remodeling pool/switching to salt water?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Remodeling pool after flood. looking at diamond bright finish. I have red brick coping (not changing) and want a deep blue water color. Any suggestions for finish colors & tile colors. Very hard water with calcium stains. May go with saltwater.

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Comments (4)

PRO
Skydell Contracting Inc.
7 years ago
While the upfront costs of going salt for your pool can be significant we have found it to be a wonderful alternative to chlorine. I am on the board of a large JCC in NJ and we have two large pools, one indoors and one outdoors that we bubble in the winter. Both have been converted to salt and the complaints about too much or too little chlorine have all gone away. The system is more self regulating and the staff and members seems to really enjoy it. We did the indoor pool first and it was so successful that we went ahead and did the outdoor pool also.
PRO
www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com
7 years ago
Be sure to educate yourself about salt water in swimming pools and the potential concerns associated with these systems. Salt Water Pools - The Good, The Bad & The Salty
Related Discussions
Potential builder trying to talk us out of salt water system!
Q
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.
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Snakes and salt water pools
Q
Comments (3)
We have a lake behind our home as well. The lake is probably 350' from our patio. We're putting a pool in this year. As for snakes, we've owned this place for 15 years. We have seen some snakes but they've been few and far between. When we've seen them near our immediate front and backyard, it's been when the grass (weeds ) have gotten too tall. We've done some big landscape jobs on our property over time. Next up after the pool comes putting down some good sod :) To answer your question, a saltwater system pool would not deter snakes anymore than other types. They most often land in a swimming pool while in search of water to drink and then can't get out.
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Old pool lights + new salt cell = rust stains on new surface
Q
Comments (3)
Rust means iron in the water of which there should be none. Its not hard to get test strips for. Are you on a well or municipal water? If discovered, a sequesterant is needed so stains can't form. They are expensive but Cu-Later pouches in the skimmer will pull the iron as well as copper out of the water in a couple weeks or so while the sequesterant prevents further staining. If the finish is affected, an ascorbic acid bath (vitamin C in mass) may be called for first to get it back in the water and be held captive by the sequesterant and then the pouches. Having an anode in the skimmer is good, especially if putting on at the pad is difficult. If the bond wire's potential for it isn't the same as the salt cells, i.e. there shouldn't be but maybe 1 ohm between the two, a small current can form. If the anode isn't connected to the bond, the stainless would attract the current because it is and the current has some place to go. With both connected, the current is absorbed by the anode which wears with time. Scott
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Recurring algae in salt water pool
Q
Comments (2)
I would find another pool service company. Dichlor tabs also contain cyanuric acid, which under 50 ppm will help prevent the breakdown of chlorine from the sun, but above that concentration it will also become more and more ineffective at breaking down bacteria and algae. The more dichlor or trichlor you add, the more cyanuric acid you add, diminishing the amount of free chlorine in the pool. The best product for shocking a pool is calcium hypochlorite. I have been maintaining my parent's pool since 1984 and I have my own pool since 2003. We experienced at the beginning with dichlor tabs and pucks and we had terrible results. Ever since we switched to calcium hypochlorite, we have had crystal clear water year after year. And I would guess you can put the calcium hypochlorite in the skimmer; I've been doing this since 1984 and I'm using the same pump since 1984.
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ncrealestateguy
7 years ago
Good write up Steve. What does it mean that the anode has to be attched to the pool's bonding wire? How do I locate mine?
PRO
www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com
7 years ago
Your pool should be bonded - everything metal in or near the pool and system needs to have a heavy gage bare copper wire connected to it. It is called equipotential bonding. You also need to ground that bonding wire to the main electrical panel ground in your house. This is called grounding. In tandem they work to protect your pool from galvanic corrosion as well as prevent dangers from voltages in or around the pool. When built the pool should have included a bonding wire to the equipment pad for the pump and heater plus any other equipment such as control panel boxes. It is possible your pool builder did bond the pool but neglected to bring it over to the equipment pad. It is also possible that you don't have a bonding grid at all since many pool builders do not really understand the difference between bonding and grounding. Here is a Linkedin article I wrote about understanding the difference between bonding and grounding: The difference between bonding and grounding as it applies to swimming pools

To help you resolve this problem you should bring in an electrician to test for continuity of your system as well as search for the existing bonding wire.

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remodeling pool/switching to salt water?

Comments (4)

Skydell Contracting Inc.

www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com

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ncrealestateguy

www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com

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