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I'm trying to decide on either a liquid bleach feeder or a SWG. I talked to the family about a salt pool and they all nixed it if it's anything like softened water. I also read a post here that said you can actually taste the salt. Is that true? How much different is the water from a non-SWG pool?
It feels so much better, you don't have that sticky chlorine feeling when you dry off. I really can't taste the salt but then again I live one half block from the atlantic ocean and swim in that all the time so maybe I am used to really salty water. A pool with a SWG is only about 1/10 as salty as seawater.
Also, since the water is constanly being 'supershocked' in the cell to very high chlorine levels there is a good chance that you will never have to maunally shock the pool....ever! Chlorine drip can't do that! Only real drawback it the constant upward drift of pH...but a little acid fixes that easily. You just have to add it on a regular basis to take care of it. The top of the line PoolPilot even includes an acid feeder and automation to keep the chlorine and pH where they should be without intervention! (except for adding salt to the pool and acid to the feed tank when needed). Very similar to automation that can be put on aquariums....pH and ORP electrodes!
Here's a thread on simulating the saltwater taste at SWG salt levels. I don't have my pool yet, so can't vouch for the accuracy. :)
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1525
Hmmmm...
You can't quite actually taste it, but it is a lot like softened water. The son said "yuck" one daughter said "whatever dad" and the Mom, is out of town. So the final decision will have to wait. :p
My other option is one of these:
http://www.blue-white.com/images/flexstar3_277wd.jpg
At $510 with the 7 gallon tank (15 gallon pictured) and the simple dial pump like this:
http://www.blue-white.com/images/A100N_analog.jpg
It's a pretty good deal.
I'm only using 3 cups a day of 6% bleach (the tech rep laughed - he recommended the 'S' for 'Spa' version so I could get the flow rate down) so a 7 gallon tank would last about a month.
I can almost justify a second one for the acid... :D
TW (Not affiliated with the company, just really intrigued by the product.)
Before the big system crash on our forum server there were a number of reports on liquid chlorine feeds and just from memory everyone thought is was a great idea, but unfortunately the almost unanimous response was that they just didn't work as advertised.
I think if they did work well there would be a stampede to get them from this croud who largely favour the bleach as thier sanitizer.
Just remember that anytime you add bleach your adding a salt derivitive.
We use an SWG and are very pleased with the soft water feel. If you let the salt level get higher than 3200-3300 PPM you will begin to taste the salt. Our system has been crystal clear since startup in mid March with no chemical maintenance other than adding acid about once per week to keep PH under control. We run the pump on low speed for 12 hours each night with the SWG set at 40%. We have a 26000 gallon pool with 35PPM stabilizer. The SWG consistently maintains FC at 2.5-3.0 PPM with zero CC.
Others may differ with me on this but I'd rather use an SWG manufactuing pure chlorine than add bleach. If bleach is only 3-12% chlorine then how much other unwanted filler chemicals are you adding to your pool.
We also use a Pool Skim and Pool Rover that keep the pool very clean.
I remember this as well, general consensus was that they were more trouble than dosing manually.Quote:
Originally Posted by brent.roberts
Quote:
Originally Posted by brent.roberts
It seems to me that 1-3ppm chlorine added per day is a target as big as the proverbial side of a barn. How could it miss? If nothing else it could be set to the low end as a sort of safety net. Really asking here, because I'd rather not be tied to the pool the manual way.Quote:
Originally Posted by waterbear
I have sensitive taste buds and I could taste it alot when my salt level was at 3500ppm and I hated it. Now its at 2100ppm and Its very very light and im very happy. The feel is awesome, kind of hard to describe but feels like its moisturizing water
you are asking how it could miss .... don't know. Just lots of complaints that they didn't work.
Like I said, and I'll amplify it. There are lots of lazy people on this forum that want to reduce the workload of pool maintenance. To my memory, not one response was favorable and that they worked.
The only automation that seems to work and most folks that have plunked down $ 1,000 or so are pretty univerally happy with ... is the salt water generators.
Never been there or done that yet, but when UPS shows up in the next day or so I hope to join that club.
PS I think even our forum's owner, Ben, aka Pooldoc, tried to make a liquid chlorine feeder work conceded defeat to a system that did not work.
I have between 11-1200 ppm of salt in my pool. I can't taste salt. But the water feels fantastic. Really crisp and clean, like swimming in bottle of Aquafina :) I know what you mean by the slimey feel of soft water. I hate taking soft water showers, I never feel like I can get rinsed. However my pool water is entirely different, just refreshing and very clean feeling.
I don't have a SWG.
I like to look at my pool at least once per day at a minimum. I buy a case of bleach at a time, and every night at dark I clean my skimmer basket, check my filter pressure and give everything a once over, and add one .75 gal bottle of 6% bleach. Whole process takes maybe 3 minutes.
The big difference here is that you are not using soap in your swimming pool!:eek: Anyway adding salt to the pool water will not make it 'softer'. If you have a plaster pool your calcium hardness should be between 200-400 ppm and that is NOT soft water. Salt won't change this. If you are using soft water in your pool (vinyl or fiberglass) then adding salt will not have any effect on the hardness of the water either. Soft water and saline water are not the same thing! The biggest difference is that the saltwater is closer to the body's own isoelectric point and therefore is more 'comfortable'Quote:
Originally Posted by Rangeball
I've had lots of comments from friends and relatives about my "Soft pool". Some of them didnt even know I added salt...they just noticed a difference in the feel.
My Brother swam in a non-salt pool daily and when he tried my pool he was amazed at the difference.
If they could taste the salt in the water it was very hard to tell.
Oh...and you float better in a SWG pool :)
I grew up in a house that had a soft water system, so I know that slick feeling of not ever feeling fully rinsed.
SWG is nothing like that...I was genuinely shocked and pleased when I jumped in my pool after going to SWG...the feel of the water is incredible.
My salt level is kept around 3200...I can barely taste it.
HTH,
pj
Could I just add salt to the pool to get the same effect on the feel of the water as a SWG? According to the BleachCalc I would add 125 pounds to a 15,000 gallon pool to get to 1000ppm salt. Maybe start with half that in case we just don't like it?
That's pretty much what I did. 1100ish ppm of salt with no SWG.
The only thing the SWG adds to the mix is creating chlorine in the cell.
Have to agree with Rangebell. Have about 1400 ppm salt in pool using liquid chlorine. No more eyes stinging, no more sticky feeling when I get out the pool. Plus I tell all my snooty lawyer associates that I to have a saltwater pool.
It takes a a good amount of explaining to them that due to the water chemistry it is not like swimming in the ocean, as told by their salesperson. Watching their reaction is a lot of fun as they see how they can litigate their salesperson for misrepresentation.
Shop around. We bought a new Aquarite on Ebay for $450.00. No chasing bleach prices for this guy and we can go on vacation and not worry about pool chlorination.
I have a salt water pool (about 3000ppm) and can definitely tell it's not
plain drinking water. I also added borax as a ph stabilizer, but it's a
relatively small amount (one box I think) so I think it's the salt I am
tasting.
But then again I don't drink pool water. There is no
issue with the little water that goes in the mouth or the nose.
It's barely salty. I don't see why the taste should be a concern.
Since I added the SWG, I haven't seen even any hint of eye
reddening in any of the children and adults who have used
the pool, no matter how long. Previously it happened when
I underchlorinated it and when it needed shocking. For me,
the benefits of the SWG far outweigh the change in water
flavor.
Luigi