Salt Water Pool - Pro's n Con's

[The Drew 84]

I was a pool service man for two years, used to do 8-10 pools a day, 5 days a week....you see a lot of pool equipment, moral of the story.....

Salt

- Good for big and little pools - once set up and working maintenance time will reduce for the long term.

-Smell, even though the chlorine is still at the exact same levels in a sodium hypochlorite treated pool (3-4ppm) the salt content (3000-5000ppm) helps mask the smell.

-Sore eyes? Not sold on this one, high chlorine levels will hurt anyone's eyes doesn't matter if it's produce by a salt chlorinator or liquid chlorine. Having said that...most peeps with sensitive eyes reckon salt pools are kinder on their eyes...eyes=saline....pool=strong saline.....makes sense.

-Cost of Chems- 25kg bag of salt is like 5-10 bucks its all the same. Sodium Hypochlorite on the other hand is not always the same strength from place to place, plus its usually more expensive for each top up.
-ACID....No one has mentioned acid at all....Story of my life working in pools....acid is very important as it obviously keeps your pH level down. Acid=low, alkaline/basic=high pH. As the pH increases in your pool the chlorine becomes less effective at controlling bacteria etc. This is the main reason I believe people are always talking about pools are the sore eyes syndrome. Chlorine in high levels in your pool is still able to irritate even if the pH is high. Keep it normal! JUST AS IMPORTANT AS CHLORINE!!!! Fibreglass pool= 7-7.2, concrete=7.6-7.8, Concrete vinyl liner=7-7.6.
Acid is something that is added for you when you have a chemigem, usually in the form of Sulfuric "No fume" Acid (prolonges the short life of the armatures) Hydrochloric fumes will kill them much faster... Due to it being stronger hydrochloric is usually used for salt pools. I'd reckon your sized pool would go through about 1-3L in a month in winter, roughly 3- as much as 10L a month in summer. The issue with your pool is the size...Its well above average for a backyard pool.
-Just to get your pool going you're gonna need 250-350kg of salt and then prob a bag (25kg) a month in winter, and 2-4 (50-100kg) a month in summer (dependent on use and whether you have a cover)
-Cyanuric acid? 30-60ppm MAXIMUM is 60ppm!!!! Chlorine lock will occur above this...= BAD!!!
-Calcium? 220-300ppm lower than 220 can damage, concrete, plastics, metals (brittle salt cells anyone?), fibreglass gel coating.... Slow damage....BUT Very bad and expensive later... too high? Everything goes white and scaly, salt cell will cake up fast, your filter will block up gradually...(uber crap) Also can cause eye hurties
-Sodium Bicarbonate? Least important chemical but same a before an damage things if not correct 80-120ppm. Eye hurties. Also if correct helps stabilise the pH, so when you add your acid you get a consistent reaction.

For your pool.

From here

New Pools

1 gram per litre raises the salt level by 1000 ppm. 4 grams per litre will raise the salt level by 4000 ppm. Therefore an 80 000 litre pool will require 320 000 grams or 320 kilograms of salt. Simply multiply 4 grams by the volume of water in litres to get the required amount of salt.

BTW I ran out of energy.

Hope this info helps, can't be assed writing anymore. hehe

Salt pools are usually better in the long run.
IMPORTANT: Get a chlorinator too big for your pool, the last thing you want is to have it flat out in summer and going green as soon as its used.
Keep your salt, PH and Calcium levels right all the time, just a weekly check should be enough if unused, otherwise check it before use. No-one needs reminding for Chlorine (No Chlorine=Green.....usually) The others chemical being correct will save you headaches later. Trust me....I'm the poolman....

[torebn]

Sore eyes are also caused by pH and water hardness issues if I recall correctly?

[The Drew 84]

yeah calcium is water hardness man, its in the essay.

Soz I thought pH was obvious, you put acid or bleach in your eyes its not going to be pleasant.

[jules_1972]

I was a pool service man for two years, used to do 8-10 pools a day, 5 days a week....you see a lot of pool equipment, moral of the story.....

Salt

- Good for big and little pools - once set up and working maintenance time will reduce for the long term.

-Smell, even though the chlorine is still at the exact same levels in a sodium hypochlorite treated pool (3-4ppm) the salt content (3000-5000ppm) helps mask the smell.

-Sore eyes? Not sold on this one, high chlorine levels will hurt anyone's eyes doesn't matter if it's produce by a salt chlorinator or liquid chlorine. Having said that...most peeps with sensitive eyes reckon salt pools are kinder on their eyes...eyes=saline....pool=strong saline.....makes sense.

-Cost of Chems- 25kg bag of salt is like 5-10 bucks its all the same. Sodium Hypochlorite on the other hand is not always the same strength from place to place, plus its usually more expensive for each top up.
-ACID....No one has mentioned acid at all....Story of my life working in pools....acid is very important as it obviously keeps your pH level down. Acid=low, alkaline/basic=high pH. As the pH increases in your pool the chlorine becomes less effective at controlling bacteria etc. This is the main reason I believe people are always talking about pools are the sore eyes syndrome. Chlorine in high levels in your pool is still able to irritate even if the pH is high. Keep it normal! JUST AS IMPORTANT AS CHLORINE!!!! Fibreglass pool= 7-7.2, concrete=7.6-7.8, Concrete vinyl liner=7-7.6.
Acid is something that is added for you when you have a chemigem, usually in the form of Sulfuric "No fume" Acid (prolonges the short life of the armatures) Hydrochloric fumes will kill them much faster... Due to it being stronger hydrochloric is usually used for salt pools. I'd reckon your sized pool would go through about 1-3L in a month in winter, roughly 3- as much as 10L a month in summer. The issue with your pool is the size...Its well above average for a backyard pool.
-Just to get your pool going you're gonna need 250-350kg of salt and then prob a bag (25kg) a month in winter, and 2-4 (50-100kg) a month in summer (dependent on use and whether you have a cover)
-Cyanuric acid? 30-60ppm MAXIMUM is 60ppm!!!! Chlorine lock will occur above this...= BAD!!!
-Calcium? 220-300ppm lower than 220 can damage, concrete, plastics, metals (brittle salt cells anyone?), fibreglass gel coating.... Slow damage....BUT Very bad and expensive later... too high? Everything goes white and scaly, salt cell will cake up fast, your filter will block up gradually...(uber crap) Also can cause eye hurties
-Sodium Bicarbonate? Least important chemical but same a before an damage things if not correct 80-120ppm. Eye hurties. Also if correct helps stabilise the pH, so when you add your acid you get a consistent reaction.

For your pool.

From here

New Pools

1 gram per litre raises the salt level by 1000 ppm. 4 grams per litre will raise the salt level by 4000 ppm. Therefore an 80 000 litre pool will require 320 000 grams or 320 kilograms of salt. Simply multiply 4 grams by the volume of water in litres to get the required amount of salt.

BTW I ran out of energy.

Hope this info helps, can't be assed writing anymore. hehe

Salt pools are usually better in the long run.
IMPORTANT: Get a chlorinator too big for your pool, the last thing you want is to have it flat out in summer and going green as soon as its used.
Keep your salt, PH and Calcium levels right all the time, just a weekly check should be enough if unused, otherwise check it before use. No-one needs reminding for Chlorine (No Chlorine=Green.....usually) The others chemical being correct will save you headaches later. Trust me....I'm the poolman....

This My Friend is worth GOLD!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!

[The Drew 84]

No probs. There is sooooo much more to know.

Like always clean your salt cell in dilute Hydrochloric acid. 1 part acid 8 parts water. Never any stronger. You might not get the same fizzing reaction but you wont damage your cells.
IMPORTANT!!!! If you have a self cleaning chlorinator, you still have to clean it! It cleans itself well mostly, but there is always an area in all brands of salt cells that clog up with calcium deposits. Don't leave it longer than a year between cleans, always good to check it monthly while you know what your calcium build up rate is.
Also bored water is very high in TDS(total dissolved solids) and calcium. Bore water sprinklers watering around your pool WILL have an affect of the chemistry of your pool. Calcium build up speeds up and water clarity becomes an issue.
I used to service people pools that had a habit of topping up their pool with bore water....I don't recommend it, unless you can ensure the pool needs calcium. (usually if you test the bore water out of the ground its calcium levels will already be 200-300ppm. Helpful if you need it but if you don't you'll want to fill you pool in... basically once it gets high the only thing to do to fix it is drain the pool to a certain point and then dilute the calcium with mains water. (I hope you don't have bore water, its cheap but so crap for pools)

Also try and backwash your sand filter every month at worst. It should never get higher than 120kPa under normal operation. Once its at that level it needs a backwash. On the flipside if your pump is too small for your filter you will never reach those levels so take that advice with a grain of salt (PUN!) also if you pump is too big for you filter you will always run high pressure. If you pressure gauge is rusted out and shitty like most are, just do it monthly. Each time your move the filter handle, turn the pump off, 1-3 minutes on backwash, then off again put on rinse and run until the water coming out of the waste line is crystal clear. Usually 1-2min Otherwise all the shit you've just stirred up in the filter will get dumped back into the pool when you put it back to the filter setting.

What pump/filter chlorinator are you running/going to run? Whats your price range for the chlorinator?

[jules_1972]

Looking at - HURLCON VX11T SALT WATER SWIMMING POOL CHLORINATOR


Was quoted - $1280

Cant remember what model pump i got, around 1.5hp Hurlcon.

Run it through a Davey commercial sand filter, cant remember size
of that either, from memory its good enough for double the volume
of my pool......
Nearly killed me getting the filter sand in it!!!!

[who me?]

My pool is salt and basically looks after itself. It self cleans, easy to regulate, all you need to do is swim Thats my kinda pool, no to very low maintenance

I havent heard great things about the chemigem system, but then most of my info was from a questionable source, G

If i was you i would go salt easy

[jules_1972]

Yep, think salt chlorinator is another project for me.....

Blanket is a good idea as well, just a pain as my pool isnt
a standard shape or size.

Ive had 2 different pool shops around for quotes, same response
of "We cant do this" due to the shape + size...

[who me?]

Yep, think salt chlorinator is another project for me.....

Blanket is a good idea as well, just a pain as my pool isnt
a standard shape or size.

Ive had 2 different pool shops around for quotes, same response
of "We cant do this" due to the shape + size...

blankets are awesome, highly recommend them. I gathered by the litreage that your pool is pretty damn big.

I dont have much problem with leaves and stuff where i live cause we dont have many (any) trees (new area ) but it helps keep the warmth in the water. The other thing i reckon is well worth the money, pool solar heating It extends pool usage time massively. I get to use my pool 9 months of the year instead of 4-5

[jules_1972]

Just the shape of the pool is the killer.

thats what the guys said anyways...
Will get a cover for the pool sorted to...

Solar heating, hmmmmmm, might check into the cost as well..

[who me?]

Just the shape of the pool is the killer.

thats what the guys said anyways...
Will get a cover for the pool sorted to...

Solar heating, hmmmmmm, might check into the cost as well..

IF (and its a big if cause me not very organised) I can find the number of the guys that did my solar stuff i will send it to you cause they were pretty good and reasonably priced. My 'guess' for your size pool, obviously without knowing anything about the layout etc would be 5-6K.

[The Drew 84]

Solar heaters are definitely good but I'd only recommend one with a thermal blanket installed as well...(Thermal blankets are the "bubble" type blankets thick plastic bubble wrap basically) They are very important to be used in conjunction with a solar heating as you loose most of the heat out of your pool when its sitting around doing nothing at night time. Cover it up and you'll be going for swims A LOT earlier and later in the season.
The other type of pool blankets are the stretch type blankets (Thick stretchy shade cloth) They do prevent some evaporation, though not as much as the bubble covers, but they only slightly reduce heat loss, as the air isn't blowing on the water as easily at night.....Bad idea for frequently used pools though. Most people use the stretch covers over winter. as they prevent all but a few leaves from getting in, if the fit is right.

Yep, think salt chlorinator is another project for me.....

Blanket is a good idea as well, just a pain as my pool isnt
a standard shape or size.

Ive had 2 different pool shops around for quotes, same response
of "We cant do this" due to the shape + size...

This is bizarre.... I've never heard this before?

So you actually went to cover manufacturers? Or actual pool shops? You say pool shops....we never ever ever did covers at our shop, we were good at doing pump/filter/chlorinator installs, and cleaning/maintaining. Sizing manufacturing and fitting a cover is someone elses job.....
We always recommended Elite Pool Covers
Never had a complaint.
Also I've seen some MuthaFuckin Weird Ass shaped pools with covers man, and while they may not be as easy to cover and remove as a rectangular pool, it'll work. (I just don't know why they said no...so strange)
Also I've heard Daisy are quite good, but I have seen more of Daisy pool blankets breaking down in salt/sun/chlorine than I have Elite. Elite's seem to be better quality, (PLUS if you buy the 500 or 550 micron you get $200 bucks of the gov! WooHoo!)

With the solar systems, you probably know already they install a secondary circulation pump and a network of rubber pipes (looks like black rubber spaghetti mat....technical terminology ) on your roof. They install a air release valve on the roof as well (so when the secondary pump turns off the water flows back into your pool, and doesn't spoil on your roof), they install two temp sensors as well, one in the normal circulation line, and one on the roof, both of these are hooked up to a control unit, which then turns the pump on depending on the temp difference and what you made your water temp setpoint. Monarch do a pretty good one, and these guys are from WA, even though Davey own them now. They also do nice filters, light transformers and salt water chlorinators. Not fancy, but the chloromatic are very reliable and excellent quality and easy to get fixed, (as they are WA operated)
BTW Hurlcon CX pumps are some excellent pumps. I had a 2HP unit as my service pump (doing vac to wastes, vaccing all the duck shit out of challenge stadiums fountain, vaccing out flocculent) I dropped it in the pool twice, and all it ever need was a new basket and it kept on going for ages so strong too! The Hurlcon Chlorinators are decent units, the one you've chosen is nice and oversized for your pool too. Is that price installed?
If so it is a good price for such a large chorinator. If just supplied, its still decent. It is a big ass unit. Not many people make pools that big anymore!

[Deej]

The Drew 84.... awsm post. Thanks for going to the trouble.

[The Drew 84]

The Drew 84.... awsm post. Thanks for going to the trouble.

Thanks Deej. Its helping me remember it all! Was starting to get a bit rusty.