I add acid every other week, borates can help stabilize the ph. My CircuPool has been great. I'll never have anything but a salt water pool.
Thinking About Converting
- Thread starter planoattorney
- Start date
That is good to know. I do not have any water features but my spa does overflow into the pool. I can control that with a valve and set it to make a steady splash sound which is really soothing or set it back to just flow over and down the wall. The spa is at least 20 inches higher than the pool which would I guess would aerate the water pretty well. It is a really nice look, but I would never recommend it. If any air gets into the system the water being higher than the pump by an inch or two will make finding the leak a pressing issue that takes forever. Ended up having to replace every o-ring and seal in every Jandy valve twice (near as I can tell, I pinched one or just did not get it seated correctly the first time, org maybe too much or too little lube).
I also added borates this year (the test strip indicates it is over 50, PoolCalculator says it should be about 55. Is this okay for a SWG?
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Sounds like this fall, or next spring I need to add the SWG. Probably too late in the season to get anyone out to put one in this year.
Yes, it is fine to have borates in a saltwater pool. General recommendation is 30-50 ppm but up to 80 ppm is ok. A spa spillover will definotely aerate the water. Most folks with raised spas set their pool automation filter mode so that the spa spillover runs for 10-15 minutes to mix the spa water and the rest of the time it is off.
as a recent convert i have to add acid about every 2 weeks, nothing else. if you plan to switch there is no point to waiting do it this summer so you can enjoy it. in my case just added the salt and SWG waited 24 hours to verify salt levels turned it on....been great. there really is no magic it is really that simple
That is without boric acid also. I’m adding boric acids today so will be interested to see if there is a difference
Thinking about converting also, great thread. My water is very hard from the source and thinking a swg might be the ticket to soften to reasonable levels? Slightly worried about traverteen decking around the pool with salt water?
JDZ brings up a good point - since I am learning: what other chemistry issues/changes are there to deal with when using a SWG? Since switching to the liquid diet, my pool has been pretty consistent (chlorine burns off during the day but you get the idea) at these levels:
CL = ~1.5 - ~6
FC = 0
PH = 7.5
CA = 325
TA = 80
CYA = 30
Borates = 50+
For some odd reason I swear the PH moves. I don't want to call it bounce, but it certainly seems to climb. I was concerned and literally went and got a new bottle of reagent just for that one test but it was climbing. I add acid to get it to 7.5 and it climbs back to 7.8 for no explainable reason - other than this is the most rainy summer I can recall. It is mid-July in Texas, my sprinklers are completely shut off, and the grass is growing lush and green. Would 1/4-1/2 inch of rain water per day (just my guess but I have not added water to the pool this summer either) raise PH?
What about Calcium? Is 325 too high for SWG, too low, just right, or will it be effected? I started the year with a fresh and verified 325 is tap water.
CL = ~1.5 - ~6
FC = 0
PH = 7.5
CA = 325
TA = 80
CYA = 30
Borates = 50+
For some odd reason I swear the PH moves. I don't want to call it bounce, but it certainly seems to climb. I was concerned and literally went and got a new bottle of reagent just for that one test but it was climbing. I add acid to get it to 7.5 and it climbs back to 7.8 for no explainable reason - other than this is the most rainy summer I can recall. It is mid-July in Texas, my sprinklers are completely shut off, and the grass is growing lush and green. Would 1/4-1/2 inch of rain water per day (just my guess but I have not added water to the pool this summer either) raise PH?
What about Calcium? Is 325 too high for SWG, too low, just right, or will it be effected? I started the year with a fresh and verified 325 is tap water.
CH is fine. TA is a bit high and is a contributor to your pH rising, 55-65 is better.
Here are things that make pH rise in pools
SWG cell
TA above 60-70
Splashing, swimming, cannonballs
rain
And the #1 thing that raises pH in pools is aeration from waterfalls, bubblers, spa spillovers, etc. These should only be run for 15 minutes on filter cycles and otherwise only wjen people want to look at or listen to them. Otherwise, you'll likely have to lower pH every few days.
It is important to keep pH between 7.5 and 7.8 at all times to prevent scale. When pH gets to 8.0 lower it to 7.5-7.6.
More here,
Pool School - Water Balance for SWGs
And here
Pool School - Calcium Scaling
Here are things that make pH rise in pools
SWG cell
TA above 60-70
Splashing, swimming, cannonballs
rain
And the #1 thing that raises pH in pools is aeration from waterfalls, bubblers, spa spillovers, etc. These should only be run for 15 minutes on filter cycles and otherwise only wjen people want to look at or listen to them. Otherwise, you'll likely have to lower pH every few days.
It is important to keep pH between 7.5 and 7.8 at all times to prevent scale. When pH gets to 8.0 lower it to 7.5-7.6.
More here,
Pool School - Water Balance for SWGs
And here
Pool School - Calcium Scaling
Oh, and that chlorine is dangerously low and flirting with algae. Chlorine needs to be kept at target level for your CYA to keep the pool sanitized and algae free, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Shekkie
0
I changed over to running an SWG this year. I was hammered with work early in the season (pool open but too cold to use) and was a bit lax with keeping everything perfect so when I hooked up the SWG I had a bit of tail chasing to do and the SWG couldn't quite keep up unless it was running 100%. After a quick SLAM all has been well and pool maintenance is even easier than last year. Knowing that I can work a few doubles in a row without worrying about the pool taking a green turn made my initial investment well worth it. I run tests a few times a week and except for adding acid every few weeks everything stays rock solid with minimal input.
My only regret is not doing it sooner although I'd say that my season and a half of manually dosing the pool gave me a better understanding of it's needs and how to deal with any minor issues before things get outta hand. One of my buddies had a new SWG pool built last year and he has no interest in how it all works. He tests with strips a few times a week and is happy that his pool tests "A-OK". I hope his luck holds out.
My only regret is not doing it sooner although I'd say that my season and a half of manually dosing the pool gave me a better understanding of it's needs and how to deal with any minor issues before things get outta hand. One of my buddies had a new SWG pool built last year and he has no interest in how it all works. He tests with strips a few times a week and is happy that his pool tests "A-OK". I hope his luck holds out.