advice about my pool chemicals

[Smorgado]

Hi,

I have a 2007 gas heated 16x32 vinyl inground pool that runs on a Hayward ProGrid DE filter and Super Pump. I use Sustain chemicals and have never been disappointed. I do checmicals once a week and that's it... water is always clear and balanced. Sometimes I have yellow algea but it's easy to remove. My pool is surrounded by a huge oak tree and some maples... I scoop leaves every day but can't beat how some parts of the pool alternate in the shade and sun as the day progresses. After the initial oppening hoopla I backwask about once every 7 weeks so filter pressure is always good.

But... with Sustain it is costly...

I have been thinking of switching to salt system next year but have a few questions. Should I move? How easy is the maintenance? I have a dyed concrete deck surrounding the whole pool and wonder if it will it be effected by the salt system? What systems should I look into?

Any info will be appreciated~

[aylad]

Hi Smorgado,

I am not the salt system expert on this forum, but there are a few who are, and I'm sure will chime in shortly with opinions for you. In the meantime, you can use the google search link in my sig to search the forum and archives for salt system threads( you'll have to log out to do so until your registration is completed by Ben), or log out and look at the "Salt generators" subforum and read through or search those threads for more information about the different systems. Most SWCG owners say that the mainentance is pretty much non-existent, once your water is balanced, except for additions of salt when needed, and routine doses of muriatic acid to bring the pH down (it rises as a function of the unit generating chlorine). HOwever, the initial cost of the system can be high. I have no idea about the dyed deck--but others should be able to help you with that.

If you're looking to just run your pool more cheaply than Sustain, we can help you do that, by using generic versions of the same chemicals, which would be much cheaper than using a SWCG. If you would run a set of test results on your water and post them here, we'd be glad to help!

Welcome to the forum!

[Smorgado]

Thanks... How would I post them? I use the colored strips.

[aylad]

We don't really put much stock in strip testing--they simply aren't reliable. They are okay to tell you that there "is" or "is not" chlorine in the pool, but not reliable enough to tell you "how much", which is what you're going to need to know. We very highly recommend getting your own drop-based test kit--the one we like is the K-2006, which is available online several places, but at a good price at the Amazon link in my sig below. At the very least, check with your local WalMart and see if they have the hth 6-way drop-based kit,which is a re-labeled Taylor kit, and is compatible with the K-2006. And if that doesn't work, you can take a sample of your water to the pool store (IF they use drop testing, not strips!) and ask them to test it for you and give you a printout of results. We need numbers, not "good" or "too low". Just don't let them sell you the list of stuff they'll try to convince you that you need--just smile and tell them that you have it at home. Pool store testing is designed to sell chemicals, so sometimes are not reliable either, but better than strips, at least in most cases.

Sustain appears to be a cal-hypo system, and you can buy cal-hypo much cheaper than what I've seen Sustain products advertised as. However, You'll really need to know a calcium hardness number to know whether it's okay to continue using cal-hypo without running the risk of cloudy water, which happens when calcium levels get too high.

Janet

[PoolDoc]

I have been thinking of switching to salt system next year but have a few questions. Should I move? How easy is the maintenance? I have a dyed concrete deck surrounding the whole pool and wonder if it will it be effected by the salt system? What systems should I look into?

+ Salt systems are easier than hand feeding, but not easier than a 1x week system you already understand.

+ Salt systems ALSO may not be cheaper than Sustain, once you factor in the initial cost + cell replacement every 2 - 4 years. Compared to Sustain, you could probably reduced your chemical costs substantially using manual treatment, but I wouldn't bet on an SWCG being cheaper.

+ Salt has cause problems with some deck materials. The cases I know about involve natural stone. It doesn't seem to effect every type of stone, and many of the problems seem to be in Texas or the Southwest, where there's not enough summer rain to regularly wash the salt off the rocks or deck. You might want to take a chip or flake of your deck material, take a digital photo of it, set it in the sun, mix a 4000 ppm salt solution, and put a dropper full of the solution on the flake every day for a month, and then wash it off, dry it, and take a new photo. Compare the two. It there's no change, your deck is probably salt compatible.

+ BUT, salt is NOT compatible with pool heaters made a number of years ago. If you have a heater, check that out.