Effects of Potassium water softener on pool water?

[perryperson]

Does anyone know what the effects of using a potassium chloride water softener, as the fill water, will have on a plaster pool? I've been told that it will deteriorate the surface of the pool walls and add calcium to the water. Any truth to that? We have a whole-house water filter/softener that also goes to the pool fill valve.

Thanks!

 

[reebok]

I know some people use that salt as salt for the pool (i.e. salt water chlorine generators), so I would imagine it'd be fine. use the search function to search for potassium chloride to find a few posts about it. it sounds like you don't have a choice anyway. monitoring your levels would be key, as jasonlion has said that people can manage up to about 1200ppm calcium hardness if I remember correctly, as long as they keep their pH a bit lower. I'm sure he will clarify soon. as for a story about testing water, the two local pool stores (pinch a penny and leslies) both told me my calcium hardness was 400ppm. when I got my own kit from www.tftestkits.net, turns out it was actually 620 and I was having scaling issues in my pool. so if CH is going to be an issue for you, I would highly recommend a good test kit.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

A water softener removes calcium and replaces it with salt, in your case potassium chloride. Once in the pool, potassium chloride behaves just like regular salt. Topping off the pool from a water softener is fine, though water softeners really aren't designed to handle the kind of volume of water that a pool needs.

The main thing you need to do is to keep an eye on your salt and calcium levels. You don't want salt going over 5000, and you don't want CH getting too low (in a plaster pool anyway). Most of the time it will be easy to keep both of these levels within bounds, though is extreme cases, especially in arid climates, the salt level can get too high.

 

[mdhwoods]

Does anyone know what the effects of using a potassium chloride water softener, as the fill water, will have on a plaster pool? I've been told that it will deteriorate the surface of the pool walls and add calcium to the water. Any truth to that? We have a whole-house water filter/softener that also goes to the pool fill valve.

Thanks!

Your softener should also have a bypass. I would just bypass it, fill the pool and be done. Also, as Jason stated they are not set to handle that much volume. You beads will become super saturated before your softener is ready to backwash. Once it gets to that point it will no longer act as a softener.

 

[Guest]

I fill my pool with softened water and add calcium when needed (usually about once a year) to maintian my CH in proper range. The advantage of using the water from the water softener is that it will also remove any other metals like iron that might be present in your fill water.

 

[duraleigh]

The advantage of using the water from the water softener is that it will also remove any other metals like iron that might be present in your fill water.

Amen, Brother! :lol:


Perryperson may find that a softener is beneficial to him/her rather than harmful. My thinking is while they cannot handle a new fill, most softeners have the capacity to condition your refill water (like waterbear does) over the summer.

In fact, I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this website http://www.easywater.com They have a different technology and a model they say is designed for pools. I have no other information but would be curious if anyone has any experience with this product. It is pretty heavily advertised here in Raleigh

 

[JasonLion]

In fact, I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this website http://www.easywater.com They have a different technology and a model they say is designed for pools. I have no other information but would be curious if anyone has any experience with this product. It is pretty heavily advertised here in Raleigh

Snake oil.

 

[duraleigh]

Snake oil

. Yikes! Does that mean the potato I planted in the back yard (under a full moon, of course) won't help much, either?

 

[Guest]

In fact, I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this website http://www.easywater.com They have a different technology and a model they say is designed for pools. I have no other information but would be curious if anyone has any experience with this product. It is pretty heavily advertised here in Raleigh

Snake oil.

Jason took the words right out of my mouth! If you read their website their device turns scale into scale!