Hi all, I am brand new to TFP. We are getting ready to start our new pool construction and I'm trying to decide on a sanitation system. I have the general understanding behind both the Ozone/UV and Salt systems but would like some real life opinions of each. My main goals are ease of maintaining the chemistry and minimizing the cost to maintain the pool. We live in the Dallas, TX area and are building a fairly large pool between 35K and 40K gallons, 12 foot deep. We will also have an attached spa. Any opinions and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
New construction, Ozone/UV vs. Salt
- Thread starter CEBOB
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,000
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Welcome to TFP! 
One word - salt. Go with a robust sized SWG rated for at least 2X the size of your pool and you'll never look back. We get plenty of sun in TX so ozone isn't necessary, and neither is UV. Do a quick search for UV and ozone and you'll see hundreds of such discussions here.
In the meantime, I'll put a few links below to help you along while others will reply soon as well. Good luck on the build and enjoy the forum.
www.google.com
www.troublefreepool.com
www.troublefreepool.com
Be sure to bookmark ----> Pool Care Basics
One word - salt. Go with a robust sized SWG rated for at least 2X the size of your pool and you'll never look back. We get plenty of sun in TX so ozone isn't necessary, and neither is UV. Do a quick search for UV and ozone and you'll see hundreds of such discussions here.In the meantime, I'll put a few links below to help you along while others will reply soon as well. Good luck on the build and enjoy the forum.
Alternative sanitizers and "chemical free" pools--The Truth!
Pool owners frequently seek out "Chemical Free" alternatives to pool water sanitization. Many claims in favor of these systems and methods have been made (usually by the manufacturers of such systems) often without adequate scientific proof of their efficacy. Let's take a look at them and see...
www.google.com
Ozone Systems - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
UV Systems - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Be sure to bookmark ----> Pool Care Basics
There’s a giant ball in the sky which produces more UV than any consumer grade bulb will produce. Even an ozone/UV system needs a residual sanitizer so you’ll still need chlorine either way. That’s why a salt water chlorinator is a way better option. It makes chlorine for you.
Lots of Texas members report builders fear mongering clients about salt though.
Bob,
I have three saltwater pools here in the DFW area and always joke that I would just as soon fill them in, if they were not saltwater...
When you get out of a standard chlorine pool you feel like you need to take a shower. When you get out of a saltwater pool, you feel like you just took a shower...
UV and Ozone are just more things that can go wrong and since you have no real way to test them, you just have to trust that they are working like you want. Just to be clear UV and Ozone are not sanitizers, you still have to have chlorine in the water.
Just to make sure you understand.. Saltwater pools are chlorine pool, they just make their own chlorine from the slightly salty water using what is called a Saltwater Chlorine Generator or SWCG.. The salt level is about 3,500 ppm. the same as your tears, it is not like the ocean which is 35,000 ppm.
Saltwater pools do not smell, like public pools that you might remember as a kid.
Since you appear to have Pentair equipment, you will need an IntelliChlor IC60.. Since you have a spa, I have to assume that you will have a Pentair automation system. If so, you should get the automation package that includes an internal power center and an IC60 SWCG.
Cells typically last 5 to 7 years before they run out of the ability to make chlorine.
If I built a 100 more pools that would always be saltwater pool.
DFW is a big place, in general, where do live?
Make sure your IntelliFlo does NOT have the SVRS option.. The IntelliFlo is the gold standard of pool pumps, but the SVRS version is more brown, if you catch my drift...
The CCP-520 is a great filter.
Thanks,
Jim R.
I have three saltwater pools here in the DFW area and always joke that I would just as soon fill them in, if they were not saltwater...
When you get out of a standard chlorine pool you feel like you need to take a shower. When you get out of a saltwater pool, you feel like you just took a shower...
UV and Ozone are just more things that can go wrong and since you have no real way to test them, you just have to trust that they are working like you want. Just to be clear UV and Ozone are not sanitizers, you still have to have chlorine in the water.
Just to make sure you understand.. Saltwater pools are chlorine pool, they just make their own chlorine from the slightly salty water using what is called a Saltwater Chlorine Generator or SWCG.. The salt level is about 3,500 ppm. the same as your tears, it is not like the ocean which is 35,000 ppm.
Saltwater pools do not smell, like public pools that you might remember as a kid.
Since you appear to have Pentair equipment, you will need an IntelliChlor IC60.. Since you have a spa, I have to assume that you will have a Pentair automation system. If so, you should get the automation package that includes an internal power center and an IC60 SWCG.
Cells typically last 5 to 7 years before they run out of the ability to make chlorine.
If I built a 100 more pools that would always be saltwater pool.
DFW is a big place, in general, where do live?
Make sure your IntelliFlo does NOT have the SVRS option.. The IntelliFlo is the gold standard of pool pumps, but the SVRS version is more brown, if you catch my drift...
The CCP-520 is a great filter.Thanks,
Jim R.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,678
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Be prepared for every Texas pool builder to scare you about salt water pools and how corrosive they, it ruin your deck, your home with crumble into pieces, your car will rot in the driveway, salt will destroy your pool equipment, make the pool surface have a lower lifer, cause your hair to fall out, make your testosterone lower, kill your dog, blah, blah, blah ….
I’m with Jim - I’d either sell my home or fill the pool in with dirt rather than not have an SWG.
Word of advice - it’s YOUR money, YOUR home, and YOUR pool. Therefore the pool builder works FOR YOU. They like to turn the relationship around and tell you what you want and then scare you into thinking that they’re experts and if you don’t follow their advice absolutely then your pool will be garbage. Please start off the relationship on the right foot which means YOU control the design and specifications. If they can’t meet them, then you either take the line item off their hands and subcontract on your own (they won’t want that of course because it means less money for them) OR you find a new builder who will do what YOU WANT. Most pool builders are glorified schedulers - they don’t actually build anything, they simply schedule the subcontractors to do the work and they handle all the paperwork and money transfers. So don’t believe them when they try to scare you.
I’m with Jim - I’d either sell my home or fill the pool in with dirt rather than not have an SWG.
Word of advice - it’s YOUR money, YOUR home, and YOUR pool. Therefore the pool builder works FOR YOU. They like to turn the relationship around and tell you what you want and then scare you into thinking that they’re experts and if you don’t follow their advice absolutely then your pool will be garbage. Please start off the relationship on the right foot which means YOU control the design and specifications. If they can’t meet them, then you either take the line item off their hands and subcontract on your own (they won’t want that of course because it means less money for them) OR you find a new builder who will do what YOU WANT. Most pool builders are glorified schedulers - they don’t actually build anything, they simply schedule the subcontractors to do the work and they handle all the paperwork and money transfers. So don’t believe them when they try to scare you.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,627
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Speaking of scary, here's the dealio: RESIDUAL SANITATION. That's what you want. Ozone and UV systems don't provide any. They are both gizmos, at your equipment pad, that process the water. But you must pass the pool water through them for them to do their thing. How long do you expect it would take every teaspoon of your water to get sucked up into the pool pump so that it can pass thought these gizmos? The answer is basically forever, but let's say hours.
Well what happens when little Tommy pees in your pool? Or a bird target practices during a flyover? Or a thirsty gopher falls in and drowns and ends up in your skimmer? How many hours are you willing to swim in your contaminated pool before any of those goodies finally gets pulled into the skimmer to get processed by your UV and Ozone gizmos? Those devices don't do anything for your water out in the pool. They provide no residual protection.
Enter chlorine. You add it to your pool, with the pump running, and within 30 minutes every teaspoon of your water, everywhere in your pool, is being sanitized. Enter little Tommy, and his "activities" are being sanitized, out in the pool, within seconds. Use a SWG to add the chlorine and you almost never have to think about the condition of your pool again.
This is why you must also use chlorine when you have a UV or Ozone system, because even the manufacturers of these products (who will all recommend some amount of chlorine), know they don't really do anything for you (in an outdoor, residential pool).
UV and Ozone systems are good for one thing in a residential pool: making the builder some extra profit. That's it.
Well what happens when little Tommy pees in your pool? Or a bird target practices during a flyover? Or a thirsty gopher falls in and drowns and ends up in your skimmer? How many hours are you willing to swim in your contaminated pool before any of those goodies finally gets pulled into the skimmer to get processed by your UV and Ozone gizmos? Those devices don't do anything for your water out in the pool. They provide no residual protection.
Enter chlorine. You add it to your pool, with the pump running, and within 30 minutes every teaspoon of your water, everywhere in your pool, is being sanitized. Enter little Tommy, and his "activities" are being sanitized, out in the pool, within seconds. Use a SWG to add the chlorine and you almost never have to think about the condition of your pool again.
This is why you must also use chlorine when you have a UV or Ozone system, because even the manufacturers of these products (who will all recommend some amount of chlorine), know they don't really do anything for you (in an outdoor, residential pool).
UV and Ozone systems are good for one thing in a residential pool: making the builder some extra profit. That's it.
Bob,
Do you plan to take care of the pool yourself or are you going to use a pool service?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Do you plan to take care of the pool yourself or are you going to use a pool service?
Thanks,
Jim R.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 64,776
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Manufacturer your chlorine on site using a SWG is the best way to sanitize your pool. Been using SWG's for 30 years.
Get the Pentair IntelliChlor IC60.
- Jul 17, 2019
- 4,054
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Salt.
As others have said, be prepared for your builder to steer you to UV/Ozone sanitation since they get more incentives to sell those systems. Salt systems are better for the homeowner, but your builder may miss out on their cruise or incentive trip to the Bahamas.
As others have said, be prepared for your builder to steer you to UV/Ozone sanitation since they get more incentives to sell those systems. Salt systems are better for the homeowner, but your builder may miss out on their cruise or incentive trip to the Bahamas.
What they all said LOL Share all of your build details here so we can make sure your pool is purrfect for you and your yard.
12' deep??? Oh @YippeeSkippy you are going to LOVE this one! She LOVES a great diving pool as do I!
12' deep??? Oh @YippeeSkippy you are going to LOVE this one! She LOVES a great diving pool as do I!
- Jan 3, 2023
- 344
- Pool Size
- 9500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Agree with everyone here. For what it is worth, I wanted salt to begin with and was talked out of it before I knew of this site. I started with UV/Ozone and switched to salt within weeks. I have ZERO regrets.