Newbie POOL person here...

[Pool_Mike]

My PB only uses SWG and will supplement it with Ozone (Ultrapure). I asked my rep to please remove the ozone as I'm happy with just SWG. He said he really wanted me to have the Ozone so he was going throw it in for "free" and credited me back the cost of the ozone. I figured I had nothing to lose.

Have you considered SWG? Maybe you can see if your PB will be willing to do a similar deal for you?

I have no idea what "PB" or "SWG" means or stands for. can you help me out?


So that I can ask the builder about it? Thanks

[joelq]

Sorry!

PB = Pool Builder
SWG = Saltwater Generator.

You've probably heard of "saltwater pools". The SWG is what automatically generates the chlorine from the salt in the water so you don't have to add chlorine yourself.

Hope this helps! I am FAR from an expert, but have learned so much from the folks in here. We are waiting for our building permits, and hope to start building in the next two weeks.

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Mike,
If your building a pool and spending upwards of $30K then look into SWGs!!!! They produce chlorine from the salt (you add) to the pool. Safe, maintains constant Cl levels once you have everything adjusted and will not add CYA like pucks/floaters. If our pool season was longer than 3 months and if I did not have to burn $$$ this season on new pool motor I would get one!! Search posts for SWG and read up!!!

[Pool_Mike]

A buddy here at work has SWG. Says nothing but good things about it.

When I talked to 1 out of the 2 contractors they said if I was to put SWG they will not warrenty the life time of the pool b/c it eats the plasture and that if I was to do limerock edgeing that the salt from it can cause to splash on the rock (where its dry/edge) that it will eat it up.

The other builder says that the chlorine pools is cheaper then SWG and would ONLY recommend SWG if anyone in my family has allergic reaction to chlorine.

Any takers? Myth?

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

"The other builder says that the chlorine pools is cheaper then SWG and would ONLY recommend SWG if anyone in my family has allergic reaction to chlorine." <-- BS ALERT

In the cells of the SWG it 'creates' chlorine and there is still the same residual in the pool. Only difference, you don't dump it in (unless shocking).

The cost factor really depends on the cost of your time. If you would hate constantly adding bleach, pucks (then fighting CYA), powdered chlorine, etc then an SWG would be worth it. Granted, you would have to monitor and adjust pH.

Also, there has been some debate on this forum regarding the potential corrosion issues with an SWG. Search the forums for saltwater damage or something similiar for more in-depth conversations on the topic.

[joelq]

In my research, I couldn't get any definitive information on the cost savings of going with SWG. In fact, if you factor in the up-front cost of putting in the SWG cell, etc (roughly $1000), you could make the argument that recouping your up-front cost will take many years.

I wanted SWG not because of any potential cost savings, but because of the low maintenance aspect of it. I won't have to store chlorine, nor have to put chlorine in manually. If I ever have to leave town for a week or two, no worries about coming back to a green pool. Not to mention the "softer" feel of the water in a salt pool.

Regarding the corrosive properties of salt affecting the structure, plaster, etc - I couldn't find any definitive evidence of that either. The PB we selected had an unconditional warranty on their pool structure. Given that they did salt pools exclusively, I took this to mean they had no concerns about salt corrosion.

Having said that, we did go with a pebble finish which negates the issue of salt on plaster, if there's any truth to that.

[Simmons99]

Have you only spoken to two poolbuilders? I know its nice to have a "snazzy" sales rep with the "cool 3-D" software that shows you what a pool can look like. But really - it sounds like the companies you have been speaking with are more interested in a sale than you having a good experience as a pool owner.

If a company doesn't want you to install a SWG - it might be because they are not familiar with them - I would never make a pool company install something they don't normally install.

I asked the pool companies I talked with which method they would recommend and why. I overwhelming got "ozone" from those who were running "specials" and I got "SWG or standard chlorine" from those sales reps that had pools.

If I were you - I would talk to a couple more builders and see what others are saying.

[31Coupe]

We got our first pool last year this time. We went for the Salt Water generator. We have a 18X33 above ground 15,000 gal. pool with a Gold Line SWG. It works great! No Clorine to add unless you have a problem. We are hooked and just got our neighbors to switch over also. You still need to keep a check on your chemical ballence but for us it is very easy.
31 Coupe