"KenK" wrote in message
...

My replacement swamp cooler came with a bleed t-connector in the hose
between the water pump and the pads.

It took quite a bit of digging with Google but those selling these bleed
t-
connector kits say they remove some of the water from the cooler thus
bringing in fresh water and reducing scale buildup.

The water from the T pours out on the
ground under the cooler making a mess.

Easy to avoid a mess by extending the line
so it ends up in the garden etc.

Also adds to well pump usage with wear-and-tear and electricity usage.

Nope, not if the volume of water removed is sensible.

What do you think? Is the scale buildup worse than these problems?

Depends on how hard your water is.

I can't decide whether to run the T-connector water in
or out of the cooler. Is the mess worse than the scale?

Its easy to avoid the mess by extending where the removed
water ends up and limiting the volume of it.