Salt water?

[Tcf370]

Hi, we recently bought a house with a pool. Ever since we bought it it has been one disaster after another. We only have 4 months of good pool weather and half of that time the pool was green. It is no longer green but it is external cloudy and has been for a month. I'm wondering if it makes sense for us to convert it to salt? Because our season is so short I don't want to waste half stressing over a green or cloudy pool. We are not rich people but I figured that I could have probably saved money if we had done the conversion in the first place. Are the salt water pools easier to maintain?

Thanks for your help

[aylad]

Salt water pools and chlorine pools are one and the same...the only difference is that with the typical chlorine pool, the chlorine is manually added, while with a "salt" pool, the chlorine is generated via SWCG from the salt in the water. It sounds like inadequate chlorination has been a problem for you this year. If you'll post a set of test results from your water, taken with a drop-based kit, we'll be happy to try to help.

Welcome to the forum!

[Tcf370]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. It was a chlorine problem. The dispenser quit working once so it went green, the other time the skimmers quit so it went green again. The 2nd time took forever to get blue again. It is still cloudy and we haven't seen the bottom in a month. Would a salt water pool make any difference?

Thanks

[PoolDoc]

An SWCG is just a chlorine dispenser, and won't solve any problems you couldn't solve without it. It does make it easier to chlorinate consistently, but a pool with an SWCG will get just as green as one without it, if you don't maintain the system.

As in almost all cases, you need to get a Taylor testkit, and you need to learn to test and treat your pool with basic chemicals. If you'll read the test kit info page linked in my blue signature block, there's a link to a Canadian retailer for Taylor kits.

And, if you'll complete the Pool Chart, we'll be able to advise you more accurately:

Pool Chart Entry Form

[Tcf370]

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to get a water sample this weekend so ill post the results next week. The season here is going to be over soon, I'm wondering if I should drain the pool and start fresh or should I just worry about it next year? Is there any point in closing the pool with good clean water? I don't see any way that this water is going to get clear before the season is over and I don't want to spend 2k converting it to salt only to have it sit until may.

Thanks again

[PoolDoc]

You can't drain in-ground vinyl pools, without destroying the liner . . . . so no, that would not be a good idea. (They can sometimes be drained temporarily, but you have to hold the liner in place using multiple high-suction vacuums to do so.)

There's NO conversion to salt, other than adding salt. But you might spend $500 cleaning up the mess, which you have to do REGARDLESS of treatment method.

You WILL need a testkit. You WILL need a manual vacuum system and tools. You DO need to learn to manage the pool withOUT an SWCG, before you try to use an SWCG. We can help, but right now you're at the steep end of the learning curve.

[Tcf370]

Also, just to mention again, we went away. When we came back pool was green, we shocked it, used algeside etc. It stopped being green but it never cleared up, it just stayed foggy. They told me at the pool store that the foggyness was the beginning of the pool going green again. I find that hard to believe as the fog appeared after all the alge was dead. They made there sale regardless. Did I get played?

Thanks

[Watermom]

It is really hard to tell much of anything without some good current testing results.

[PoolDoc]

TCF,

We've got your pool data from the Chart, which is good. But until you have trustworthy pool test data, it's hard for us to help you much. If your chlorine level was low after you 'got rid' of the algae, it IS possible that the returning cloudiness was re-emergent algae. We can't tell without data.

The bottom line is, till you are able to test your OWN water accurately, you will remain a pool store slave. I've posted links below, if you interested.

Ben

==================================


+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE, but is an ESSENTIAL tool for pools with problems. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page )

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon

[Spensar]

Also, just to mention again, we went away. When we came back pool was green, we shocked it, used algeside etc. It stopped being green but it never cleared up, it just stayed foggy. They told me at the pool store that the foggyness was the beginning of the pool going green again. I find that hard to believe as the fog appeared after all the alge was dead. They made there sale regardless. Did I get played?

Thanks

Basically, if it was still foggy, the algae was not all dead. When it goes green, you have to maintain high chlorine levels until it is clear. The foggy or murkiness is just a step along the way which indicates you are making progress and getting there.

Great set of pictures here where you can see this progression: http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/does...ill-algae.html