My SWCG Has Been a Delight!

[CarlD]

Now that my Pool Pilot Digital SWCG by Autopilot has been running for well over a month I can give a hearty and happy review of it.

It works perfectly. I haven't added anything since early May when I adjusted pH by adding Borax, yet three days ago my numbers were:

FC: 3.5
CC: 0
pH: 7.4
T/A: 80
CYA: 60+ (guessing 62)
Temp: 82
Salt: 3000

Since the recommended CYA level is 60-80, and FC is supposed be >5% of CYA, it's running just as it's supposed to. I haven't had the common problem of steadily rising pH that many owners complain of. I was even gone for 2 weeks and left NO instructions other than having my older son test the water once.

I'm delighted with my SWCG!

So...What's the down-side? Simple. There's no way you can cost-justify an SWCG versus regular testing and adding of Liquid Chlorine or Bleach. It just doesn't add up. Figure, for a pool my size--between 19000 and 20000 gallons, you'll spend $1000 to $1200 minimum for the system even if you install it yourself (I did, including adding a 240v outlet for the SWCG). Every 5 years approximately, the cell will need replacement. That's $500. So, unless your chlorine costs you more than $100/year, just the cell alone is barely a break-even item, plus the initial cost. I didn't even include the 400+# of salt in the cost.

However, as life changes so does our schedules. For the last two years I've been away at least two weeks during swim season. That's now jumping to six to seven weeks this year. In the past I had to go through a lot of prep so that whoever was watching my pool merely had to add a jug of chlorine every other day and empty the skimmer regularly, and that was good for 2 weeks, max. Now, it's just empty the skimmer and, if someone wants to use the pool, vacuum with the PoolBuster (Max blaster? I dunno. They changed the name. Same great gadget.)

In other words, for me, my family, and our changing lifestyle, the convenience factor of the SWCG easily outweighs the extra cost over just LC/Bleach. Those who've been here for a few years know I've often said my only objection to SWCG was that, without the need/desire for convenience, I couldn't cost-justify it. Now I can.

Do I ask myself "How did I ever live without it?" No. No way. Our B-B-B system we've all discussed, refined, and even simplified is easy as falling off a log...in fact, the hardest part may be finding the log to fall off of! It is only because of my now-increased time away from New Jersey that the SWCG is needed to decrease maintenance by OTHER people.

And it's doing a marvelous job at that! I've had a lot of help from our own specialists on SWCG systems, especially PoolSean, whom I thank for it.

[BigDave]

Good to hear, congrats!

[Poolsean]

You're very welcome Carl.