Copper Swimming Pool Ionization vs. Salt Water system
cmdingle
14 years ago
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poolguynj
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Potential builder trying to talk us out of salt water system!
Comments (36)"racket, I think you've made your opinion clear. Now if someones has a leak at the equipment, or the tile is falling off or the deck cracks or a liner rips or a scottish terrier drowns in a pool you can say 'I told you so'. " We sell salt systems, but do with reluctance and caution. Many builders up here are in the same boat. I am not sure the premise of your post, but its kinda dickish. My intention was to educate on real world issues I have had with salt, not anecdotal tales. We don't have a pool store so we lose money by not selling salt. "Bought/Used about 100 lbs of tabs and 40 lbs cal-hypo and 25 lbs calcium, 75 lbs of alk up, 50 lbs pH Increaser. Rough cost $800/yr " 40# tabs $80 at costco 50# calc $30 50# bicarb $30 each or $60 50# soda ash (not needed in a gunite pool) $30 $200.00 $800.00 for 4 years. Salt system installed plus salt = $1,500 After 2 years circuit board fails, pay $400 installed. After 3 years flow switch goes bad pay, $200 installed After 4 years cell dies, pay $700 installed. $2,800 for 4 years plus you need to still buy chemicals mentioned above. This seems to be about par for the course. "Truth is pool treated with chorine burns eyes,with SWG swim under water all you want with your eyes open,no problem...." I have been in hundreds of commercial pools over the past year, and the skin/eye irritation occurs in both types of pools. Not completely true. This has to do w/ pH level more than what the water is being sanitized with. The salt helps a little bit. I don't think that salt system should not be installed, but I feel that care should be taken when it comes to the design of the pool, and what types of materials are used. I install them on 1/2 my pools, but if the pool has a automatic cover I won't warranty the damage from the salt after 1 year....See MoreBrand of salt water chlorine generator
Comments (9)Also be sure your pool is properly bonded. The cell gets installed after the heater. A 35 to 40,000 gallon pool dictates a cell sized for up to 60,000 gallons which means either the Pentair or Auto Pilot. As said earlier, both are fine units. The Pentair is easier to winterize since it doesn't require a manifold like the Auto Pilot. The reason for going slightly over sized is to leave some chlorine generating head room for high temps and heavy usage. More cell plate surface area can help some in the longevity of the cell's life. That's not to say if they made a cell for a 100K gallon pool (no one makes a single cell for residential pools that big, btw) would be beneficial as it would be difficult to control the output to the needed level. Going one size up, I have found, works well and is cost effective. There is no conversion. It's still a chlorine pool. The difference is simply how the chlorine is getting in the pool and byproducts. It will change the way your pH is kept in check. 3" tabs tend to cause the pH to drop and the stabilizer to increase. Cal-Hypo adds calcium. Salt cells tend to raise the pH. Check the salt cells and BBB sections at troublefreepools.com to be be prepared and see how to spend less at the pool store for chems. Scott Scott...See MoreWatermaid vs. AquaRite Salt Water Generators (SWG)
Comments (4)I have installed both the AquaRite and the WaterMaid. I was the Aqua Rite Factory Authorized Repair Guy In my area for awhile. both are decent units, but if I had my chioce between the two and cost wasn't the question it would be the WaterMaid . If you wanted a combined automatic controller with the SWG than Aqua Rite will work just fine. The Water Maid Guy that has the San Diego (Billy Howse) area is a real good guy and very knowledgeable about pools in general, not just about the one product. The Water Maid can do more for the pool in the way of generating chlorine. If there was a third choice I do happen to like the Ecomatic and have put in a lot of them also. Here is Billy's contact info if you need to talk to him. Watermaid San Diego Billy Howse 6161 El Cajon Blvd. - Suite 520 San Diego, CA 92115 619-583-2357 billy@watermaid-sd.com · www.watermaid-sd.com...See Moresalt system -vs- chlorine
Comments (11)Most of the problems you hear about (burning eyes, dry skin, etc.) are not because of it being a chlorine pool. These are conditions caused by imbalanced pool chemicals. A well balanced chlorine pool doesn't cause these issues. I think SWGs are great and would have one myself if not for our stone work. In our area of TX some of the PBs no longer install SWG systems with stone because of warranty problems they've had. Apparently the stone in our region is more susceptible to damage from salt. Our son also has eczema. He swims a lot and we haven't noticed it being a problem, but this will be the first summer with our own pool and he will probably be swimming even more frequently. If it becomes an issue we are going to add salt to the pool and see if it helps. You can add salt to a chlorinated pool and get the same "soft feel" effect. But supposedly you can get that same effect with much less salt than is required to run an SWG....See Morecmdingle
13 years agonorthcamom
13 years agopoolguynj
13 years agonorthcamom
13 years agopoolguynj
13 years agoClearBlue Ionizer Inc.
6 years agoBarbara Evans
6 years agoClearBlue Ionizer Inc.
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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