Swimming pool experts?

pmanton

pmanton

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We have a small salt water pool. Over the years I have found the chlorine generator to be a pain in the butt and expensive to boot.

If I wanted to convert to a chemical pool what chemicals do I need to keep the water safe?
Comparing the two is a chemical pool harder to maintain ?

Thanks.

Paul
Salome, AZ.
 
What size pool? Most of the time, you just dump trichlor tablets into something (you may already have the provision for that in whatever sucks the water out of the pool or you could use floating dispensors). From time to time you need to shock it to get rid of bound chlorine. Nothing too onerous if you stay on top of it.
 
Most salt water pools are built with a chlorine tab dispenser in-line with the pump just in case…otherwise not hard to install…I had to make the switch a couple of years after building the pool as my natural sandstone coping was deteriorating due to salt. Always felt a Clorine pool was easier to maintain and less expensive in the long run when it comes to replacing pumps, heaters, and salt generators.
 
Toss in some chlorine tabs in the skimmer and go on if that's what you want to do. The cost is probably about a wash in terms of salt vs chemicals annually. Salt water pools are generally a bit more consistent about keeping pH, all else being equal. However, the equipment maintenance of salt water pools is where it often bites owners several years down the road. The downside to the chlorine/etc. is that it's harder on the eyes and the smell vs the salt water pool.
 
Ionizer That sounds intriguing.
I think that the next time I have to spend bucks on the chlorine generator I'll dump it and go with just adding the chlorine as needed.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I very seriously doubt NASA put soluble copper and silver in to a spacecraft's drinking water.
Click to expand...

A couple of quotes from an intriguing article:

In the 1960s, NASA’s Manned Space Center (now known as Johnson Space Center) and the Garrett Corporation, Air Research Division, conducted a research program to develop a small, lightweight water purifier for the Apollo spacecraft that would require minimal power and would not need to be monitored around-the-clock by astronauts in orbit. The 9-ounce purifier, slightly larger than a cigarette pack and completely chlorine-free, dispensed silver ions into the spacecraft’s water supply to successfully kill off bacteria. A NASA Technical Brief released around the time of the research reported that the silver ions did not “impart an unpleasant taste to the water.”
Click to expand...

Later in the article:

Numerous independent laboratory tests from NASA, health departments, and universities, and many years of field testing have confirmed the exceptional sanitizing ability of copper/silver ionization. Studies further show that using a combination of copper and silver can be effective against E. coli, Pseudomonas, Legionella Pneumophila (Legionnaires’ disease), Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, and other pathogens—some of which have proven to be resilient even to high levels of chlorine.
Click to expand...

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2004/er_1.html
 
I have a slat water pool and it is like 90% self maintaining. Throw a bag of salt in about once a quarter, throw a jug of acid in about the same frequency and it does the rest.

When the salt cell has died and I am waiting for the replacement, I go to chemical mode and that is when it becomes a pain in the butt.
Salt cells are like light bulbs and die so I replace it every 3-4 years for a couple hundred bucks.

I have had this pool for 12 years and would never want to maintain a chemical pool.
 
Daleandee said:
A couple of quotes from an intriguing article:



Later in the article:



https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2004/er_1.html
Click to expand...

I guess it shouldn't surprise me since the Apollo program predated the Safe Drinking Water Act. Copper is a primary (health related) drinking water contaminant. Silver is a secondary (aesthetically related) contaminant, but the only reason it hasn't been made a primary standard above its secondary MCL is it pretty much doesn't exist in water sources above those levels. Generally, we try to keep metals out of drinking water.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I guess it shouldn't surprise me since the Apollo program predated the Safe Drinking Water Act. Copper is a primary (health related) drinking water contaminant. Silver is a secondary (aesthetically related) contaminant, but the only reason it hasn't been made a primary standard above its secondary MCL is it pretty much doesn't exist in water sources above those levels. Generally, we try to keep metals out of drinking water.
Click to expand...

There's a wealth of evidence to show that the process is still being widely used.

https://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/chemical/disinfectants-copper-silver-ionization.htm

A quote:

n England, copper-silver ionization is applied in about 120 hospitals successfully for the deactivation of Legionella bacteria.
In the United States, copper-silver ionization is mainly used for swimming pool water disinfection. Copper-silver is often used to limit disinfection byproducts formation during chlorine disinfection.
Because of its specific properties, copper-silver ionization is very suitable for fishpond disinfection. Copper-silver ionization is not dependent on temperatures. It is active in the entire water system.
Copper-silver ionization is used by water bottling companies and companies that recycle water throughout the United States.
Click to expand...

Another quote:

Legionella in hospitals and nursing homes and copper-silver ionization

Copper-silver ionization is applied in hospitals and nursing homes to prevent the distribution of Legionella bacteria. The main source of Legionella distribution is the warm water system. Circumstances in warm water systems are ideal for Legionella bacteria to grow and multiply. Contagion mainly takes place through shower steam. Copper-silver ionization can sufficiently kill Legionella bacteria. Copper-silver can actively deactivate Legionella, as well.

Drinking water and copper-silver ionization

In the United States, several drinking water production companies use copper-silver ionization as an alternative for chlorine disinfection and to prevent the formation of disinfection byproducts. The standard for trihalomethanes was decreased by EPA from 100 to 80 µg/L.
When copper-silver ionization is combined with chlorine disinfection, it is an excellent disinfection mechanism to deactivate viruses and bacteria.
Click to expand...

Well ... there it is! Neil lived to be 82 drinking that space water from Apollo ... :dunno:

Edit: https://www.liquitech.com/products/copper-silver-ionization/
 
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Ditto this. Would never go to chemical pool. My salt pool is nearly maintenance free. You will spend much more $ on keeping up chlorine tabs than replacing the salt cell every few years. I highly recommend you read www.troublefreepool.com and follow the advise on pool maintenance from them no matter what way you go.

SixPapaCharlie said:
I have a slat water pool and it is like 90% self maintaining. Throw a bag of salt in about once a quarter, throw a jug of acid in about the same frequency and it does the rest.

When the salt cell has died and I am waiting for the replacement, I go to chemical mode and that is when it becomes a pain in the butt.
Salt cells are like light bulbs and die so I replace it every 3-4 years for a couple hundred bucks.

I have had this pool for 12 years and would never want to maintain a chemical pool.
Click to expand...
 
Daleandee said:
There's a wealth of evidence to show that the process is still being widely used.

https://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/chemical/disinfectants-copper-silver-ionization.htm

A quote:



Another quote:



Well ... there it is! Neil lived to be 82 drinking that space water from Apollo ... :dunno:

Edit: https://www.liquitech.com/products/copper-silver-ionization/
Click to expand...

Well what can I say. I'd lose my license if I allowed that in a public water system. It sounds like it is more aimed for hot water (shower/bath) type of application.
 
My saltwater pool came with a pentair generator. IT was ok..but also a bit of a pain... Seemed like it needed to be cleaned a fir bit more than I liked.
It eventually died and i replaced it with a Hayward . It so far has been more "maintenance free"-ish.
Mine is in a screen enclosure so I don't get much contamination(leaves and such) so it generally is fairly hands off.

What sort of generator are you using? Maybe that's the thing....
 
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Sac Arrow said:
Well what can I say. I'd lose my license if I allowed that in a public water system. It sounds like it is more aimed for hot water (shower/bath) type of application.
Click to expand...

Once again from that same website:

The United States dictate a maximum value of 1 mg/L of copper and a maximum value of 0,1 mg/L of silver. (EPA, National Secundary Drinking Water regulations, 2002)
Click to expand...
 
Sac Arrow said:
I guess it shouldn't surprise me since the Apollo program predated the Safe Drinking Water Act. Copper is a primary (health related) drinking water contaminant. Silver is a secondary (aesthetically related) contaminant, but the only reason it hasn't been made a primary standard above its secondary MCL is it pretty much doesn't exist in water sources above those levels. Generally, we try to keep metals out of drinking water.
Click to expand...
In the grand scheme of all things that could kill early NASA astronauts, drinking water metal poisoning was probably pretty low on the list.
 
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