Swimming pool filtration

rorz0r

rorz0r

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Was wondering what people on here reckon the best way to keep a pool is.

The main solutions seem to be chlorine and salt.

Chlorine pretty much everyone has swam in a chlorine pool before. Bit of a hassle to test and add chlorine etc but month mates seem to work pretty well. After reading the propoganda from the salt water proponents the chlorine system really doesn't sounds that good. Strong chlorine also doesn't sound very desirable for swimming in etc.

The salt systems require no chlorine to be added because it is generated by a chlorine generator ($$$). The chlorine generator sounds pretty much like some electrolysis to split the NaCl so it becomes coated. Also the amount of chlorine generated is low so it's required to be run pretty much 24/7 so you lose out on electricity costs and you need a pump running to circulate water through it. The benefits are lower stable levels of chlorine in the pool so the water isn't as irritatin to eyes/skin.

Another option seems to be running all water through UV sterilisers. I know these work terribly on tanks because they are usually very underpowered. I imagine if you ran some pretty powerful ones on a pool it would work for the water but you will probably still get algae on surfaces because it will never pass through.

What will probably work a bit better than this would be ozone. You need quite a big ozone generator ($$$) but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It's more of a "natural" way to kill the algae etc.

Another option I found online is called "eco smarte" and works on basically putting copper into the water (also electolysis by the sounds of it). I think this *should* be cheaper than O3 or CL2 generators and having to replace UV lights all the time but it's probably not marketed like that.

What do you guys think?
 
The salt chlorinators (newword.com) produce water that is lovely to swim in.

Those "4 stage buy them and dump them in the pool" floating things work well, but they tend to poison your water if you keep replacing them as soon as they are empty. I found that if you wait until your pool shows a hint of green before replacing them that your pool water is much "cleaner".
 
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I have been down the line with the electronic technology, and gone back to floaters.

My pool is fairly large, around 80 kl and had to run a long pump excessively long to get the system to be efficient. Also with the chlorinators, when things go wrong, there is a lot of work to get the pool stable again, and can take up to two weeks.

With the standard floating HTH chlorine devices, if you see them at an angle, drop another in, simple. If pool starts to go green, throw some chlorine in.

As long as you set the floaters to the correct setting for your pool, the water is great.

Floaters also work out far cheaper, I keep 2 floaters in my pool on medium setting, which costs about R80 per month replacement, and in winter, I can drop the pool pump down to 3 hours, saving electricity, and not having to generate chlorine.

Then again, my pool is situated where I see it everyday, and that also makes a difference. I have seen friends pools that are more secluded go wrong, as out of sight, out of mind.
 
I have had 2 saltwater chlorinators and frankly I am of the opinion that they are the homeopathy of pool care.
In my experience, chlorinator or no you will always be chucking some chlorine in from time to time and if thats the case then why bother - just use the floaters (awful name BTW.)
 
Thanks for the advice. Seems floaters are the way to go. It's like "actual chlorine" but delivered at a lower more steady dose.

Garyvdh, I bought a new house so not 100% sure of the size of the pool and I'm terrible at estimates so not going to hazard a guess, but it's a fairly big pool as it's an old house. It's not heated.

Any advice re pool coveres? I'm keen to get a solid one both for safety (of no one in particular though) and to curb evaporation/sunlight/algae/rainwater/etc.
 
HTH floater works beautifully. I throw one in every 6-8 weeks now its winter and the pool is stable as anything. Prefer HTH floaters to that month mate crap.
 
I just take a dump in the pool... seems to work.
 
Freshy-ZN said:
HTH floater works beautifully. I throw one in every 6-8 weeks now its winter and the pool is stable as anything. Prefer HTH floaters to that month mate crap.
Click to expand...


I also prefer the floaters, but hate HTH, get a lot more worth out of the month mate (they last longer).

From spring I'll be buying there Monthly packages, consists of one floater and 4 whamo shock treatment (the best on the market IMHO), but seeing as I have a 100 000 litre pool, I need to buy two a month
 
Anyone have any experience of the Dolphin Ozonate. Too good to be true? The pool is being delivered today and I need to get my ducks in a row regarding water treatment. All my previous pools used either granular HTH or floaters, all without hassle.
 
I have measured the pool. It's 50kl. With the storms and stuff in JHB those hth floaters only last 3 weeks.
Bought a blu52 2 pack thing. Did first treatment on sunday so the 2 pack = 8 treatments once a week so I'll see how it goes.
I figured giving it a higher dose once a week is better than a floater where the stuff is strong when you put it in and the 4th week there's nothing.
 
rorz0r said:
Was wondering what people on here reckon the best way to keep a pool is.

The main solutions seem to be chlorine and salt.

Chlorine pretty much everyone has swam in a chlorine pool before. Bit of a hassle to test and add chlorine etc but month mates seem to work pretty well. After reading the propoganda from the salt water proponents the chlorine system really doesn't sounds that good. Strong chlorine also doesn't sound very desirable for swimming in etc.

The salt systems require no chlorine to be added because it is generated by a chlorine generator ($$$). The chlorine generator sounds pretty much like some electrolysis to split the NaCl so it becomes coated. Also the amount of chlorine generated is low so it's required to be run pretty much 24/7 so you lose out on electricity costs and you need a pump running to circulate water through it. The benefits are lower stable levels of chlorine in the pool so the water isn't as irritatin to eyes/skin.

Another option seems to be running all water through UV sterilisers. I know these work terribly on tanks because they are usually very underpowered. I imagine if you ran some pretty powerful ones on a pool it would work for the water but you will probably still get algae on surfaces because it will never pass through.

What will probably work a bit better than this would be ozone. You need quite a big ozone generator ($$$) but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It's more of a "natural" way to kill the algae etc.

Another option I found online is called "eco smarte" and works on basically putting copper into the water (also electolysis by the sounds of it). I think this *should* be cheaper than O3 or CL2 generators and having to replace UV lights all the time but it's probably not marketed like that.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Chlorinators generally work well, but can cause a buildup of chloramines if you don't shock the water.
Ozone is generally only used in combination with something else, either bromine, or at the very minimum using alum to remove the phosphates from the water to prevent algae growth.
Eco-smarte is very expense, a south african alternative is http://www.eclear.co.za - they claim to run some virgin active pools - which you may want to verify! (and hotel groups in dubai)

E-clear is much more expensive than a chlorinator, but if you really want chlorine free you should investigate it.

The biggest tip I can give you is to make sure your pool is fiber lined. A marbellite/gunnite pool is a nightmare to maintain. Keeping the water balanced in a fiber lined pool is much easier.
 
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zamicro said:
What bothers me is that they do not want to put any indication of price on their website.
Click to expand...
I noticed that too .. and there's not a lot of information there, and their claims are not substantiated by anyone apart from themselves. If this system worked as they claim it would revolutionise the pool care industry (like HTH would go bust!)
 
Further resurrection! I am looking to get one of these Dolphin Ozonaters. Its between this and a cheaper option, the chlor-less, about R4000 cheaper but apparently crap?

I don't know who or what to believe. Anyone?
 
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