I am completely frustrated. I have a new pool (plaster/quartz) that was finished last year. When it was first opened, we didn't add any salt and used chlorine instead since it was close to closing time. My pool was opened last week by my builder's pool company. When they tested the salt level, it was 300ppm. I finally got everything semi-balanced and was ready to fire up the SWG. I added 700 lbs of salt yesterday morning. According to the chart, for my pool's size (29000 gal), I should add about 800 lbs of salt to get to 3200ppm. I added 700 lbs figuring I would tweak it so I didn't go over 3200. Last night, my SWG was telling me I was at 5400ppm. I used an AquaRite strip and after 5 minutes, it read 4030. I don't know if it matters, but I left the strip in the water and this morning it read 4730 and my SWG still reads 5400. I am not sure who to trust. What is the most reliable way to determine salt levels? Is the Taylor K-1766 the standard or would my SWG be more accurate? The only thing that was added was some HTH natural clarifier (which contains chitosan). Is there any way this could have had an impact on these numbers? I don't mind draining the pool if I have to, but I prefer not to find out that there was a problem with my SWG after I've drained the pool. BTW, I stopped by the local pool store to have my water tested and the numbers are below (they don't test salt levels).
Temp: 70
Sat Ind: -0.3
TDS: 4500
CYA: 108
Tot Chl: 1.3
Free Chl: 1.1
pH: 7.3
Tot Alk: 104
Adj Tot Alk: 72
Tot Hardness: 308
Optimizer+: 4
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Manganese: No
Temp: 70
Sat Ind: -0.3
TDS: 4500
CYA: 108
Tot Chl: 1.3
Free Chl: 1.1
pH: 7.3
Tot Alk: 104
Adj Tot Alk: 72
Tot Hardness: 308
Optimizer+: 4
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Manganese: No