Pools - switching from chlorine to saline
 

Anyone here do or know about it? I know nothing... so hoping folks here can offer advice/opinions.

I've heard the salt is tough on the pumps??? But, I'd really like to loose the chlorine.

Thanks,
Skip

boobs switched to saline... why not swim in it?

Saline kills algae and other bacteria? Oceans have algae, so salt alone wouldn't stop it, IMHO.

Don't own a pool, my salt goes into the water softner.

Didn't stay at a holiday inn, but I used to work for a pool equip manufacturer.

Salt systems are great, set them and go. Water stays crystal clear and you don't have to buy chlorine.

Thing to watch out for is how high you set the salt level, too high and you will strip all the chrome off the metal parts in the system.

Watch the pump and other plumbing. If the pools is more than a few years old and starts to leak, you prob needed to replace it anyway.

I switched from liquid chlorine to chlorine tablets this summer and it's cheaper, easier and the water is very clear with the tablets. The chlorine stabilizer in the tablets causes the acid level of the water to increase, so we have to add base (sodium carbonate) about once a week, but the tablets produce a much more constant chlorine level and nobody gets eye irritation.

John,

How much trouble is it to change from one to the other system? How is it like if you have to leave town for a while? Costs and so on? Equipment changes?

TIA,

Joe

I have used a salt based chorine generator for the last 12 years or so- once set up they work great. Get one that automatically cleans the electrodes- they may all do that now. Tried a copper/silver system before the salt generator- that worked pretty well as well.
Makes a pool almost maintaince free.
Gary

Best thing I ever did (almost). My saline pool is virtually maintenance free, I just have to check the Ph every couple of weeks and add a cup of acid or so.

Joe, most of the pool stores we dealt with don't like to sell them because they loose the chemical sales. Install is easy, one section of pipe and a box on the wall. Haven't looked at prices for a while, but you may find $500 to $1000 depending on the size of the pool you have. Leaving it for a few weeks is no issue, just have to make sure the water level stays up, otherwise, set it and forget it till you get back.

I put one on every pool I install. you might need to buy 3-4 bags of salt a year ($4.50 bag) depending on how much you backwash vs $$$ Chlorine tabs every month. very easy to install. cut return line, install element and flow meter, install and wire box on wall, connect cables, dump in a little less than the correct amount of salt and adjust in a few days. try America's Best Pool Supply onlne. I get mine there. it's a couple hundred less than they charge at the pool wholesale companies. $740 online / $1000+ at pool supply chain store

My parents had saline for a while. It's lightyears better than chlorine.

Educate me. Is the water actually salty like the ocean, or is this like a water softener whereby the salt is a consumable but doesn't actually produce salty water?

It's slightly salty. Not nearly as much as the ocean, but it is salty. It doesn't burn your eyes like the ocean or chlorine, but you do float better.

Thanks guys. I have been out of town for six weeks now and there are times where I am away 2 months, but its rare. I need something that is "stand alone" so to speak.

I have several friends who stop by and take care of the place but the less work the better so may have to switch to this when i return.

Thx,

Joe

http://www.poolcenter.com/poolcare.htm

Joe, it won't be 0 maintenance, but it will be nearly so.


What size pool (gallons) do you have? Is the Spa in the same system?

It is slightly salty, but better yet it is softer. THe water feels better, you won't regret changing.

I had my first salt water pool built in 1988, it was great. No problems, after checking the chemistry every week for a few months I went to once a month than every other month.

In 1996 I built a new house and again a salt water pool. The technology had gotten better and the price was lower. Same no hassle operation.

In 2006 a lightning strike near the house took out equipment as well as TV's, stereo, computers. Replacement salt system had improved and was again cheaper than previous.

Only maintenance is to add salt 40-80# a few times a year. Mostly caused by heavy rain or a lot of kids splashing water out of pool over time.

Benefits:
Reduced chemical cost,
Swim wear does not fade due to chlorine,
No chlorine eye burn,
Almost no maintenance,
No service needed when out of town for extended time,
No chlorine smell.

Wow. I didn't expect this to be so one sided.

Does it matter if the pool & spa (& heater) are on the same system?

Thanks,
Skip

No. Both of my systems were.

Regards,
Bob

Joe, you're still making chlorine so not much to do but install equipment, add salt, turn on. it takes a few days to get an accurate reading of salt level. add just a little too much and the level jumps way up. only way to lower salt level is take out enough water until level drops. I add less than required amount, run a few days and check again. one morning after adding salt it can be 2600ppm and that afternoon 4500ppm. 28-3200 is good on the systems I use. too low it stops producing, too much same thing. a recent install owner told me he did not have to add ANYTHING for 3 months, and then just some salt from backwashing loss. you will get more staining, but metal remover and asorbic acid will take those off in a day or two.repeat when needed, (6-10 weeks depending on metals in city water) no equipment changes other than adding the unit. takes me about an hour to install, but that's while I'm plumbing everything so I lay it out so I have room. the system I use needs 16" straight run for the flow meter, but the 12" unit can be used before the flow meter. you may have to re-plumb to get that length, but it's just PVC. the chlorine level is a trial and error thing. run a few days/week, check level and adjust output level. every 3 months check element light comes on. remove unit, check for scale, wash with 10-20% muriatic acid and water, reinstall. 15 minutes. one customer left his at 100% for a month or two. took 3 months with unit off for cholrine level to drop. yes, pool stores hate chlorine generators. chlorine prices have doubled since last year.. so it shouldn't take too long to recoup investment

A tip for monitoring pool level when gone.

Get a toilet bowl tank float and rig it so a garden hose can hook up to it. You can make a brace out of wood or PVC pipe for it.

Adjust it to come on when the pool is too low and off when the pool is the right height.

I saw a pool company use one to fill a customers pool, this way they could leave and not have to monitor the hose filling the pool.


I thought it was a brilliant idea and want to make one for my pool. I am going to hook it up to my well so when my sprinklers come on, if I need water in the pool it will do that at the same time.

Salt Chlorine generators are where its at, I am switching over to one soon as well.

I see the auto fill thingies, or used to, all the time. almost everyone is tied up, jammed shut or disabled. they hang up and the water keeps filling.. and filling. a couple days running and your water bill is $$$$ more than usual. something to think about! leave your garden hose running in the pool over night by accident like I've done a couple times and your yard, the neighbor's yard... flooded. in my case, it's during an install and the pool floats up or sinks down and there's a day or two extra work digging out, jacking it up and releveling. I've learned (except for yesterday) not only to turn off the hose, but pull it out of the pool just to be sure. not fun driving up the next day and the pool is 5 inches lower on one side than it was yesterday when I started adding water

I have had auto fill unit on both of my salt water pools, from 1988 till present and have not had a problem once. As stated it is a much like a toilet float plumed into a water source. Not expensive if done at time of build.

John - if you had my mind you would want to take your chances with the float.

I cannot count how many times I have flooded the back yard. I ahve also followed that by forgetting to turn off the back wash and emptying the pool, then over filling it again.

I now set the timer on the stove and tell eveyone in the house I am filling the pool and the timer is on.

Food for thought though about the auto filler.

I probably see more pools since it's what I do for a living and not trying to say they aren't useful. I've just seen way too many that malfunctioned. since it rains so damn much down here, people are usually draining water, not filling. now the thing I want is the timer that hooks to your hose that shuts it off after setting how many hours you want to run it. since I pretty much do 99.9% of the work myself installing pools, I get too busy and forget the water running way too often

My Pool company was charging an extra $3500 for the Salt System. I priced it as my discount place and I can get the same system for $2000. We'll run the chlorine/Ozone for a bit before I jump over to to salt.

sheese, I don't get enough. I only charge $1200 installed.

No wonder you're busy!

I drained my pool this weekend.
The hardness was over 800 ppm and I have a bunch of black algae staining, so i bit the bullet.

I power-washed the whole pool (lower pressure setting) and have chlorine-washed the stains.

So what's next? Chlorine wash the whole pool, acid-wash, or just re-fill? i don't want that black algae coming back, it's a beotch.

I've had problems for years with yellow algae. I finally started copper sulfate late last year. POOF! Gone.

Acid Wash then chlorine wash. You need to scrub. Take a read through the link below. Mechanical cleaning is needed to kill black algae. Prevention will be chemicals.

Swimming Pool Algae Information Page - Page 2 Algae Info Continued

And the Copper Sulfate works against black algae. The liquid isn't too expensive, but I think you can buy copper sulfate crystals and mix it up in water. If you need to worry about blue stains (while plaster) mix it in a 5 gallon bucket. I have a blue colored Diamond Brite "plaster" so blue staining isn't an issue. I pour it directly into water.

I don't know why, but the guys around here with salt water pools are the ones with black algae problems.

9 years later, I still haven't switched. I am installing a VFD. I say installing because the Hayward Tristar I installed on Friday was dead. A new one is coming on Monday.

Based on the VFD calculations, the energy savings in less than one year is equal to the price difference. And my electric prices are $0.079/kWh! $775 vs. $539. By running the motor slower, the power drops off, but the flow drops off more slowly.

Would love to convert my hot tub to saline. I guess I'll check with manufacturer to see if the plumbing can handle it?

Hey Red. We discussed a while back, but coming up on year 5 with an ozone system. Use a chlorinator on the back side. Easiest pool I have ever had. Virtually zero chemical costs. I add a little granular chlorine when I know I have a heavy swim load coming, a little liquid copper based algecide once a month. No irritation of eyes, water stays crystal clear. I am completely sold on ozone. Working with a 40K gallon pool.

Did it here ,
easy and very close to maintenance free.....
CircuPool® SJ-20 Salt Pool System

My pool is also Ozone (bulb type). I think I'd like to replace it with a serious ozone machine.

Never owned a pool until I had one built a couple of years ago for a property I rent. It was not until now that I learned that the unit itself is a "disposable" item after 2-5 years worth of use. Apparently the electrodes are a sacrificial type of element. Keep that in mind when comparing cost of ownership and which product to buy. In my case, I need to replace the entire item at a cost of nearly $1,000 every 3 years, but a buddy of mine has the ability to replace just the electrodes at $350 each.

Protip: A salt water pool IS a chlorinated pool with all the associated drawbacks and benefits. It simply uses electricity to separate chlorine and sodium hydroxide from salt water as it passes through the cell. It then oxidizes contaminants and turns back into salt. You still need to test and adjust water balance, add shock treatments periodically, and replenish the salt in the pool.

Plus:
- continuous chlorination any time the filter system is running.
- lower chlorine costs
- pretty reliable when away from home
- less noticeable chlorine taste and smell if carefully monitored and balanced.

Minus:
- Expensive to buy and maintain. Usually far more $$ than just buying chlorine over 5 years.
- Requires the addition of a lot more acid to balance pH. Maybe 10x as much.
- Salt pools are corrosive to pool equipment and pool materials. Shorter life span.

Salt/chlorinated pools are a viable option but not a magic pill. Water must still be carefully filtered, tested, and balanced or the neglected salt pool will look just as ugly as a neglected chlorine tabs pool. Whatever method you choose, test and balance your water weekly for a pool that always looks and feels great.

The second install took 20 minutes. Fired right up. I need to do some additional wiring and control reprogramming to make it a "2 speed" pump. If I add in some extra 120VAC relays, I can add more speeds, up to 8. I can't see the need for more than 3 or 4.

Regular - 1000 rpm rpm
Pool cleaner - 2000 rpm
Spa - 2500 rpm
Max - 3450 rpm

I can even combine pool cleaner and spa.

Black algae shows up because of inadequate filtration and sanitation.
1. Make sure your filter is clean and in good working order.
2. Make sure you turn over (filter) the entire pool water volume every day.
3. Keep pH balanced and cl2 at 5-10ppm for a full year to kill off the established algae roots.

If your pump and filter are 20+ years old, replace it with modern filtration gear.

Setting are now

Regular - 1200 rpm rpm
Pool cleaner - 2600 rpm
Spa - 2600 rpm
Max - 3450 rpm

Power as indicated on the pump is 10-12% lower than in the Hayward calculator. This may be occurring because I have a larger cartridge filter and it is recently cleaned. Pressure gauge at the filter is reading around 6 PSIG (15 ft head) at 2600 RPM. From the pump flow diagram, this would indicate about 95 GPM flow.

I need to get my Fluke current meter and verify the power readings.