SWCG or Power Ionizer?

I have a 30" AG pool and I have been using the pool frog chemical system for the past 7 years.

Living in northeast Ohio, I get 3 to 4 months out of the pool. It will cost me $400 to get this years supply of chemicals and I thought it would be fun and long term savings to change to a salt pool. I'm currently considering the Jandy Apure35PLG at $458, Circupool IS30 at $579, or a Power Ionizer at $269. Power Ionizer still operates with low amount of salt. I was exited to do this at first but after researching my head is spinning and not sure what to do?

Any help would be very much appreciated! I'm open to other thoughts and ideas?

We're not much for Ionizer and mineral systems here. They are usually expensive to operate and potentially unsanitary. Mineral and ion systems that put copper in the pool water also can cause staining of the pool, fingernails and light color hair.

Many here find salt water chlorine generators convenient but will probably never be cheaper than bleach. Be ware that few AG pools are made for salt water.

The best help I can give you is this advice: Learn about the BBB method of pool care described on this forum and on PoolSolutions.com. Learn the relationship between CYA and FC and order a Taylor K-2006 testkit. Spend a season manually chlorinating and learn to control your pool - your chemical costs will be a fraction of what you spend now and you will be in charge.

Welcome to PoolForum.

Yes, Big Dave is right. Knowledge will not only save you hundreds a summer but will make your maintenance easier as well.

Thank you, I definitely understand what you are saying.

I'm just being honest and realistic, I'm not the best of a pool checker and am looking for an easy and economical way to keep pool clean. For the past 7 years I've used the pool frog system with no checking at all and pool was sparkling clean all the time. I'm interested in the salt system because I like what I hear about how it feels. I'm planing on checking my pool from now on once/week ( that's realistic for me ) and it seems like a SWG would be a good idea but not sure. APURE35PLG and Circupool IS30 is what I'm looking at right now.

I love information and appreciate anyone that takes the time to respond and help me!

Sparkling clean does not mean that a pool is sanitary. "Frog" may keep algae away but won't kill viruses.

SWCGs are easy but are not economical.

I think Dave's suggestion is a good one. A way you could get around having to check it daily would be to deliberately run a high CYA high chlorine pool. Check out the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below to learn about the relationship between CYA and needed chlorine levels. For pools with high CYA, sometimes you can get away with adding bleach a couple times a week instead of daily. Just another option for you to think about.

. . . membership upgraded.

As mentioned above, we don't encourage the use of copper systems, due to problems with staining and green hair. Plus, they are often sold unofficially as sanitizers ("Of course, the EPA won't let us tell you how effective they really are!" Wink, wink!).

If you want a pool that's sanitary, you'll have to use chlorine regularly.

But there are a number of steps you can take to make your pool more forgiving of occasional neglect:

1. High stabilizer + high chlorine pools can go up to a week without additional treatment. You'll need a K2006 testkit and an understanding of the 'Best Guess' page. There's no additional cost, since you need the testkit anyhow.

2. Raising your borate level to 60 ppm or so will make your pool more resistant to algae. Cost is around $50 per 10,000 gallons of pool water, for borax, muriatic acid, and a bottle of Lamotte borate test strips. If you work at it (maybe 4 treat/test cycles) you can accomplish this in 2 - 3 days.

3. Lowering your phosphate level to 200 ppb and keeping it there. Assuming an initial phosphate level of 2 ppm (2,000 ppb) cost will be $20 for phosphate remover and $25 for a phosphate test kit. Allow 1 - 2 weeks to achieve a low enough phosphate level to be effective.

BUT . . . you'll have to go through your regular chemicals and make sure you're not adding phosphate unknowingly. Most stain/scale products contain phosphates, and many chemicals sold by United Chemical do so as well. Pool stores commonly sell phosphate removers AND products adding phosphates! Ongoing expense will depend on how much fill water you have to add, and how much phosphate it contains. City water can contain up to 3 or 4 ppm.

4. Regular use of polyquat algaecide will also increase your pool's resistant to algae. Polyquat is also an effective clarifier, so if you have a sand or cartridge filter, you may see an improvement in water clarity. Cost will be around $25 per month per 10,000 gallons of pool water. Polyquat can be added quickly, and is immediately effective

Please note that if you chlorinate consistently and properly NONE of these steps are needed, unless your pool is one of those mystery pools with recurrent mustard algae.

But each of these steps can be helpful for pool owners who tend to be somewhat inconsistent. And, the cost of cleaning up after a single bad episode of algae will often be more -- in both time and money -- than the cost of ALL of these steps combined.

You can add salt to a pool that does not have a SWCG if it's the "feel" you are after.You just need to add bleach to chlorinate.