Dumping Salt in pool with regular filter

[coffeegirl]

A friend thought dumping bags of salt into her pool would help with softening and keeping out contaminants. She does NOT have a salt water generator. Does this chemically do anything to help?

[frustratedpoolmom]

Chemically, no, though some folks do it because they like the way the salt makes the water "feel".

[spishex]

There are a few threads about this. Here's the most recent one I see.

[sbluhm]

I don't think salt will do anything to contaminants.

However, lots of people on this forum (myself included) add salt to their pool, even without an SWG, as it's reported to improve the water feel and eye comfort.

She should buy a set of salt test strips and test her level.. a lot of times there is already a measurable amount of salt in the water just from it being in other chemicals.

Hope that helps!

Steve

[richincome]

Does this change anything that you have to do? i.e. lessen the amount of chlorine used?
I am currently using the BBB method in a 20k inground pool. ... also using floating pool tabs.
Also, is there a way to calculate the initial amount of solar salt to use?

Thanks!

[JasonLion]

No, salt doesn't change any of the other chemistry. It just makes the water feel better, at least for most people, it is a subjective judgement.

When adding salt for feel, you want the salt level to be around 2,000. However, your salt will always start above zero, so it is best to get some salt test strips. You can use my Pool Calculator to figure out how much salt to use given your starting level and the size of the pool.

[richincome]

Thank you. That's what I needed to know!