this problem is to use a "salt-proof" material for your coping.

Further, an SWG pool IS a chlorine pool. Same-same. An SWG "makes" chlorine. Your pool water will still have just as much chlorine in it as before. The primary difference, is that an SWG makes and adds chlorine at a constant amount, just enough to keep your chlorine level where it's supposed to be. Pool guys and most pool owners spike the level of chlorine once or twice a week, so some days there's a lot of chlorine (too much) and other days not (too little chlorine).

And what your wife likes about the neighbors pool is the salt. That has nothing to do with the SWG itself, or how chlorine is added. She likes their pool because, in essence, she is swimming in soft water and it makes her skin feel nice when she gets out.

Some people add salt to a pool that has no SWG, just because they like the feel of the soft water. Of course, that would subject the coping to the salt.

Hope that all makes sense...

I wrote a reply with the word dang and it destroyed my reply. Thanks, I know most all of this, but will just go with SWG more than likely, since I was going with Stenner, but SWG seems like less work except for that steel furniture we put poolside.....

There is so much brown sand that has to be from my coping, so really it probably won't be any worse with the SWG. My cleaner died about 5 months ago, so the sand is evident now. Going with a robot for that.

 

[Dirk]

Sounds like you've got the makings of a "Trouble Free Pool!"