I'm a recent pool owner (as of last summer). On my second pool store, and becoming disenfranchised that any pool guy/girl actually knows what they are talking about in my area. I have a 18' x 36', approx. 24,000 gallon pool that receives full sun. I have pretty heavy debris from surrounding trees and a large Japanese maple that hangs over the pool. Vinyl liner that has some decent sized wrinkles throughout and unknown age, but appears in good condition otherwise. I have an old Hayward sand filter and pump and run the pump 24 hours a day. Light bather load. I live in Pennsylvania.


I have had issues keeping chlorine levels high enough on tablets alone, and have had algae outbreaks from time to time. With CYA at 74 (according to the pool store) my chlorine is sometimes below 1 ppm. PH is around 7.4. I have a small tablet feed that hangs next to the skimmer. My current pool store has given the response that "some pools just have low chlorine". I am looking to change my setup to a better chlorine feed - after reading though this forum I obviously want to move away from tablets.

I would like to upgrade my equipment to reduce the need for maintenance/shocking. I am toying with the idea of a SWCG (installing it myself) but need to know more about the cons involved, if any. Capital cost of the unit isn't a concern, but I want to keep my total cost down if possible. Looking forward to your help!