Hard water > Morton Salt Softener Pellets?

[ddas]

The water in my pool is extremely hard, and according to Pool School, short of draining and refilling, there aren't any other solutions out there.

I just happened to see this product, currently on sale at Sears for $3! Just to take a wild stab in the dark, is this useful at all for use in a pool (and my pool does have a SWG) as a softener?

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... D=11042411

Happy 4th everybody!

 

[Patrick_B]

This is water softener salt. You have to have a water softener to soften your water. It is a device hooked up in your household plumbing. This product will only add salt to your pool, it will not soften the water alone.

 

[ddas]

Right...I was just wondering if it was even in the realm of possibility to use this instead of traditional pool salt. (That's why I mentioned I have a SWG.)

 

[FamilyGuy]

Ddas you use cellulose only? No de? Whats the biggest diff you have noticed if any

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, you can use some kinds of water softener salt to raise the salt level. Look for salt that is 99.4% pure or better and doesn't have any rust inhibitor or other additives. The best choices include Diamond Crystal® Solar Salt Extra Coarse Crystals in blue bags, Morton® White Crystal® Water Softener Salt in blue bags, or Diamond Crystal® Sun Gems® Crystals Water Softener Salt in yellow bags. Water softener salt pellets will also work. Pellets dissolve more slowly, but still dissolve quickly enough to be fine. Pool salt is also fine to use, though it tends to be much more expensive. Potassium chloride will also work, but you need 17% more of it and it is more expensive. Avoid table salt, rock salt, and deicing salt.

 

[ddas]

Yes, you can use some kinds of water softener salt to raise the salt level.

So is it a *good* idea? I know I can add salt when I need to raise the salt level, but I'm specifically wondering whether this water softening soft pellets (which do fit the qualifications you list) would help soften the water. My water is extremely hard (I don't have the results in front of me but I think they've been hovering in the 800's).

@FamilyGuy: (better to respond within that thread so that people can follow the discussion) but the short answer is, I did switch from DE to cellulose and I haven't noticed any difference at all. But being new at this, I don't know what differences I could expect to see. But for what it's worth, I'm happy to be off DE, since that was very skin-irritating.

 

[JasonLion]

As Brushpup said, adding salt doesn't remove CH, which is what most people mean when they say "soften".

If there is some specific reason you need to raise the salt level, then water softener salt is a great choice. But if the SWG is already fine with your current salt level, there is no point in adding more salt.

 

[ddas]

Sorry to belabor the point, but I'm still new at this. I understand your statement that adding salt doesn't affect calcium hardness (CH). Do softener pellets like the ones mentioned above affect CH?

Or to ask it another way, given that my CH is very high, and I have a SWG, is adding this product any better than adding simple pool salt?

 

[JasonLion]

No and no. No form of salt ever lowers the CH level.

All of the various forms of salt are essentially interchangeable, and all have exactly the same effect, except for the additives they may or may not contain. None of the additives do you any good, and most of them cause trouble, so only ever use salt that is as pure as possible.

 

[yeggim]

Sorry to belabor the point, but I'm still new at this. I understand your statement that adding salt doesn't affect calcium hardness (CH). Do softener pellets like the ones mentioned above affect CH?

Or to ask it another way, given that my CH is very high, and I have a SWG, is adding this product any better than adding simple pool salt?

No. You need a water softener appliance to remove minerals like calcium from the water before it goes in the pool. The type of salt used in a water softener can be used to raise the salt level in your pool but it will do nothing to remove any minerals already present in the pool water. It's just salt.

 

[ddas]

OK, now it's clear. Thanks everybody!