Swimming Pool options

   / Swimming Pool options #21  
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?

The place that I referred to is a farm pond, so he must be doing something different than what you describe.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #22  
We have an above ground swimming pool and use chlorine, so don't know much about your issue, but for what it is worth:

We also have about an 800 gallon (guestimate) koi pond which was always so green we could not see the fish. We bought a filter specifically made for ponds and our water is clear. The filter we have has sizes for 5000 gallon and 10,000 ponds. It is not perfect but it is the best it has ever been, at least for the fish. I was also going to add a UV light hook up but the filter alone cleaned it up sufficiently for our purposes. So, anyway, I would think that a really good filtering system, perhaps a UV light system (safe??), and perhaps a very small amount of chlorine that is determined to be safe.

Again, I don't know much about your issue, so my advice may not be that useful.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #23  
Just to be clear, a salt water pool is chlorine. The salt water chlorine generator turns the dissolved salt into sodium hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite is the main ingredient in chlorine bleach.

We've had an above ground pool for about 20 years.

We started with a normal chlorine pool. Our oldest child developed a reaction to chlorine. We switched to Baquacil for about 10 years. It worked fine, but was expensive and prone to algae problems a couple times a year, and the water had a metallic taste.

Kid got less sensitive to chlorine, and we switched to a salt water pool for about 8 years, using a cheap salt water chlorine generator. Works great (until it died last year). We are back to just adding a jug of 10% sodium hypochlorite when the numbers drop, and 2 oz of algaecide once a week.

To answer your questions about salt and corrosion, YES! Cheap stainless steel bolts will corrode lightly. Steel bolts under pool caps, hose clamps, metal hardware on steps/ladders, etc... can get corroded from the salt. Even if they never get wet, they can get corroded. The pump will get corroded as well if it's not made for salt water. The metal rail under an above ground pool sidewalls will corrode. Metal sidewalls will corrode if the paint gets scratched. The areas around the skimmer pass-through and return line, which are not normally painted on the fine cut edge will corrode. Basically, anything metal that is not painted will corrode.

Hope that helps with some of your questions.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #24  
   / Swimming Pool options #25  
Eddie, I would be tempted to investigate what it would take to create a natural pond or something as close to one as possible using a pump to aerate the pool. Of course annual maintenance costs need to be considered. I havee seen different calculations on how expensive aerating a set amount of water 24/7 would be for different setups. For me, if the annual electric costs were low enough it is something I would consider as an alternate to regular chemical treatment. I mean, if it took $20 a month cost to provide a clean pool for the doggos to frolic in I would probably go that way if the up front costs were not too high.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #26  
Eddie,

Whats the construction material you used for the pool? Natural or man made? Tiles, glass, porcelain do fine in saltwater pools.

Filtration systems are the key to any pools blissful operations. Make sure you have a quality saltwater pump and you will be fine.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #27  
I hate to say it you need to change her way of thinking. Tap water probably has roughly the same amount of chlorine that you would have in the pool. If you control it they won’t be hurt. I can see in the pics it’s a standard pool setup, skimmer and filter. We had a pool for several years and the only time I had problems was when I didn’t pay attention to the chlorine level. I just used the cheap test strips but you can get test kits that are better. I know you are looking for an alternative but I’m not sure if a good one exists or not.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #28  
You have a pool, get a real test kit.

As previous posters have noted, and those pool sites referenced - *highly* recommend.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #29  
CDC says chlorine up to 4ppm is safe for drinking.

Chlorine in a swimming pool should stay between 1 and 3 ppm.
 
   / Swimming Pool options #30  
In all reality, I'd bet the dog drinking pool water would have less side effects than a dog drinking a bunch of salt water. Even though the salt level in a swimming pool is typically 10 times less salt than the ocean ( 3500ppm VS the ocean, which is 35,000ppm ), too much salt isn't good for a human or dog. Salt water pools are about the same salt level as human tears.
 
 
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