Adding a lot of salt. Normal?

[J3G]

I'm adding ~1 40lb bag every 2 weeks. I'm in Florida but pool is unused now. I have the pump run down to 4hrs and I've set the SWG to its lowest setting. I have no trouble maintaining good Cl levels. I've had my salt levels manually tested to be sure the SWG wasn't misreading too.

Is this normal? Any rules of thumb on consumption rates of salt?

Pool is ~25k gal exposed agg. IG
SWG = purechlor

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Welcome

Unless you are getting torrential down pours resulting in feet of water overflowing your pool, you should not be adding that much salt that frequently. If you are actually losing that much salt then i think you have a leak.

Do you have a pool auto fill? How much water does you pool lose normally and how often do you top off?

Honestly, you will not find anyone here that puts much credence in pool store testing. TFP is all about testing and adjusting your water chemistry yourself.

Have you checked out Pool School and read through that section?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006

 

[ping]

Do you know what the CYA level has been doing? The CYA, salt level, and perhaps the CH level will all be changing if the pool is losing that much salt.

With our dry conditions I've only added the extra 3 bags of salt in 5 years.

 

[J3G]

I definitely am not losing water/salt to rain overflow.

I don't 'think' I have a leak. I tried the bucket comparison as recommended in the pool school section. After 4 days the bucket is ~1 inch higher than pool. (so ~ .25"/day difference). My neighbors seem to think that difference is borderline normal since my pool receives varying amounts of sun while bucket was mostly shaded. No auto-fill so I'm aware of amount water added

My CYA is about 70ppm now. I'm adding stabilizer roughly every ~3-4months. CH is 400ppm. My city water is naturally high in calcium.

This is my first pool and I've only been in this house for 1year so I don't have a lot of perspective/history to draw on. Also, when I first moved in I had the pool resurfaced, SWG added, filter and valves replaced. So everything is relatively new and working well.

What do you guys think? Leak? Hyper-active SWG? Aliens?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

So let me ask you this - when you add salt, who or what is indicating that your salt is low?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006

 

[J3G]

There is a low salt indicator on the SWG. I've verified its accuracy by testing samples at a pool supply store (I don't have a kit test for salt myself)

 

[bmoreswim]

Did I miss something? If the pool is 1" lower than the bucket after just 4 days, you have a leak. Otherwise they would be the same water level. Sun versus shade makes no difference for evaporation.

 

[gwegan]

A low salt indication can mean several things besides low salt.

First, I strongly urge you to get one of our recommended test kits (a TF 100 or the K- 2006) and a Taylor Salt Test kit K-1766. Pool store testing is generally not reliable. I suspect your salt is high. How old is the salt cell?

Second, unless you are getting massive amounts of rain and huge evaporation you have a leak. Sounds like a small one. I'd let the pool drop until it is below the skimmer. If the leak drastically slows then its the skimmer. That rate is so low it will be difficult to tell with a dye test. Do you have bubbles coming out your returns or air in the pump basket?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

First, I strongly urge you to get one of our recommended test kits (a TF 100 or the K- 2006) and a Taylor Salt Test kit K-1766. Pool store testing is generally not reliable.

+1 ^^^^^^

Best advice yet!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006

 

[J3G]

A low salt indication can mean several things besides low salt.

First, I strongly urge you to get one of our recommended test kits (a TF 100 or the K- 2006) and a Taylor Salt Test kit K-1766. Pool store testing is generally not reliable. I suspect your salt is high. How old is the salt cell?

Second, unless you are getting massive amounts of rain and huge evaporation you have a leak. Sounds like a small one. I'd let the pool drop until it is below the skimmer. If the leak drastically slows then its the skimmer. That rate is so low it will be difficult to tell with a dye test. Do you have bubbles coming out your returns or air in the pump basket?

Salt cell is less than 1yr.

I'll try letting it drop as you mentioned and see if there is a difference in rate of loss

There is a small amount of air in pump basket and out the returns. New gasket on the pump basket cover so I'm pretty sure not entering there. Think I have supply side leak? The guy that resurfaced my pool and replaced a lot of kit said a small amount of air is normal. I assume now that was BS. If supply side leak would I only lose water when pump is off?

 

[ping]

All things are pointing to a slow leak, the bucket test, needing to add CYA every 3 months, and needing to add salt. There is still a chance that the SWG is not reading right and the pool store salt test is wrong.

Here is a write up on suction side leaks, Pool School - Suction Side Air Leaks.

 

[gwegan]

Ping has a good analysis above. Read the pool school article and let the water drop below the skimmer.

 

[J3G]

Ok thanks to everyone for input. I'll see if I can track this down