Salt water magic and Intex salt water/copper ionization system

[enchantedmountain]

I have owned an above ground 18' pool now for 5 years. I have loved it. I make sure I ad PH Down VERY regularly and a stabalizer and I am all good to go.....the intex salt water system with those two products works awesome and my pool stays perfect and clear all summer (the trick is keeping the ph down, which isn't easy. ph down has to be added every week...the stablizer was the icing on the cake)...anyways........... My salt water generator died on me and I just got a new one....which is their new model with copper ionization. My question is that right before I bought the new unit it I ordered a bag of "salt water magic" which I think is a stabalizer among other things. I noticed it says it removed metals from the water....so will it counter act the copper ionization process and if so does it really matter? I know that the new salt water systems do not produce as much chlorine as it is not required with the copper ionization, but if I have a product in my water that will remove the copper....will it cause problems? Any advice would be appreciated

[PoolDoc]

Your question caught me off guard - was not aware that Intex had combined a salt unit with a copper unit, into the devil's device you have.

I understand why the did it -- Intex pools are nearly impossible to clean up once they get algae, and that fact probably drives a huge number of complaints to Intex's door. But, their solution -- combining copper and chlorine -- makes it impossible to do a pool well.

In my opinion, you've got a factory built mess. If anyone in your family has light hair, it's going to turn green. I'm going to post some snippets from Intex's FAQs for general information. But I'm not sure how to best operate your pools. I'm going to have to think about that one for awhile.

Ben

[enchantedmountain]

they combined it at the end of 2009. copper won't turn your hair green unless you have too much of it. so it is one more thing to monitor, which I don't care for but I have owned the swg and the intex pool for going on 5 years and absolutly LOVE it....but my old swg finally died. I was hesitant to get the new one with copper ionization and did a lot of research...obviously good and bad is said about copper ionization...but my conclusion is that unless you have excessive copper it won't turn your hair green....I guess we will see this year. what I do know is because it has copper ionization, your pool doesn't require as much chlorine...so the new units do not produce as much chlorine in the process since the ionization is present...I'm worried if I use this new fancy "salt water magic startup" that advertises it removes metals, conditions and stablizes....that it will remove the copper that may be need to keep things algae free. I have never had a problem with Algae in my intex pool with the salt water system, since I figure out that salt water systems tend to make your ph run high.. yes I have to add ALOT of cyanuric acid (PH DOWN) through out the summer and a stabalizer/conditioner...but I haven't had algae in my intex pool for two years. I have been a huge fan of the system as long as you know how to maintain it.....but the copper is throwing me off and I don't want to mess it up...nothing is worse than trying to fix a pool problem.

[enchantedmountain]

UPDATE: I actually just got a resonse from the manufacturer of Salt Water magic. They are compatible with metal ionization. It doesn't actually remove the metal it just prevents from staining....so I guess my problem is solved....hopefully. Also...I want to add that modern copper ionization won't turn hair green, because of the minute amount of copper used....the old systems used much higher amounts and did turn hair green. Levels above .3 can turn the hair green from my understanding. The trick will be to see how easy it is to controll the level of copper or maybe I should say how well the machine controlls the level of copper. I anxious to see how it works for myself. My daughter is platnimum blonde...she won't be happy if she is platnimum green/blonde....

[PoolDoc]

Platinum blonde? Plus copper?

By far, the most dramatic green hair cases I've over the years are on young girls with natural platinum blonde hair (why is it called that? Platinum is gray!). I remember a case of twins whose hair turned grass green.

Regardless, sequestrants like the Saltwater product do NOT remove copper (or any other metal) -- we've been saying that for years. They simply keep it soluble TEMPORARILY. So, what the mfg is telling you is true -- sort of. While they don't REMOVE the copper, they do make it MUCH less effective as an algaecide.

Look at the thread I posted from Intex's FAQ -- they have chemical standards for this units that even *I* would find difficult to maintain. For example, you are supposed to maintain CYA between 10 and 20 ppm -- but there's no pool testkit that measures 10 ppm of CYA. Or their copper standard is to maintain 0.1 to 0.2 ppm . . . with an absolute MAXIMUM of 0.2 ppm.

If it were me, I'd see if the copper elements could be disconnected. I'm guessing they cannot, however.

Good luck!

Ben

[enchantedmountain]

thanks .....At the first sign of green hair or inabliltiy to maintain proper copper levels....it will be disconnected. I did read somewhere that it could be...not sure how hard that is....but I cerainly will try if it isn't (probably just disconnect a wire and run the system longer to produce proper cholorine levels). I never measure my CYA...I just put it in until my ph level is normal (not sure if that is good or bad....but it has worked). I had trouble never keeping my ph in check until I used a stabalizer for the cholorine. obviously it is all connected....but I have read in numerous places that as long as your chlorine level is stable and your ph is good (which is easier to maintain if the chlorine is stable)...then everything else falls into place. I am not an expert on any of this, but that certainly has been true for me.

thanks for your thoughts on the subject...

[enchantedmountain]

lol...just realized I posted the wrong thing......my ph down is what I use until my ph is in check (I think that is muratic acid...right??).....the CYA (stabalizer)......I haven't ever tested, but I just used the amount they recommend based on my size of pool...which was 2lb for aprox 10000 gal ( I think)......it seemed to work good for me and kept my cholorine in check. Maybe I should invest in a cya test kit though.