Under Construction - Tomball, TX

[Taddpool]

HERE WE GO!!!!!! Dig Day!!!!! I will be posting Pics, specs, and Information here along the way.

I'm currently struggling BIG TIME with the salt/chlorine decision. I have only a few days to put that change order in, so we will see how it turns out.
- My wife really wants the saltwater pool. She says it feels better on her skin/bones (she has RA)
- The pool builder has tried to talk me out of it a few times.
- Everyone on here is nearly demanding I get a SWG
- Part of my build is a 10-ton rock formation to jump off, and I am hearing from multiple sources that the Saltwater will eat away at this rock, and deteriorate it. I would need to get it sealed every year


Any and all feedback is appreciated.

 

[Taddpool]

 

[Newdude]

Part of my build is a 10-ton rock formation to jump off, and I am hearing from multiple sources that the Saltwater will eat away at this rock, and deteriorate it. I would need to get it sealed every year

They are wrong on all accounts. Read up and you'll find a boatload of your fellow Texans having zero issues with salt pools. They're 10% of the salinity of the ocean and liquid chlorine dosed pools approach the same levels, yet its unheard of for those pools to track their levels. Nor do LC pools have issues once the salt content increases a little. They never have an answer for that one though and just tap their clipboard repeating that salt pools are the devil.

 

[Taddpool]

They are wrong on all accounts. Read up and you'll find a boatload of your fellow Texans having zero issues with salt pools. They're 10% of the salinity of the ocean and liquid chlorine dosed pools approach the same levels, yet its unheard of for those pools to track their levels. Nor do LC pools have issues once the salt content increases a little. They never have an answer for that one though and just tap their clipboard repeating that salt pools are the devil.

I asked a company here in Texas that literally does salt water conversions. He is the one that told me that the rocks would get ruined.

I really appreciate your help on this. How do I have this conversation without saying "s because some guy on line told me so" and not sound like a tool. Arm me with more ammo.

I want to make it 100% clear... I am NOT arguing with you, or trying to challenge you in any way, I know online sometimes words are taken out of context, and I want to be clear this is NOT THE CASE HERE.

 

[Taddpool]

 

[mknauss]

Ask for pictures of the rocks that have been effected.
Be assured that poor quality rocks will erode regardless. Calcium buildup will be a challenge. Those type of water features look great new. In a few years, not so much.

 

[Newdude]

I want to make it 100% clear... I am NOT arguing with you, or trying to challenge you in any way, I know online sometimes words are taken out of context, and I want to be clear this is NOT THE CASE HERE.

I get it. I do.

It's nearly impossible to over turn a 'professionals' stubborn opinion. I had many battles with my own GC with him constantly citing industry garbage.

Tell them that nearly every chemical added in a pool is either a salt, or breaks down into salt. Hence, why LC pools approach or even sometimes surpass SWG pools salinity. Ask him how going from 5% or so to 10% will suddenly deteriorate stone. They'll have no answers and if they're anything like my GC, you'll have to bleach your ears after whatever they come back with.

So then, politely of course, tell them that they are welcome to pay for it if they're building their own pool at your house. When you foot the bill, you get to make the decisions. I had to ask my own who was paying a few times. You can stress you understand their recommendation but unless they can produce science that says otherwise, science so far says there's no difference.

 

[Taddpool]

He sent me several pictures of pitted coping from SW pools. Is there a certain coping, or sealat I should be getting? I read that Flagstone, Cantera, an travertine are the 3 worst

 

[Taddpool]

Ask for pictures of the rocks that have been effected.
Be assured that poor quality rocks will erode regardless. Calcium buildup will be a challenge. Those type of water features look great new. In a few years, not so much.

He sent me several pictures of pitted coping from SW pools. Is there a certain coping, or sealat I should be getting? I read that Flagstone, Cantera, an travertine are the 3 worst

 

[mknauss]

Low pH is the greatest threat to pool surface. Flagstone used in Texas is highly variable in quality. Some shed, no matter what. Some never do. Part of the issue of using ‘natural’ products.

 

[Taddpool]

 

[Newdude]

Encyclopedia says freshwater is 0 to 5000ppm salinity

Freshwater is a term for water that has no appreciable salinity; that is, a low salt concentration. This is variously defined as less than 0.5 parts per thousand dissolved salts

NOAA says so as well, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration kinda knows a thing or two about salt water :

The mixture of seawater and fresh water in estuaries is called brackish water and its salinity can range from 0.5 to 35 ppt.

Atlas scientific :

Different water bodies have different salt content/salinity ranges; freshwater has a salt value of >0.5ppt, saltwater ~34-36ppt, and brackish water is a mix of both so it can vary. The salinity of brackish water fluctuates depending on how much fresh or saltwater flows into the water body.

Wiki agrees as well :




Your salt pool will be about 3500 ppm, still in the freshwater spectrum. Others claim brackish water is 3000 to 30000ppm, and if we chose to cite them instead, being 500 ppm over, yet being 26,500ppm shy of salt water, it will behave considerably more like freshwater

*playing even further devils advocate on myself* some even claim brackish water starts at 1000ppm, and LC pools are all but equal offenders if we use those guidelines.

 

[Brian PacNW]

Loving the pictures! Keep them coming!

 

[Taddpool]

Encyclopedia says freshwater is 0 to 5000ppm salinity

Freshwater is a term for water that has no appreciable salinity; that is, a low salt concentration. This is variously defined as less than 0.5 parts per thousand dissolved salts

NOAA says so as well, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration kinda knows a thing or two about salt water :

The mixture of seawater and fresh water in estuaries is called brackish water and its salinity can range from 0.5 to 35 ppt.

Atlas scientific :

Different water bodies have different salt content/salinity ranges; freshwater has a salt value of >0.5ppt, saltwater ~34-36ppt, and brackish water is a mix of both so it can vary. The salinity of brackish water fluctuates depending on how much fresh or saltwater flows into the water body.

Wiki:
View attachment 528235


Your salt pool will be about 3500 ppm, still in the freshwater spectrum. Others claim brackish water is 3000 to 30000ppm, and if we chose to cite them instead, being 500 ppm over, yet being 26,500ppm shy of salt water, it will behave considerably more like freshwater

*plating even further devils advocate on myself* some even claim brackish water starts at 1000ppm, and LC pools are all but equal offenders if we use those guidelines.

This is all great information; however, If I google stuff like "salt water pool damage" and "will a saltwater pool damage" I get some pretty compelling articles talking about the opposite. I think this is probably the most scary part of the whole thing.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I too had quite a bit of builder pushback on the SWCG when building our pool several years ago. One builder even said I would have to sign a waiver.

Salt pools take the blame for a lot of mis-management of water chemistry and/or deterioration of low-quality materials. We have had no impact to our travertine from our salt and in the thousands of posts I've seen on here I've never seen solid evidence of anyone having salt water damage.

A salt pool will have the salinity of saline solution for contacts, which is a fraction of the salinity of ocean water. I wouldn't worry about getting my contact solution on a rock, and last I checked there were millions of rocks in the ocean that are hundreds or thousands of years old.

 

[Newdude]

If I google stuff like "salt water pool damage" and "will a saltwater pool damage" I get some pretty compelling articles talking about the opposite.

From NOAA ? The EPA ? Anything remotely scientific ? Or is it a rando blog or a pool service selling copper systems perhaps ? Eco Smart had terrible things to say about salt.

The first one that came up for me noted salt water destroying my equipment. But every manufacturer makes a SWG safe for all equipment. Why would Pentair make a SWG that destroyed its pump, filter and heater on the same pad ? But the PBs will say it will. So will many articles with no science or even common sense behind them.

If it's not a legitimately trusted source, disregard it.

 

[proavia]

Listen to your wife.
Happy wife happy life.

 

[Taddpool]

 

[Taddpool]

Listen to your wife.
Happy wife happy life.

This is the most scientifically accurate post so far.

 

[proavia]

This is the most scientifically accurate post so far.

So, decision made then.
See, that was MUCH easier than you initially thought.