SWG and ozonator

[Tyler]

I have an AG 16x32 that I'm considering installing a SWG. The company that I've recieved a quote from says they use a system that includes an ozonator due to the fact there some bacteria that are resistant to chlorine and an ozonator will take care of these bacteria if they should ever appear in our pool water. I was wondering if anyone has heard of this?...Argrees or disagrees with this?....any pros or cons to the ozonator? Any truth the the rumor that ozonators afffect asthamatics?

Any information would be helpful. Thanks

[JohnT]

There are organisms that are resistant to chlorine. They are uncommon in private pools. Giardia and cryptosporidium are the most common. I don't see the need for an ozonator in my own pool, but everybody has their own concerns. Read about the risks and decide for yourself.

[Poolsean]

The use of ozone and a swg is a good combination. However, I would recommend making sure that you size each component to the total volume of the pool. There are some salt/ozone systems that are designed for both to be operating at idea performance to work properly, see Del Triopure. However, if you have and ozone flow issue, or a salt issue (low salt, scale cell, low stabilizer), they will have problems keeping up with maintaining a safely sanitized pool.

The use of the ozone generator with the salt system allows you to operate the salt system at a lower output. Therefore, low chlorine residual in the pool. This means that your cell should last longer.
However, prior to any parties, I would recommend increasing the chlorine level to handle the extra bather load.

Regarding locations of each component, either ozone first and well upstream of the salt cell, or parallel to one another (just ensure proper flow to each).
Ozone consumes chlorine so that if it's directly after the cell, you'll have very little chlorine going to the pool to maintain a good residual.
This may be ok if the pool doesn't get much usage, but without the chlorine residual in the pool, it's not as safe.

Ozone is an oxidizer, not a sanitizer. Chlorine is an ozidizer and sanitizer. As mentioned, the chlorine resistant stuff is not usually a problem with a typical backyard pool...unless it's a frequently used neighborhood gathering spot.