Swimming Pool options

[EddieWalker]

I have a small, in ground pool that I'm building myself. It's only 3 feet deep and 12x16 feet wide. It holds about 1,700 gallons. My original plan was to do salt water because I heard that it's safer for dogs to drink. Recently I've learned that the small amount of salt in a pool is still very corrosive and there are a lot of people that have switched to chlorine because of issues with the salt. I don't want to have chlorine because I think it's harmful to my dogs.

A friend that also shows Akita's has something called Nature2 for her in ground pool. It's a huge pool, and the water looks fantastic. I don't know all the details for her pool, but they are very happy with it and they are highly recommending it.

Does anybody know anything about Nature2 for swimming pools?

Is this too good to be true?

Home shows their products and I'm trying to read through it to see what I should get, or if I should go with them


Amazon.com : Nature2 W2171 Express Mineral Pool Sanitizer, Above Ground : Swimming Pool Cleaning Tools : Garden & Outdoor could it be this cheap and simple to have clear water for the summer?


Since my pool is not done, we just fill it for the weekend and then dump it, or add bromine tablets for my hot tub to the pool fountain, which gives me another week of use. This is very wasteful and I'm hoping to get to the point where I can fill it up and keep it full without it turning green on me. then when temps drop in the Fall, I'll drain it and keep it empty until it gets warm again the following year.

 

[CobyRupert]

Does it turn green because it of algae growth, or because you’ve killed the algae and can now see it? If the later, the dead algae need to be filtered out to restore clarity.

 

[EddieWalker]

yes. I fill it with city water, and I need to find a way to kill any sort of growth that happens in water without using anything harmful to my dogs before it turns green, and keep it clear for all of summer. I have a nice filter system, but it plugs up with the algae if I don't drain it all the time and put new water in.

 

[Diggin It]

I have a 10' diameter x 3' deep box store pool that I dug into the ground. Holds about 1100 gallons. I have a sand filter on it running two hours a day. It stays clear for the most part, but gets junk falling and blowing into it. I skim that off with a net. While there has been some green residue on the bottom and sides, it has not gone 'green' this year yet after filling at the end of April. I use a few capfuls of Shock with an algaecide built in once a week or so. They say the water is safe after 15-20 minutes, but I'm not sure about dogs drinking it.

I found that for 1100 gallons, it was less costly to drain and refill once or twice a summer if necessary that spend so much on chemicals and treatments.

Not sure why yours would be going green every couple of weeks.

 

[aczlan]

Why not use chlorine and an online chlorine feeder so that the dogs can't get at the tablets?
As I understand it, a properly setup chlorine dispenser won't hurt the dogs.

Aaron Z

 

[3Ts]

About 10 years ago when I lived in Florida swimming pools were quite popular, but the chlorine was not. I talked to one person who was using silver & copper electrodes in the recirculating system instead of the chlorine. He said it worked well. I've never had a pool, but silver is used to kill bacteria type organisms while being safe for humans. Here's some info on it:

The silver in silverware

Even early civilizations knew the value of silver as a way to make utensils. But what they might not have realized is that silver is such a relatively safe metal that it actually has anti-septic properties. Bottom line: silver kills germs, bacteria, and fungi and even better, and avoids killing us because its toxicity is not at the level of other heavy metals.

Because of this, silver makes an ideal metal for us to use to touch our food. Even the ancient Phoenicians used silver to store wine, water, and vinegar, helping their drinks to retain their potency without spoiling. Before the development of antibiotics, silver was often used as a disinfectant.

Needless to say, silver逞ｴ properties have obvious implications in the kitchen. As antibiotics have developed, silver has fallen to the wayside in terms of its medicinal uses, but it continues to make a strong, durable kitchen utensil.

Silver is a relatively soft metal that, like gold, can be dented rather easily in its pure form. This is the reason for the 貔ｱite test where you bite down on a piece of gold in order to test its authenticity if it is soft enough to make a small dent in, you know you豎*e dealing with a fairly abundant amount of the metal.

Because silver is relatively soft, this precious metal will often actually appear in silverware as sterling silver, which is a mixture of silver and other metals that contains at least 92.5% silver. The addition of other metals helps give additional durability and hardness to the silverware.

If I were to get a pool, the silver ions is what I'd use, but I have no idea as to the cost. But, all the good reports I've heard about it, I wouldn't care about the cost.

 

[3Ts]

The link you provided uses silver, but still requires the use of chlorine. You should talk to pool companies about the use of a non-chlorine disinfectant. Here's one I found on the web:

Chlorine free swimming pool spa purification. Water treatment alternative to salt water pools.

 

[homesteader13]

Sunlight speeds up growth of algae very quickly. If you cover your pool with a dark cover that light cannot permeate and keep it covered you should notice a huge difference.

 

[Crazydad]

You should get it and plumb it in with unions on each end that way you can remove it completely if desired.

Go to Leslie Pool Supply there in Tyler. They should have empty tubes to fill and return to them to test your water.

Fill the pool in the afternoon and run the pump overnight to circulate. Take a sample the next day and see how much acid you need or whatever to get the PH right. Then you will need to shock it to kill everything including leftover algae on the walls from weekends past. Sunlight removes the chlorine fast so it will need tablets in a floater or a inline dispenser. And check it every day to adjust.

Buy a test kit if do not have one. Get a timer for the pump if you do not have yet as that is how the regulate the tablets by time running. You need to run it everyday.

Do not make my mistake and after a few weeks think you have it dialed in and only lift the cover on Friday after work to get it ready for the weekend. Since you have a hot tub you probably know all this already but just in case.

Also once it turns green a few times you might need to get a brush on a pole to loosen the stuff you can not see as you shock it to get it clear again.

 

[Diggin It]

Sunlight removes the chlorine fast so it will need tablets in a floater or a inline dispenser. And check it every day to adjust.

He doesn't want it chlorinated because of the dogs. That's the whole point of this thread.

 

[Jstpssng]

A little bit different approach which is used with ponds but may or may not work for this application; I was asking a farmer about the windmill next to his pond. He uses it to run an air compressor to keep the pond aerated; stating that keeps the algae from forming.

 

[RalphVa]

We've had swimming pools for 40 years now. In NJ, we covered it during the winter with a water bagged, impervious cover. Could pull the cover in the morning and have the pool swim ready in the afternoon. Here in Va now for 20 years, we cover it with a dark safety cover that is porous. Takes 3 or 4 days to a week before it is swim ready, not because of any algae but because of silt that goes through the cover during the winter.

Have an off line chlorinator here in Va similar to what we had in NJ. Works well. Only real problem is getting the stuck top off it to put more chlorine tabs in. An inline one would be better for this, as it would be held in place by the pump/filter discharge lines.

In NJ, I often just threw tabs into the bottom of the pool, as it was concrete. Cannot do that here with linered pool. The strong chlorine destroys the liner.

Chlorinator and a pH meter (cannot accurately read pH with solutions nor those dip tabs) and a maintenance dose of algaecide once/week and a "crawly" cleaner gizmo working off the discharge of the pump (where it goes into the pool) make for almost troublefree operation. Get everything right, generally with a big dose of shock chlorine and baking soda; pH stays put.

Ralph

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
As pointed out previously; he wants it dog-safe.

 

[Diggin It]

Chlorinator and a pH meter

Get everything right, generally with a big dose of shock chlorine and baking soda; pH stays put.

He doesn't want it chlorinated because of the dogs. He's asking about alternatives to that.

 

[Crazydad]

Yes I got that but the device he is asking about still uses chlorine just a lot less according to the reviews. If I still had my pool I would get one. I too know people that have ditched their expensive salt systems because of problems.

 

[Diggin It]

A little bit different approach which is used with ponds but may or may not work for this application; I was asking a farmer about the windmill next to his pond. He uses it to run an air compressor to keep the pond aerated; stating that keeps the algae from forming.

Bubblers are fine for smaller volumes, but they don't really keep it clean. I have a smaller pond next to the pool with a waterfall that creates bubbles and it's still green. I don't mind it there since the goldfish eat the algae. He might be able to do something that pushes more air, but at what cost?

 

[Diggin It]

Yes I got that but the device he is asking about still uses chlorine .

For the size of pool he's dealing with, I saw one option that uses the device only, no salt, no chlorine. The new cartridge replaces the paper filter cartridge. But I haven't seen any pricing.

 

[AWSubie]

If u properly maintain your pool at between 1 and 3 parts per million chlorine level then the water is safe for ur dogs to drink. If u don’t like the idea of your dogs drinking chlorinated water that’s another issue which can only be resolved in your own thoughts. There is an excellent pool maintenance website called “trouble free pool” (one word) that has all the information you need to know to maintain ur pool pH, alkalinity, and chlorine levels.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you for the replies. This isn't a normal swimming pool. Think of it more like a water fountain type of yard decoration that I enjoy going into, but also my dogs enjoy drinking out of.

My dogs are very special to us. My wife is a PhD Nurse that is so far past crazy that you can't even measure how out of control she is with their well being of our dogs.

Our boy is the number 8 Akita in the country right now. Just before the shutdown, he beat the number one Akita. He is the dad to our puppy. The mom was the number 3 female Akita in the country and ranked number 14 overall. She passed away right after having the puppies. Their daughter is in the pictures, and she is so much more then we had hoped for in creating the perfect Akita from breeding them together. We has 6 puppies and over 30 people wanting them from all over the country.

My wife will never allow anything dangerous for the dogs in the pool. It will never be covered. When we are not using it, we drain it.

As I see it, I have three options. Continue to fill it and dump it over and over again. Use a salt water system, which is safe for the dogs to drink, but seems to have a lot of issues with corrosion and pitting of tile and concrete. Or maybe this Nature2 system?

My question is if the Nature2 system actually works? Friends have it and they say it does. They are in Northern CA and it's unlikely that I will ever visit them and see their pool in person.

The pool is an ongoing project that is also tied into a large back deck addition along with redoing the siding of the house. I'm in no rush to finish it, and work on it when I have the time and extra cash. For now, it's just a nice way to relax after a hot day working in the Texas heat and humidity.

Kaida two weeks ago when she was 15 weeks old






Her daddy, Matsu




Grandson and friends in the pool with just a foot of water in it so they can splash around

 

[Diggin It]

Will the algae green water bother them? It is a natural plant/organism after all. Some algae is, but there are different types.

One other thing to look at is UV control. Some of the pod pump/filter units include UV lights that treat the water as it passes.