Zodiac Nature 2 mineral cartridge
- Thread starter flacaneatza
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,045
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Welcome to TFP.
We don't recommend using the mineral cartridge. The minerals contain copper and silver and will accumulate in the water and can stain the pool and turn blonde heair green.
www.troublefreepool.com
www.troublefreepool.com
We don't recommend using the mineral cartridge. The minerals contain copper and silver and will accumulate in the water and can stain the pool and turn blonde heair green.
Nature2 Fusion - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Copper in Pool Water - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Thanks Allen. I understood that and I'm considering removing it. However, I was wondering how the cartridge actually works, for my general knowledge. I opened one up after I used it for 6-7 months and the pallets are still there. I was wondering if they are supposed to dissolve/consumed in time or not. Some people are saying that they release most or all the copper/silver etc in the first days of use. What’s the actual process here? Thanks!
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,045
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The pellets are coated with minerals that dissolve off. The pellets themselves do not dissolve like candy.
Thanks Allen. That's what I thought. Will you be able to tell the difference between the new ones, coated, and the ones already used?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,045
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Not unless you have a microscope.
Maybe the color is different but I never studied them that closely.
Why do you ask?
kc
0
- Apr 17, 2008
- 45
- Pool Size
- 62500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Zodiac LM3-24
You can't really reuse them .... once the salt water gets to them u have one season's use, then they start to deteriorate. That's when you will get particles in the pool. I opened a few ..... mostly to get the top 2 inches of plastic cut off to use as a "blank" to put it back in place, and run without the cartridge (did that for a year or two then went back to the cartridge). You have to bump up the chlorine without it though ..... with a new cartridge in place running between 1.5ppm and 2.0ppm (corrected) left the water crystal clear. Occasionally dialed up the chlorine output on hot stretches .... usually just spent time balancing the water with no additional chlorine (sometimes shocked it after hot and heavy use but probably didn't have to). PH was the only problem .... that of course was always running high and had to be monitored (PH- to control). No problems with hair color etc in 12 years of use. Nice silky water.
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The use of metals in your water does not change the requirements of the FC/CYA Levels. Running as low FC as you have been is unsanitary unless your CYA levels are extremely low as well.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,045
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Let's understand why. You live in an area where you drain water from your pool every season to close it. You also drain water whenever you backwash your sand filter. And maybe you have some leaks in your vinyl liner that loses water.
When you replace enough water continually then the minerals do not accumulate to levels that can cause staining.
Anyone using such mineral systems needs to evaluate if they have conditions like you have for it to NOT be a problem.
The real question is whether or not mineral systems do anything helpful for your water. They are not an adequate oxidation/sanitization system, so must be used with chlorine. Chlorine must be kept at certain levels (the FC/CYA chart) in order to be your oxidation/sanitization system.
Since mineral systems don't replace anything else, all they do is add cost and metals to your pool. All expense, all potential harm, zero benefit (other than to the manufacturer and pool store, who thank you very much).
Since mineral systems don't replace anything else, all they do is add cost and metals to your pool. All expense, all potential harm, zero benefit (other than to the manufacturer and pool store, who thank you very much).
My town averages 47.8 inches of water per year. When my neighbor tried the minerals it didn’t even take a full season to stain the pool and it’s swimmers on their Above ground that basically got a full free water exchange.
@flacaneatza it’s not a question of if, but when it will occur. Consider yourself lucky you didn’t have the issues, or even worse, the rashes that come from believing the mineral hype. Protect yourself going forward with proper chemistry. We will even guide you until you know it backwards and forwards.
kc
0
- Apr 17, 2008
- 45
- Pool Size
- 62500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Zodiac LM3-24
I misspoke .... I was typically running with cholerine levels between 1.5ppm and 2.0ppm
Thanks everyone for your answers and support. As I mentioned before, I just wanted to understand more about those mineral cartridges and how they work. I see there are pro and con arguments going on... I've been keeping my chlorine level low all these years indeed, without any issues, even though the summers are very hot here in SoCal. No staining or hair color issues so far.
However, going back to the mineral pellets, basically seems like their mineral coating will be dissolved very quickly so is not the cartridge lasting 6 mo, is the minerals released in the first days lasting that long.
However, going back to the mineral pellets, basically seems like their mineral coating will be dissolved very quickly so is not the cartridge lasting 6 mo, is the minerals released in the first days lasting that long.
Glad you feel it's working for you, though if I saw your test results and water quality in person I doubt I would agree with your assessment. However, there's no reason to diverge from the FC/CYA Levels and TFP doesn't support nor endorse such methods.
Another tenet of TFP is knowing what you are adding to your water and only adding what the water needs. Since you don't know how much you metal are adding, or how much residual remains in the water this method flies right in the face of that. If you want to know the details of how exactly it works I would suggest asking the company, though I'm sure you'll find very little helpful information from them. Companies such as this tend to hold information on their products very close to the chest. An uneducated customer is a good customer in businesses like this, unfortunately.
Another tenet of TFP is knowing what you are adding to your water and only adding what the water needs. Since you don't know how much you metal are adding, or how much residual remains in the water this method flies right in the face of that. If you want to know the details of how exactly it works I would suggest asking the company, though I'm sure you'll find very little helpful information from them. Companies such as this tend to hold information on their products very close to the chest. An uneducated customer is a good customer in businesses like this, unfortunately.
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- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,135
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
I think you consider your "pro" to being able to keep a lower chlorine level. Correct? It is a myth embraced by the mineral cartridge industry that chlorine is your enemy. It is not. Harshness of water due to chlorine is buffered by proper cyanuric acid (CYA) levels. Most people on this forum keep their chlorine level around 5 and higher. I keep mine at 7. I have never had to "shock" my water, never ever had a single spec of algae (5th season now), and have been told many, many times what a great water feel my pool has. This has, among others, even come from professional swimmers. Mineral systems were invented for 1 reason; That is to create a product with continuous consumable (the mineral cartridge). The real question is, "Who's trying to sell you something?".
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
The original ads for Nature 2 from ~25 years ago implied (though didn't specifically state) that the copper/silver load eroded slowly with time. In fact they don't (never did). They just dumped the entire mineral load as soon as water started flowing through it. This caused a known issue with copper staining in plaster pools.
You are correct to get rid of it.
You are correct to get rid of it.
Thanks guys for your explanations and recommendations. I don’t consider myself a “pro” at all and I’m open to any input, that’s why I’m having this conversation to begin with. I’ll definitely review and digest all of the above, perhaps I’ll come back with a follow up on this discussion later on. Again, I do really appreciate your input and willingness to help.