SWG vs. Inline Chlorinator + Ozonator

[Chessie]

Just talked to first potential PB. I meet with a second on 6/2.

We are planning a ~22k gal IG in Houston Tx without a SPA.

He said people are moving away from SWG due to the corrosion issues. He recommended an inline chlorinator + ozonator. He said the ozonator would eliminate the need to shock the pool.

I looked through the forum and many of the Chlorine/SWG threads are 3-4 years old. I was interested in getting some updated views.

Thanks in advance.

[aylad]

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

I don't know about the people moving away from SWG statement--they are becoming more and more popular in this area (northwestern Louisiana). In fact, I really want to put one on my pool when I find a spare $1200 lying around!!

I will tell you that an inline chlorinator and ozonator will NOT eliminate the need to shock the pool. The inline chlorinator uses trichlor pucks, which sometimes cause pH problems but almost always cause high stabilizer problems, until people learn their water chemistry. As your stabilizer levels rise, so must your baseline chlorine levels, so an inline chlorinator won't be useful as a standalone system for more than about a year before you start having problems. The ozonator will sanitize the water while it's actually inside the unit, but once it's returned to the pool, it then becomes vulnerable to bacterial/viral growth again, which is why you have to maintain a chlorine level in addition to the ozonator. Again, not a standalone sanitizing system. SWG is.

Just my $.02, for what it's worth!

Janet

[Beautye350]

I love my salt pool and will never go back. The "soft" water, reduced overhead (buying, carting home, pouring in of bleach), and ability of my automation controller to schedule everything allows me to not worry about pool chlorine levels if I am out of town for the night or for a week or more.

I do not have any corrosion problems.

GL on whichever way you decide to go.


Regards,

Mark

[JasonLion]

I'm not a fan of ozone for residential pools. It really doesn't get you much of anything. Ozone can be great in a commercial pool with a high bather load, but residential, not so much. And don't get me started on using a tablet chlorinator, which works wonderfully for a while, sometimes quite a while, and then, when the CYA level gets to high, causes nothing but problems.

There are a bunch of builders in Texas who are against SWGs. From what I've seen they use materials that aren't compatible with salt when they don't have to and then blame it on the SWG instead of their choice of materials. Nation wide, SWGs are extremely popular and problems are very rare.

[Chessie]

Thank you for the responses. All my research supports what you all are saying.

[mickey4paws]

Yes, thanks for the responses from me too. I got a SWG last year (switched from Baquacil) and I love it. I came across one site where a guy lambasts salt systems and especially their effect on heaters:

http://thepoolbiz.blogspot.com/2009/...h-heaters.html

I've not read about problems like he's talking about, but I'm not in the business. Has anyone here had problems with their heater due to their SWG?

I would think improper PH, etc. would be more destructive on a heater than salt, but again I'm no expert.

[hzz]

I was an early adopter here in the Toronto area with a SWG.

There were none around here so I bought mine on eBay after doing a lot of research here on the forum. I bought an Autopilot mainly because poolsean is here on the forum and is very helpful.

I can't remember how old mine is but I am guessing over 5 or 6 years. I am on my second cell, and no problems with the unit.

Now the pool stores around here are promoting SWG's....and promoting them as if they are a "brand new" alternative to chlorine.

Makes me laugh.

[CarlD]

When a pool builder says stuff like that, maybe you need a different pool builder. If the Texas builders mess around with the concrete mix, consider a vinyl liner instead.

Ozonators have their own problems and I don't even want to get into them.

SWGs are used in every climate around the country with few problems. JasonLion has laid out the problem with in-line chlorinators.

Since you are new, read up on all our sticky posts on pool maintenance, and then go to PoolSolutions.com (our sister site) and read the tips there. It will help.