SWG and Phospate level?

[HuskerFan_1]

I've never worried or even tested for phosphates, but I've been having trouble with the chlorine generator keeping up this spring. I have a circupool SI-60. I assumed my cell was going bad. I tested the water directly out of a jet and the chlorine level is higher than the rest of pool so I know it is at least working. Called the tech support number for circupool and they said to test for phosphates. He said the level of chlorine coming out of the jets seems adequate for the model I have.

So the question I have is there something with SWG not operating properly with high phosphate levels?

If it was the pool store telling me to check my phosphate levels I would question that, but since it was the tech support for circupool I am here to get a clarification.

Side note on my pool: my refill water is high in manganese I don't like to SLAM the pool because the manganese will precipitate out and turn it brownish red with a high level of chlorine. I have never had to do this since installing the SWG. With borates in the pool and the SWG I typically keep chlorine on the low side around 2ppm with great results.

 

[pooldv]

No, phosphate levels have no impact on the SWG. Most of the time except when SWGs aren't keeping up with demand it is because there is algae growing in the pool. You can confirm this by performing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.

 

[HuskerFan_1]

After talking to tech support I did find an article online that said high phosphate levels can cause problems within the cell itself. It said the high levels of phosphates would attach to the anode and cause interference with the flow of electrons from the anode to the cathode within the cell, thus messing up the production of chlorine.

I can't argue one way or another on that because I don't know if that's true or not. Just throwing it out to see if that is possible.

I did clean the cell last fall after winterizing the pool. The cell was not dirty at all and the plates still looked shiney.

 

[pooldv]

I don't know, I've never heard that before. And I've never tested phosphates in my pool. I'd go us on the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to see if there is some algae at work.

 

[jblizzle]

There are some chem geek threads discussing this I think, but I think the phosphates must be ridiculously high to be a problem.

 

[BestJoeyEver]

I think you have to go back to basics on this one. It's no different than you saying "I'm adding X bleach and it's not holding". The TFPC approach would be to SLAM. You can do a OCLT first if you want to check first. Just make sure you unplug / disable your swg an hour before you test to let the water circulate.