Adding salt to pool

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madddaug

Member
May 24, 2023
11
Illinois
Good morning, we mostly rely on liquid chlorine and keep the auto chlorinator to a trickle and have done so for many years. I have noticed with time that my skin is dry after being in the pool for quite a while. I have a few friends that have noticed it too, we are all in our 60's. It doesn't itch, just feels dry and you can see it's dry. BTW, our pool is completely balanced and CYA is 35.
Would adding some salt tablets help to soften the water??
Thanks for your input.
 
Some owners do add salt to their pool even if they don't use a SWG. But before adding salt, I would recommend a couple things:
1 - Post a full set of regular test results. Your Poolmath logs are blank.
2 - Test your current salt level with a Taylor K-1766. Even the other products you use all season long add some salt, so you don't want to go too high or just guess.
 
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madddaug said:
I haven't looked that far into what is the correct number/adding salt.
Click to expand...
Once you know your current salt level, I would experiment in stages. For example, say you confirm your current salt level is 500, then you might add another 500 ppm to see how 1,000 ppm of salt feels to everyone. You can add more later as needed. SWG systems typically operate around 3,000 - 3,500, so you have lots of wiggle room to experiment.
 
Thanks so much. We definitely will go slow with this process, lastly is there one salt over the other that most use? I read here "Solar Salt" but then read that was not the salt to use.
Now to look for a salt calculator which I assume is on here somewhere?
 
madddaug said:
is there one salt over the other that most use? I read here "Solar Salt" but then read that was not the salt to use.
Click to expand...
The most common are probably your typical yellow bags of Morton water softener salt (pellets) or the blue bags of solar salt from like Home Depot. There are others of course. Solar salt is supposed to be a bit more refined to eliminate contaminants, but in every batch across every brand, I think once in a while someone sees something odd. But with either one you should be fine. Dump it in and every few minutes brush it around.
 
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madddaug said:
Texas Spash, you're the best. We will proceed slowwwwwly and just see how it goes. We are old timers and have had the pool for 30 years. Hubby is excited to be hauling the salt bags! Not...
Click to expand...
daug,

Congrats on changing to swg! We're about 10 years down the road from you. My wife noticed the same thing back when we were in our 60's so I tried salt... she was very skeptical but tolerated a trial with just salt before I finished installing the swg. Within 10 minutes she exclaimed "This is great! I never want anything other than swg again". Skip a little less then 10 years down the road to today. We just installed a new OB pool in the house I OB'd two years ago. With new plaster we haven't started up the salt system for the recommended 30 days but that's definitely next. She can't wait and neither can I. I was also shocked that we already have 1000 ppm salt and I guess it's due to a very high chlorine demand from our kind of nasty well water. The water has cleared up nicely though and I get the robot this Saturday finally! Even with the 1000 ppm salt starting point I'm gonna need 15 bags +/- and I dread lugging this to the pool.

As to the salt type, I've used all kinds and they all work fine. Some of the brands seem to have a little more dirt and sand than others but that cleans up quickly. This doesn't seem to correlate to price. I also have a water softener and I use a LOT of salt in it. I've tried a lot of different brands and found the salt bin gets a nasty brown foam on top for all brands except very few. My thinking is that less dirt is better and may be an indicator of less harmful minerals but who knows? One of the best I've found is at Tractor Supply and it looks like this. So far no muck build up at all and others have this happen from just a few bags:
1720444859653.jpeg

I haven't tried Morton's brand because it doesn't come in a large crystal (not important to pools but prevents bridging in my water softener). I think they'll also deliver it for free! Now that's a priceless advantage for old backs!

I hope this is helpful.

Chris
 
setsailsoon said:
daug,

Congrats on changing to swg! We're about 10 years down the road from you. My wife noticed the same thing back when we were in our 60's so I tried salt... she was very skeptical but tolerated a trial with just salt before I finished installing the swg. Within 10 minutes she exclaimed "This is great! I never want anything other than swg again". Skip a little less then 10 years down the road to today. We just installed a new OB pool in the house I OB'd two years ago. With new plaster we haven't started up the salt system for the recommended 30 days but that's definitely next. She can't wait and neither can I. I was also shocked that we already have 1000 ppm salt and I guess it's due to a very high chlorine demand from our kind of nasty well water. The water has cleared up nicely though and I get the robot this Saturday finally! Even with the 1000 ppm salt starting point I'm gonna need 15 bags +/- and I dread lugging this to the pool.

As to the salt type, I've used all kinds and they all work fine. Some of the brands seem to have a little more dirt and sand than others but that cleans up quickly. This doesn't seem to correlate to price. I also have a water softener and I use a LOT of salt in it. I've tried a lot of different brands and found the salt bin gets a nasty brown foam on top for all brands except very few. My thinking is that less dirt is better and may be an indicator of less harmful minerals but who knows? One of the best I've found is at Tractor Supply and it looks like this. So far no muck build up at all and others have this happen from just a few bags:
View attachment 593873

I haven't tried Morton's brand because it doesn't come in a large crystal (not important to pools but prevents bridging in my water softener). I think they'll also deliver it for free! Now that's a priceless advantage for old backs!

I hope this is helpful.

Chris
Click to expand...
Thanks Chris for your input
 
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