Thinking of converting to SWG

[joseywales]

No rush to answer, as I probably wouldn't do it until next year. We just replaced the liner, so yeah, would have been a good time. but we just have way too much going on right now. We had the liner replaced and a gas heater installed. I haven't done much research on salt, so I wasn't ready for a change. We took so long deciding on whether to get a heater, well anyway.

We have very hard water here. We have a whole house softener, and still have issues. How much more equipment, etc., is it to run SWG, as opposed to my relatively simple system now? Adding bleach is a hassle, but it unless I break a leg, it will continue to happen. If any part of my SWG system fails, my pool down, I guess. I don't know, because I don't know anything about SWG!

thoughts?

 

[jstephens1]

If the SWG system broke you would just add chlorine like you do now until it was fixed. I switch two months ago and won’t go back. I’m now to the point I check my balance every other day and only have to add a touch of acid to keep the PH in check.

 

[chiefwej]

Adding a SWG just means adding salt to the pool, mounting and powering the control box and plumbing in the salt cell. Should you ever have a problem with a SWG you can just manually add chlorine until it's resolved.

I've been using a Hayward AquaRite AQR15 for about 12 years, it's one of the most reliable and best rated systems available. It's available with three different size cells. AQR3 rated at 15,000 gallons, AQR9 rated 25,000, and AQR15 rated 40,000. They are priced at about $700, $800, and $900 respectively. With your small pool any one of them would serve, but the most economical is always the largest cell available. A cell will only put out a finite quantity of chlorine before it is exhausted and must be replaced, it will also only produce it at a given rate. In order to meet their rating You must run the SWG 24/7 at 100% of capacity, since no one wants to run their pump and SWG 24/7, we recommend a cell at least double or triple rated size.

With a SWG you are paying for your chlorine up front. The cost of chlorinating your pool is the life span of the cell divided by the cost of the replacement cell. My first T-15 cell lasted 7.5 years and cost $450 to replace, so my chlorine cost for a 19k pool in sunny Tucson is $450/7.5 = $60 per year. So it cost me $60 per year for chlorine. Your pool is smaller, the cell should last longer and your annual cost would be less.