Quote Originally Posted by CanuckPool View Post
ok, what about the argument... does having an SWG save the environment from the production and disposal of hundreds of bleach bottles and the manufacturing of bleach. I would think it helps eliminate one more chemical you have to store and move and pour into the pool.
Well, I can tell you that my chlorinating liquid bottles are reused since I pay a deposit for them and for the case (of 4) that they come in so there's no waste there (I return empty bottles to the store and get different bottles that are full -- I presume they take the empty bottles back to the manufacturer for rinsing and refilling). Standard bleach bottles are a different story and can be recycled, but that's not as efficient as direct reuse. As for the manufacturing, it's probably not much different doing that in a central facility as doing it in your home as far as energy used to generate the chlorine, but you are right that you would be helping the environment in terms of transportation energy usage in terms of hauling what is mostly water (sometimes the chlorine is delivered at higher strength and then somewhat diluted, but even so it's still mostly water).

If one is concerned with the environment, then the most effective expenditure would be using a pool cover. If having an automated (electric) cover would have you use the cover more frequently, then that would be worth it (that's what I have). The use of a cover significantly cuts down chlorine consumption -- my 16,000 gallon pool consumes less than 0.5 ppm FC per day during the summer. That probably cuts down my chlorine consumption by a factor of 4 or more. And when I get my IntelliFlo...well, we'll just see what happens to pump electric usage.

Richard