Salt Water Cell

[Geophffrey]

Hey all,

Just spent 3 days in a salt water pool resort. Normally I get eczema after a few hours in my pool. Takes a week to resolve. My skin is great after 3 solid days in multiple pools at this salt water resort.

I’m curious if I can install a salt water cell for our pool. How does this work?

I’m also really curious if this ruins leuders coping (it’s a type of limestone made in Texas. Yeehaw!). It’s a very sensitive stone that I wish I hadn’t gotten.

Thank you so much for any help.

Jeff

 

[woodyp]

Is there some kind d of sealer you could put 2 or 3 coats of on that coping?

If you can cut and glue pvc and have the plumbing room.....any body can do it. Some brands require "professional installation" to make the warranty good.. You have any automation features?

 

[JJ_Tex]

I'm assuming you are already having issues with the stone since you called it "sensitive"? If you are having issues, salt water is certainly not going to help the stone but I'm not sure it would make it significantly worse than your pool today.

We are on year 4 of our salt water pool and no corrosion issues on coping (travertine), equipment, patio furniture, etc. and I would do another salt water pool in a heartbeat.

 

[Newdude]

If you have stone that shouldn't be getting wet, it's going to weather either way.

I forget how long you've had your pool but you've been adding Sodium Hyperchorite for at least a year and many pools are approaching 'salt' pool salinity by then. When you test your water before adding salt to start, you will be surprised.

But, neither pool is the salt water you're thinking of. Seawater has 10X the salinity and is a different discussion.

 

[Geophffrey]

I'm assuming you are already having issues with the stone since you called it "sensitive"? If you are having issues, salt water is certainly not going to help the stone but I'm not sure it would make it significantly worse than your pool today.

We are on year 4 of our salt water pool and no corrosion issues on coping (travertine), equipment, patio furniture, etc. and I would do another salt water pool in a heartbeat.

Hey JJ, yeah Leuders is a very porous and sensitive limestone from what I’ve found. You’re very astute to have gleaned that from my post! I have some divots in it already after less than a year. Wish I’d gone with something else for coping.

You think limestone could handle salt water?

 

[Geophffrey]

Is there some kind d of sealer you could put 2 or 3 coats of on that coping?

If you can cut and glue pvc and have the plumbing room.....any body can do it. Some brands require "professional installation" to make the warranty good.. You have any automation features?

I put some impregnantor sealant on the coping, but it’s not holding up as well as I’d hoped. I likely need more and should have put it on before winter hit in Texas. I have an Iaquallink on the pool for the pump and water features.

 

[Geophffrey]

If you have stone that shouldn't be getting wet, it's going to weather either way.

I forget how long you've had your pool but you've been adding Sodium Hyperchorite for at least a year and many pools are approaching 'salt' pool salinity by then. When you test your water before adding salt to start, you will be surprised.

But, neither pool is the salt water you're thinking of. Seawater has 10X the salinity and is a different discussion.

My pool is less than a year old. Do you think that the chlorine and muriatic acid solution I’ve been using will eventually get easier on my skin? Chemicals are perfectly balanced. But I’m requiring more chemicals due to the age of the pool. New pools apparently require more chemicals.

I am entirely curious about switching to salt though as I can’t really enjoy my pool as is using chlorine. These pools at the resort using salt were so easy on my skin.

Maybe it’s due to the newness of the pool and requiring more acid due to new plaster. No idea.

 

[Newdude]

Do you think that the chlorine and muriatic acid solution I’ve been using will eventually get easier on my skin?

Sadly, no. The MA demand will lighten, but that will only help your wallet and to-do list. The chlorine demand will remain and if you have a sensitivity to it, it is what it is.

Please post up a full set of test results.

Do you have municipal water ? If so and you can shower fine, the pool should be less harsh than the tap water.

These pools at the resort using salt were so easy on my skin.

Salt does add a nice feel. Get a K-1766 test kit for $30 to get your baseline. You can target 2000 ppm right then and there to get most of the feels. Plenty of people using bleach add salt with no SWG.

My vote is always for SWG for cost and convenience and it will be here too, but that may take a minute and adding salt only takes a day to mix.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Hey JJ, yeah Leuders is a very porous and sensitive limestone from what I’ve found. You’re very astute to have gleaned that from my post! I have some divots in it already after less than a year. Wish I’d gone with something else for coping.

You think limestone could handle salt water?

If it were me, and I were having issues with my coping, I would try to find a seal for it regardless of whether I was going saltwater or not. Keep in mind that all pool water will have salt in it, a saltwater pool just has slightly more salt. Also note that a saltwater pool has a salt level similar to saline contact solution and is still a fraction of the salinity of ocean water.

If I had skin issues and would enjoy my saltwater pool more than my current pool, I would seal the stone and switch to salt in a heartbeat. Worst case you could drain half your pool and get back to a non-salt pool, and sell your SWCG on ebay.

As Newdude mentioned, you can also do what many do and just add a few bags of salt to your existing pool to enjoy the feel of saltwater at a very minimal expense.

 

[ajw22]

How many gallons in your pool?

The Hayward Aquarite S3 has a Low Salt mode that can be selected.

That can give you more options to experiment on what salt level works best for your comfort and stone.

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Geophffrey]

Sadly, no. The MA demand will lighten, but that will only help your wallet and to-do list. The chlorine demand will remain and if you have a sensitivity to it, it is what it is.

Please post up a full set of test results.

Do you have municipal water ? If so and you can shower fine, the pool should be less harsh than the tap water.

Salt does add a nice feel. Get a K-1766 test kit for $30 to get your baseline. You can target 2000 ppm right then and there to get most of the feels. Plenty of people using bleach add salt with no SWG.

My vote is always for SWG for cost and convenience and it will be here too, but that may take a minute and adding salt only takes a day to mix.

Thank you for your help! I’ll get one of those kits and see where I’m at. If I do just add salt without a cell, will I be able to reduce chlorine usage?

We do have municipal water and it doesn’t bother my skin. My ph is currently 7.5 and my free chlorine is 3.

thank you!

 

[Geophffrey]

How many gallons in your pool?

The Hayward Aquarite S3 has a Low Salt mode that can be selected.

That can give you more options to experiment on what salt level works best for your comfort and stone.

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

My pool is about 19,000 gallons. Thank you for the link! Would you get this over the Pentair intellichlor that you have?

 

[Newdude]

If I do just add salt without a cell, will I be able to reduce chlorine usage?

No. The SWG won't reduce chlorine levels either. It just adds it for you.

We do have municipal water and it doesn’t bother my skin.

Then your pool likely isn't as sanitary as you think. 0 CYA city water with up to 4ppm FC is more harsh than any level CYA/FC per the FC/CYA Levels

 

[Geophffrey]

No. The SWG won't reduce chlorine levels either. It just adds it for you.

Then your pool likely isn't as sanitary as you think. 0 CYA city water with up to 4ppm FC is more harsh than any level CYA/FC per the FC/CYA Levels

Hmm. I can retest my CYA. How often do you test this? I normally just watch my FC and Ph levels. I have some skin autoimmune issues (psoriasis and ezcema) unfortunately. The rest of my family is fine in the pool. Do you mind letting me know the proper CYA level? Last I tested using my Taylor kit, it was in range. Is less chlorine better with sensitive skin? I assume less muriatic acid is better for skin?

Would adding the salt without the cell potentially make the water easier on my skin?

Thank you again for your help!! What an amazing community. I really appreciate your help.

 

[Newdude]

Get a good read on the current CYA and report back. Your 3 ppm FC is likely dancing the minimum line. If you get there often, it's a recipe for disaster. Another member in TX is losing 3ppm a day right now, granted they could be 1700 miles from you, but still. Lol.

You need to operate so that you never get to min FC per your CYA (which we'll go over once you have the current level). But let's say your target range is a 4 to 6 you want to add so that you never fall below target with thr current daily loss. If it's 3 right now, that means add to 8 or 9 so that after you lose it, you're still in range when it's time for tomorrow's dose.

Is less chlorine better with sensitive skin?

No. If anything it will give everyone rashes when the ickies spread easily. 'Hot tub rash' is a common issue from undersanitizing.

I have some skin autoimmune issues (psoriasis and ezcema) unfortunately.

I believe you would feel a benefit from adding salt, with or without the SWG. I had 3 friends over the years with similar concerns and my pool was the only one they wanted to swim in. They came over alot and it was fine by me cuz they were good people.

 

[ajw22]

My pool is about 19,000 gallons. Thank you for the link! Would you get this over the Pentair intellichlor that you have?

With 19,000 gallons you need a 40K SWG cell.

I pointed out the low salt mode due to your leuder stone concerns. But a 40K cell in low salt mode acts like a 20K cell and you would need to run the system at 100% 24/7 to get enough chlorine generated.

I prefer the Intellichlor SWG system. I think it is more robust than the Hayward Aquarite system. Especially with all the board problems Aquarite users seem to have. With the IntelliChlor you get all new electronic controls with every new cell.

What automation pool controllers do you have?

 

[Geophffrey]

Get a good read on the current CYA and report back. Your 3 ppm FC is likely dancing the minimum line. If you get there often, it's a recipe for disaster. Another member in TX is losing 3ppm a day right now, granted they could be 1700 miles from you, but still. Lol.

You need to operate so that you never get to min FC per your CYA (which we'll go over once you have the current level). But let's say your target range is a 4 to 6 you want to add so that you never fall below target with thr current daily loss. If it's 3 right now, that means add to 8 or 9 so that after you lose it, you're still in range when it's time for tomorrow's dose.

No. If anything it will give everyone rashes when the ickies spread easily. 'Hot tub rash' is a common issue from undersanitizing.

I believe you would feel a benefit from adding salt, with or without the SWG. I had 3 friends over the years with similar concerns and my pool was the only one they wanted to swim in. They came over alot and it was fine by me cuz they were good people.

Man I laughed out loud at 1700 miles away. It’s true. Why is this state so big…

So I ran the CYA test and it doesn’t even really register. I guess it’s high. See attached photo.

Can I come to your pool?

 

[Newdude]

So I ran the CYA test and it doesn’t even really register. I guess it’s high.

OK. So your target range will likely be in the high teens and you've been running a 3. You effectively have no chlorine and even if you added a few ppm a day, it was WAY too little.

With any luck you have irritation from that, not the pool. This fits with why you don't notice the FC in the shower but the pool is a problem.

We need a dilution test as a CYA of 90+ gets unable to decipher. Fill the bottle half with pool water and half with tap water. Shake well and dump half of it out, back down to the lable. Then add the CYA reagent and test. Double the result.

Any idea how it got so high if it was in range recently ?

Can I come to your pool?

Anytime.

 

[Geophffrey]

With 19,000 gallons you need a 40K SWG cell.

I pointed out the low salt mode due to your leuder stone concerns. But a 40K cell in low salt mode acts like a 20K cell and you would need to run the system at 100% 24/7 to get enough chlorine generated.

I prefer the Intellichlor SWG system. I think it is more robust than the Hayward Aquarite system. Especially with all the board problems Aquarite users seem to have. With the IntelliChlor you get all new electronic controls with every new cell.

What automation pool controllers do you have?

Awesome thank you. These SWG are expensive. The first time I went to Leslie’s a guy told me a pool is like a boat. I’m starting to understand his analogy. But I was the one that wanted the pool for use with my daughter. So I need to do what will make it comfortable.

I use an iAquaLink 2.0 for automation. I have a pump for waterfalls and pool, blowers for the spa and a heater for pool/spa.

Do you recommend a good place to buy the 40k cell? How often do you need to throw a bag of salt in?

Thank you for your help!

 

[ajw22]

Your high CYA level shows that you need to stop chlorinating your pool using TriChlor as TriChlor adds CYA with every tablet.

You need to chlorinate your pool with liquid chlorine or a SWG. A SWG looks expensive only because you are buying a few years of chlorine upfront. When you factor in the time saved not lugging tablets or jugs the SWG is well worth the expense.

With a Jandy system you should get the Jandy Aquapure SWG that interfaces with your IAqualink.

Pool Salt System: Jandy AquaPure Salt Water Pool System | Jandy

Looking for a Pool Salt System? Find the Jandy AquaPure Salt Water Pool System for the Perfect Pool Experience. Buy Now w/ a Pool Pro Near You!

www.jandy.com

Jandy AquaPure SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com