Please help: Not sure how to open new salt water pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
A

Alex

0
Jul 24, 2011
13
Quebec
Hi all,

I'm so glad I discovered this excellent site. We just bought a Fast Set inflatable pool (info in my signature) and figured we'd use salt water, but we had no idea maintaining a pool is so complicated!! I've looked at a lot of the pool school info, but I'm still not sure what to do. We're filling it now and the water is very clear (so far), but we have no idea what to do now. We got a bag of pool salt and a salt water maintenance kit (from Aquarius). We've added the algeacide, but not any salt yet.

We realize from this site we need a top-quality water test kit, which we're about to go get right now. But what do we do next? How do we add the salt, and how much? I believe the right salt level we want is 200 to 400 ppm. Is that right?

The pool came with a filter (with cartridge). I guess we should turn it on? Do we also need a salt water chlorine generator? Is there anything else we need? Are there some good articles on this site or threads that would help us?

Any help would be most appreciated!!

Alex
 
Hi again,

Also, do we need to get a salt water chlorine generator? I guess you just add it somehow to the filter that the pool came with? The local pool company just told me we do need to get an SWG, but I thought I read somewhere it's not needed.

Thanks again,
Alex
 
Hi Alex and welcome to the forum :wave:

Are you sure you want a SWG for the pool? You do not need one and you can maintain it quite easily without a SWG.

So, I suggest you read the Pool School info/directions for Temporary and Seasonal Pools. This gives step by step instructions on how to start-up.
Here's the link: pool-school/temporary_pool_guide

Let us know what you think :)

When you get the pool filled and pump running, add one cup (about 8ozs) of 6% plain bleach.
Add two cups tonight after the sun is off the pool. Always wait 30 minutes with pump running before swimming.

Until you get a kit, take a water sample to a pool store tomorrow and get a full set of test results and post them back in this thread.
 
Hi TFP Moderator,

Thanks for the quick reply. If we don't need an SWQ, we're happy not to get one. I have read the beginners guide, but it seems not to apply to salt water pools. Or does it? Do we add all the things it talks about in steps 3 to 7, for example? Bleach, borax, dry acid, dichlor? It also doesn't say anything about when to add the salt, how much and what levels to maintain it at.

There's also nothing there about the other products in this salt pool maintenance kit we got - like liquid algaecide, pool water stabilizer, comfort (softener and conditioner) and stain preventer.

Thanks for any additional advice!

Alex
 
Hey Alex, Don't make this harder than it has to be. It will get easier the more you do it. Don't worry about anything right now except what's in the temporary pool article. You don't need a swg.

Take a look at the ingredients on the stuff you have and list them here. We'll help you with you can use.
 
Hi guys,

We added 5 kilos of pool salt and 250 ml of liquid algaecide from the salt water maintenance kit. (The algaecide contains dimethyl nezyl ammonium chlorides - and the bottle says it controls algae.)

I then got the best test kit I could find - a HydroPro 4-in-1 text kit and salt test strips. The salt test showed we had somewhere around 1,000 ppm of salt. (The test isn't very accurate. It goes up to 6,000 ppm in 1,000 increments.)

The other tests showed we have zero residual chlorine, pH of 7.8 and in the total alkalinity test, we had to add four or five drops of the solution to get the water clear.

At the pool store, I asked for 6% pure bleach, and the salesperson sold us a chloronating liquid called UltrAqua, which he said is 12% chlorine. (I see on the bottle it contains 10.8% sodium hypochlorite and has 10.3% available chlorine content.) The salesperson said it's the same as 6% pure bleach, except two times more concentrated.

So I just added half a cup of this stuff, plus the remaining 250 ml in the bottle of algaecide. (This was after doing the tests described above.)

The salt water maintenance kit I mentioned has three other products it says to include an hour after we add the algaecide: first a bottle of "stain prevent" (described on the bottle as "a mixture of water conditioners which make pool minerals and metals inactive" - no ingredients listed), which it says to let circulate for one hour; then "comfort" (described as a softener and conditioner, increasing sanitizer efficiency - no ingredients listed), which it says to let circulate for one hour; and finally, it says to add "pool water stabilizer" (which the bottle says "prevents chlorine loss due to UV rays").

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be highly appreciated.

Thanks so much!
Alex
 
Don't worry about adding any of the stuff except the stabilizer. You'll need 400 grams of that. The chlorine is good and you'll need to learn to use the Pool Calc to figure how much you should add each time.
 
If you have a salt water chlorine generator you don't need to regularly add chlorine but I didn't think you had one. I thought you just have the pump and filter. In that case, you'll need to add chlorine every day.
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks for your message. So unless you have an SWG, you need to add daily chlorine. We were actually trying to avoid chlorine. You're saying we can't avoid chlorine if we don't get an SWG?

So what does the salt we've added do in that case?

Alex
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You have to have the salt water chlorine generator unit to make the chlorine from salt added to the water. They produce the same chlorine that you would add daily if you don't have one. You still have chlorine in the pool. There are only a few approved sanitizers for pools. Chlorine is not the evil it's made to be. Proper maintenance is the key to keeping the pool clean and a pleasure to swim in.

The salt you added really doesn't do anything without the generator except make the water feel softer to some people.
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks very much. I added the stabilizer, but the small crystals have been sitting at the bottom of the pool for about 15 hours (overnight) and haven't dissolved, even when I pick them up in the scooper and swish them around. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you,
Alex
 
Hi again,

Since my last message, I've picked up most of the crystals with the scooper out of the pool. A few are still at the bottom. I don't have a skimmer. Should I add these crystals into the pump/filter somehow? Or dissolve them in a bucket of warm or hot water, then add them to the pool water directly?

Thanks again for any help,
Alex
 
... and should I make sure to get ALL of the crystals from the bottom of the pool? Also, should we avoid swimming in the pool until all of the crystals are dissolved or scooped out?

Thanks again,
Alex
 
Just stir them around ever so often. It's actually a good idea to swim while they're in there. The action of the water will help them dissolve.

The ones you have out, just put them in a sock and hang them in front of a return.
 
Thanks again, Dave! All your help is really appreciated!

Btw, in the ph test, it looks like the water in the vial is orange. It most closely matches the colour of the 7.6 level, but it's a fair bit darker. Does that mean we're right off the scale??

Alex
 
Hi Dave,

The top number is 8.2. Below that is 7.8.

Btw, this test may not be the ideal one. It is a drop test, but on the CL test, the increments don't give highly accurate readings. There is no increment between 1.0 and 3.0. Should I order one of the ones recommended on this site? This is the best drop test I could find at our local retail outlets and pool store.

Thanks again,
Alex
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply