I see so many of you posting salt results in your testing, and I have heard many people talk about liking the way the water feels. Is there an article I am missing in pool school about salt? What are the pros and cons to implementing salt? How does one go about making this addition to a pool?
Should I go salt?
- Thread starter moljourn
- Start date
Personal preference really. Odds are if you have had your pool for awhile and using bleach, your salt level is well above zero ... maybe in the 1000ppm range.
SWG generally require 3000-3500ppm of salt, but I have read posts here about people adding salt up to 2000-2500ppm without a SWG just for the "better feel". Note that the ocean is around 35,000ppm.
There are a few things to consider. The salt water may be a little harder on metal around your pool and some natural stones (coping etc) could be damaged by the salt.
If you want to add salt, it is as easy as buying a few 40 lb bags (look for Solar Salt at HD/Lowes/etc which is about half the price of "pool salt"), dumping them in the pool, and brushing the salt around a bit until it dissolves (usually within 10 minutes from my experience).
EDIT: For your pool, each 40lb bag will raise the salt by about 250ppm. And each bag costs about $5.
SWG generally require 3000-3500ppm of salt, but I have read posts here about people adding salt up to 2000-2500ppm without a SWG just for the "better feel". Note that the ocean is around 35,000ppm.
There are a few things to consider. The salt water may be a little harder on metal around your pool and some natural stones (coping etc) could be damaged by the salt.
If you want to add salt, it is as easy as buying a few 40 lb bags (look for Solar Salt at HD/Lowes/etc which is about half the price of "pool salt"), dumping them in the pool, and brushing the salt around a bit until it dissolves (usually within 10 minutes from my experience).
EDIT: For your pool, each 40lb bag will raise the salt by about 250ppm. And each bag costs about $5.
For your reading pleasure: http://www.troublefreepool.com/can-you-add-salt-t6006.html (the link to this thread was hidden in the further reading section of pool school)
So since we are sellingmoljourn said:I'm in! Thank you both. The thread you linked sold me!
...how bout a swg to go with that salt?
Well, the recommendation seems to be to size the cell for 2-3X your pool size. So look in the 40k range on the cells. Theoretically since they are not run as hard/often they will last longer and offset the higher cell replacement cost.
I only have some experience with the Hayward line with my old pool and going to be installing one on my current pool. Reading around here they seem like a middle-of-the-road option.
I only have some experience with the Hayward line with my old pool and going to be installing one on my current pool. Reading around here they seem like a middle-of-the-road option.
We just installed Pentar? And some device called the IMPULSE 3000? It supposedly keeps the SWG clean?moljourn said:Hahaha!
Wish I knew more about that stuff. I am going to hold off on putting an SWCG in. I just added salt to my pool for feel. I plan to keep it around 2000ppm and haven't been in yet (maybe this weekend) but can tell just by touch that the water feels AMAZING!
SWG - Here is my opinion. I have a 2 foot waterfall from my hot tub to my pool, so I need to add about 16 oz of muriatic acid each week. Besides that, my levels are constant from March through October. Very little maintenance except for cleaning. Couldn't go without one.