Buying Home with 14 year old gunite pool- need advice on inspection

[Jimmy C]

Before switching to a salt system there needs to be a checklist of prerequisites that must be present before switching. I will try to name a few:


* The pump, SWG controller, pool re -bar all need to be bonded per todays NEC. Even then problems occur which having salt makes matters more extreme since salt greatly increases the conductivity of the water. See thread:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ctrical-Shock&
* Filter must not be stainless steel; needs to be non-metal
* Any metal in the filtration system is suspect.
* Pool heater will fail quickly unless it has a Cupro-Nickel plated heat exchanger. Even then heater warranty may limit TDS to 2000 ppm upper limit. They do this cleverly sometimes without mentioning salt.
* The pump impeller, and shaft seal may need to be changed.
* The pump if two speed, or variable speed may not have enough flow at low speed to satisfy the SWG flow switch. Also at low speed hydrogen will build up in the return lines until the flow switch state changes. This turns off the SWG. Ask me how I know this. :-)
* Any metal patio furniture near pool will rust quickly
* Stonework around pool needs to be non porous
* If pool is in an area with low average rainfall, The landscape around the pool will get steadily more salt concentrated from swimmer splashout. This may kill valuable trees, bushes, and grass.
* If pool is in an area with extremely large rain storms, the pool will overflow. This will dilute the water, and possibly trip the salt PPM lower limit (often 2500 ppm). This turns off the SWG. So if you are away, and a big rain follows, when you need chlorine the most, the SWG shuts itself off from low salt. Ask me how I know this. :-)
* If you need to backflush the filter, where to you discharge that salty water? Sewer- Illegal in some areas. Lawn - might kill grass and trees. Street - might be illegal, and will leave white residue if filter has DE media.
* If your municipal fill water has high alkalinity (TA), then controlling the water PH will be a constant battle. One alternative might be to tap into the house water softener to use as pool fill water. Otherwise a salt system might not be the best choice.

My suggestion is to buy the house, and next spring follow BBB and buy Wallmart bleach. Do so for at least the first season until you work through the pool issues that you are yet to discover. Said another way, wait till spring 2013 before joining the salt club, or just be happy pouring liquid chlorine.

Jim