Salt Levels High

[king908]

Good Afternoon All,

Well I just opened the pool and added the salt to the pool after setting up SWG.
According to the Pool Calcs I have tried, I have between 39-44,000 gallons of water.
So I went safe for 40,000.

Well I added in all the Salt yesterday, and I added in 25 (40lbs) bags of Salt. PoolCalc stated to add 28 bags approx.
So I went safe and started at 25.

Well this morning I checked my salt Levels, and I am showing that my PPM of Salt is 5600
How the heck am I so above?

Deep End is 10 feet.
Shallow is 3.5 feet.
Width of Shallow is 27 feet across
Width of Deep end is 17 feet across
Total Length is 38 feet.

Below is a pic of the pool to show that is kinda irregular.
[attachment=0:3dklxj23]PoolOpeningDay.jpeg[/attachment:3dklxj23]

What do you think for Pool Volume based on the measurements?
Do I just need more time to let it all settle and mix?

 

[linen]

I would say it is closer to 33000 gallons.

 

[ComputerGuyInNOLA]

Did you check the salt level before hand to see how much salt was already present?

 

[king908]

Did you check the salt level before hand to see how much salt was already present?

Guess I should have, but thought it would have been 0 since I never added it before.

 

[heidiho]

From looking at your picture of the steps there are only 5 risers and even if they were 8 inches each that would only add up to 40 inches,not sure if I am correct assuming this.What I would do is take a dry pole from your net or cleaning equipment and put the handle in at the shallow area ,take it out and measure up the pole to the water line and that will give the depth in shallow end,then go on the diving board and to the same in the deep end,take the average of the 2 measurements and that will give you the average depth in that area,which you could call area 1.I would do the pool in 2 ares,the large section (area 1)17x38xaverage depth of pool which you determined with the pole measurements.Then the other area (which is mostly curves in the wall and steps) I know that you have 10 feet from the edge of area 1 to the wall at the steps ,if you could measure the distance from where the deep end of the pool curves at the left of the steps in a straight line to the wall in the shallow end,(it looks to be approx. 14 ft.) I would take one half of these measurements (10 ft.=5ft and 14ft =7ft.),and that would give a closer vol. of water .Area 2 would be 7 ft x 5ft x depth in shallow end ,then go to pool calculator and do 2 seperate pool areas and then add them together and I think that would give a better idea of tha capacity of the pool.I hope you can understand my thinking

 

[linen]

Guess I should have, but thought it would have been 0 since I never added it before.

Is this a new swg installation or new water? If the water was "old", but the swg new, then depending on what your chlorine source was before, you may have had a significant salt level, since bleach, trichlor, dichlor and lithium hypochlorite add salt.

 

[king908]

Guess I should have, but thought it would have been 0 since I never added it before.

Is this a new swg installation or new water? If the water was "old", but the swg new, then depending on what your chlorine source was before, you may have had a significant salt level, since bleach, trichlor, dichlor and lithium hypochlorite add salt.

AHHHHHH, wonder if that would be it.
I always used Bleach for the past few years. And Chlorine Tabs in the Hayward Chlorinator. I should have checked the Salt level before.

 

[wayner]

So now how to you reduce the salt level in a pool?

 

[king908]

So now how to you reduce the salt level in a pool?

Pump out a whole bunch of water. Then refill with fresh water.
I pumped out about a third of the pool this morning.
Gave me some time to re-grout a few spots on the tile that needed it. So not a total loss of time.

 

[wayner]

That's what I thought but it is expensive in terms of buying lots of water. There is no way of making the salt crystallize around an electrode or something like that? Sort of the reverse process of a SWG but with the product being solid salt crystals. But I guess that would cost more than buying a few thousand gallons of water.

 

[bobodaclown]

Depending on the SWCG you may be ok. Some units will work up to sea water, some 6000, depends on the model.

I think you have an auto pilot system.
Here's some good news. (Cut & Paste from Auto Pilot) http://www.autopilot.com/faqs

4. What happens if I add too much salt?
Oversalting will not harm your Pool Pilot system, but will lead to salty tasting water. For some, this
is not undesirable as it will more closely match our bodies natural salinity level, making it more
comfortable to swim in. If it is too excessive (over 6,000 ppm), you can sustain corrosion damage
to metallic equipment such as stainless steel handrails, ladders and filters, light rings, or copper
heat exchangers. To reduce the salt level, dilution is the solution. Drain some water and refill with
fresh water.

So you don't need to drain. The level will come down with back washing, splash out, adding fresh water, rain. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.

PoolSean may let you know more.

 

[wayner]

So you don't need to drain. The level will come down with back washing, splash out, adding fresh water, rain. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Not all pool filters get backwashed, mine doesn't. And I find that splashing, rain etc don't lead to an appreciabable fall in the salt level. I typically have to add salt at the beginning of the season as the pool fills up to the brim over the winter which dilutes the salinity. But over the season I don't think I have ever (in five years of pool ownership with a SWG) had to add salt later in the season so if you want to reduce the salt level I would think that you have to be more active and drain and refill.

 

[bobodaclown]

The key point I was hoping to make that is YOU DON"T NEED TO DRAIN AND REFILL. According to Auto Pilot his unit will not be damaged, and will produce chlorine. Missed where he had already drained some.

 

[king908]

The key point I was hoping to make that is YOU DON"T NEED TO DRAIN AND REFILL. According to Auto Pilot his unit will not be damaged, and will produce chlorine. Missed where he had already drained some.

I drained some, since I was worried about the Ladder in the deep end and the ring around the light. I didn't pump out as much as originally planned. If I can get it down to about 4000ppm I will be happy.

Will test it tomorrow to see where the levels are at.

Thanks