my wife and i just got a 33' x 54" above ground pool. It is maintenanced by a simple clean system that includes a black diamond cartridge filter and uses simple salt hybrid system to stay clean...does anyone know anything about this types of system? I'm looking for any advice that anyone can give. We have had the pool for about a month now and the water stays pretty clear but now there is an oily film on the top of the water and I am unsure of what chemicals to add and what not to add...the water is very soft and the alkalinity is low.
simple salt system w/black diamond filter
- Thread starter kevbeanz
- Start date
Hi, welcome to TFP! The Simple Salt System uses copper to kill algae, and recommends weekly borate additions as a mild algaecide and "shock" with calcium hypochlorite for sanitation. At TFP we do not recommend use of copper mineral systems, as they can stain pool surfaces and light colored hair as the copper concentration builds up over time. An oily film on the surface of the water may be build up and residue from sunscreen, lotions, and natural body oils that have not been oxidized. If you could post a current set of test results for FC, CC, TA, pH, CYA, and CH we could tell you if you have enough FC to oxidize swimmer waste and other organic matter in the pool.
Thank you for your response. I will go get a better test kit afyer the holiday(noone is open to get it today)...I have a test strip kit but it really doesnt give good specific numbers on all that stuff...I tested it today and it just said the alkalinity was little low. The water is crystal clear other than the light oily film. I an just unsure of what I am supposed to add. Whether or not adding calcium or alkalinity increaser will help?..or even chlorine itself
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It is hard to find any good information about the simple salt/simple clean system anywhere on-line.
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It is hard to find any good information about the simple salt/simple clean system anywhere on-line.
Welcome to TFP!
That system is what we call an Ionizer System. It introduces a metal, typically and in this case copper, in to the pool. Copper is a pretty effective algaecide, so it keeps the pool fairly clear. But, copper has some significant downsides. It can cause staining, especially of hair. Ever heard of someone getting green hair from swimming? They probably blamed it on the chlorine, but it was from copper in the water. On top of that copper provides no oxidation of bather waste and no sanitation of the water. So all the sweat, skin cells, fecal matter (oh yes, plenty of that gets introduced when you swim), sunscreen, and various virus and bacteria are just swimming around in the water. The best oxidizer/sanitizer for water is chlorine, and pools with proper levels of chlorine take care of all those things mentioned quite quickly as well as kills algae.
I absolutely HATE copper in pool water. All it does is prevent algae, nothing else, yet it is sold as some miracle cure that lets you use less chlorine. People are easily sold on that because most chlorine pools are managed very poorly so their experience is less than stellar. It's like if someone had only ever eaten burnt-to-a-crisp steak and decided that steak tastes bad. Using chlorine in the correct amount, as we teach here, creates a swimming experience that is worlds ahead of anything else. It feels better and is safer than any 'alternative' system on the market, especially ionizers.
So there really isn't much else to the system. It adds copper and tells you to run a low to no chlorine level and then shock occasionally to try to kill all the stuff that has built up over the week. Knowing what I know about pool chemistry I would rip such a system out in a heartbeat. Which I did with the mineral system that was on my pool when I purchased my house. It used silver, which is far superior to copper, yet still far inferior to properly dosed chlorine.
That system is what we call an Ionizer System. It introduces a metal, typically and in this case copper, in to the pool. Copper is a pretty effective algaecide, so it keeps the pool fairly clear. But, copper has some significant downsides. It can cause staining, especially of hair. Ever heard of someone getting green hair from swimming? They probably blamed it on the chlorine, but it was from copper in the water. On top of that copper provides no oxidation of bather waste and no sanitation of the water. So all the sweat, skin cells, fecal matter (oh yes, plenty of that gets introduced when you swim), sunscreen, and various virus and bacteria are just swimming around in the water. The best oxidizer/sanitizer for water is chlorine, and pools with proper levels of chlorine take care of all those things mentioned quite quickly as well as kills algae.
I absolutely HATE copper in pool water. All it does is prevent algae, nothing else, yet it is sold as some miracle cure that lets you use less chlorine. People are easily sold on that because most chlorine pools are managed very poorly so their experience is less than stellar. It's like if someone had only ever eaten burnt-to-a-crisp steak and decided that steak tastes bad. Using chlorine in the correct amount, as we teach here, creates a swimming experience that is worlds ahead of anything else. It feels better and is safer than any 'alternative' system on the market, especially ionizers.
So there really isn't much else to the system. It adds copper and tells you to run a low to no chlorine level and then shock occasionally to try to kill all the stuff that has built up over the week. Knowing what I know about pool chemistry I would rip such a system out in a heartbeat. Which I did with the mineral system that was on my pool when I purchased my house. It used silver, which is far superior to copper, yet still far inferior to properly dosed chlorine.
Thank you for that information....do you think it would it help if I added chlorine to the water without replacing the simple salt system?