Testing the water?

[suzi05]

Hi All

Someone stopped me in town the other day and asked how I was going to cope with the new pool testing rules. Something about having to keep a book to prove when and how you test your water. Does anyone know about this? Or is it just heresay?

On the same subject (vaguely) - I have a salt water pool which is bright green! I have given it a good post winter scrub and hoover to waste; checked the salt and added a load; I even threw in a load of anti algae product (about twice what it recommends on the bottle) and have left the filter on full time for about 3 days and nights but all to no avail. Surely I'm not meant to "choc" a salt pool?

Any advice gratefully received

suzi

www.patiras.com/trinite.htm

[Poolguy]

It is quite common to be obliged to Choc a pool, which has a salt electrolyser, as commonly these systems have proven over many years to be unable to generate enough chlorine through their processes to cope with every situation. So when closing your pool for winter, opening up in Spring and many times throughout the season, adding chlorine in pastilles or liquid form is the only way to help the system along. Before you do that ensure that the pH is stable at 7.2 (adjust if necessary)

Consequently, I recommend that all pool owners who opt for this system also occasionally test that their water has enough chlorine and supplement if necessary. Salt chlorination is not an automatic system, is it not adequate to cope with heavy bather load and it is not the latest technology.

As an interim measure you might try to up grade your filtration to reduce the work the chlorine has to do - vis extract more organic material from the water.

If you need any specific help then email or PM me.

 

Andrew

 

 

[Suze01]

Can I just respond to what PG has just said about salt systems' being unable to create suffient chlorine.  I have never had to choc my salt pool, indeed I have had to reduce the production level dial down to 40% production as on checking the water the chlorine level was found to be too high, this was also the case right through the summer periods. After the winter it was very clear, though not quite crystal.  The pool is used daily often with the kids friends in it too so gets a reasonable load.  It is though, as PG said, not an automatic system and it is necessary to verify  chlorine, Ph and salt levels regularly.

As for the 'new pool testing rules' I have vaguely heard something about this with regard to gites/hotels etc but not for private pools.

Do you have a sand filter? How old is the sand in it?  A friend has had a few problems with the filtration of the water and has just replaced the sand and is amazed at the difference. I believe the sand should be replaced every 5 years.  There's an alternative product called Zeolite which is supposed to be far superior to sand [url=http://www.supersorb.com.au/PDF/pool.pdf]here[/url] is a webpage I've found with some info.

[Poolguy]

Suze

Thanks for adding your first hand experiences to this discussion.

It is clear that many pool owners with salt systems have enjoyed service from these systems, due to many factors, not the least of which as I mentioned in my last post is the patient attention to the water cleanliness. Not everyone however is able to attend to their pool with the same time and expertise. Many people are not in attendance for most of the year and rely on the system to look after itself, which by and large it does not.

There are a myriad of dynamics to every pool vis: every pool is different, every water is different, different environmental influences, different bather loads, different circulation and filtration rates and so on. Hence on analysis, I proffer that salt systems are not successful throughout all these variety of different circumstances, notwithstanding that some owners enjoy excellent results. What annoys me is the contention amongst Pisciniers in France is the sales methods employed to sell these systems:, such as; that they are automatic (they are not); that they are chlorine free (they make chlorine the same as a manual system); that they are natural (they are not natural - it is not natural to introduce salt into the fresh water environment) that they will make enough chlorine for each situation (proven not to be the case for many owners, as it will only make the same amount of chlorine each hour); that they are self cleaning ( even the reverse polarity cells suffer calcification and need to be acid dipped occasionally - not a nice job).

Suze also raises the idea of Zeolite in the filter, which is the filtration upgrade I was referring to; It will offer 1micron filtration instead of the 40 micron offered with sand. (PM me if you want further details).

I look forward to and welcome experiences from others with these or different santisation systems to contribute their ideas to this discussion, as it is very important to have these ideas thoroughly understood by all pool owners so that each can make informed discussions.

Andrew

 

 

 

 

[suzi05]

Thanks Pooguy and Suze. It looks like our salt system can't cope! I guess i'll add some chlorine and will definately look into this Zeolite. Is it very expensive? Our pool is about 3 years old and the sand is the original stuff. It does have alot of work to do as it is the pool used by our gite guests ao there are anywhere up to 15 people in it throughout the summer hols! Last year we had an algae attack mid-season which was awful. I felt so sorry (and guilty) for the poor people here on holiday at the time. I didn't know we had to add chlorine occasionally - I've always ignored those products in the shop, thinking they'd maybe harm the pool. Thank you pooguy for highlighting that.

suzi

www.patiras.com/trinite.htm

[Poolguy]

Suze

I didn't realise that you have a gite with 15 people staying and using the

pool.

In which case, I would hasten to mention that the possibility exist (depending

on the department you are in) that you will be visited by the DDASS to do water

quality controls.

I include that caveat as in some departments the Regional office will not test

Gites Pool, but only Hotels and Camping grounds, in others they will test many

and still others they get around nearly everybody. This is not a onerous as it sounds

if you have a well maintained pool and employ good management practices.

But the hitch is that there is no norm for salt systems in 'public pools' (that

is pool used by the paying public- your Gite guest if you will). You must use

Chlorine direct as your primary sanatisation method. If you choose to employ

the electrolysis as well I gather in some departments is up to you but it alone

does not cut it with the DDASS (Dept of Heath). So I would be careful about the

idea that you can rely on your equipment to keep you on the right side in all

cases, because if the DDASS officer does arrive to do a control and he does not

like what he sees then he can close the pool for the 'public' in a heart beat.

But as I said, previously, you may never come to their attention.

Andrew

[Suze01]

[quote user="Poolguy"]Suze

I didn't realise that you have a gite with 15 people staying and using the

pool.[/quote]

Not me but the OP Suzi05 (far too many Susie's/Sue's/Suze's on this forum [:$] )

[suzi05]

But the hitch is that there is no norm for salt systems in 'public pools' (that is pool used by the paying public- your Gite guest if you will). You must use Chlorine direct as your primary sanatisation method. If you choose to employ the electrolysis as well I gather in some departments is up to you but it alone does not cut it with the DDASS (Dept of Heath). So I would be careful about the idea that you can rely on your equipment to keep you on the right side in all cases, because if the DDASS officer does arrive to do a control and he does not like what he sees then he can close the pool for the 'public' in a heart beat.

Now I'm scared!