What Salt Test Strips for pool opening do you recommend?

[aarsic]

When they open the pool they (pool company) will shock and vacuum (as well as hook stuff up). What salt test strips do you recommend to test for how much salt is needed?

In case my sig doesn't show it is:

​aarsic
30k gallon in-ground plaster pool, Pentair Whisper-Flo 2.0hp, Jandy AquaPure PLC 1400 Saltwater Cell, Polaris 360 w/booster pump, DE filter. Due to a brain injury I cannot do Pool Math. Don't tell me to do Pool math unless you want to walk me through the whole thing.

 

[pooldv]

I use these, TFTestkits.net

Yesterday mine said I need more salt and my SWG said I need more salt so I am going to Lowes today to get more salt!

 

[aarsic]

Thank you! We don't open until the end of the month. I'm planning to buy the Morton pool salt at Walmart!

 

[pooldv]

Good plan!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I prefer the Taylor's K-1766 Salt test that uses drops. I once compared test strips and the drop test at the same time....way different results! Strips were brand new and drop test was my regular kit. Strips said I had half as much salt as the drop test did.

 

[pooldv]

Uh-oh. Well, I mostly rely on my SWG cell to tell me anyway. I usually add one bag, wait a day, is SWG happy?, no, repeat. I just use bleach in the meantime.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Oh yeah, bottom line is *if the SWG is happy, I'm happy!* no matter what the salt reading says!

 

[aarsic]

I just knew after I ordered the strips someone was going to say the Taylor drops were better, LOL. I think adding the salt slowly is a good idea. The pool store did the water test last year and I was using Mineral Springs so I bought 8 bags of Beginnings $$$ and they said to put all at once in the shallow end. The SWG was happy all season, but I don't think all that salt EVER dissolved! This year - Morton pool salt! It's about $300 cheaper in the end!

 

[OTPirate]

I just recently converted to a SWG and I use both. I use the strips (Aquacheck) an indicator if there not enough salt, and then if there seems to be a problem, then I do the drop test. So, it is actually good to have both on hand, that way you are not using the more expensive drop test to do routine checks. Luckily, the Taylor K-1766 yields the same results as my digital reader on my SWG.

 

[aarsic]