I just finished shocking my pool which has an SWG. We are new owners, so just getting into managing the pool chemistry. After running the full battery of tests, the salt level was basically at zero. The Pool Calculator said to add around 240 pounds of salt. My goal was 4,500 ppm which is what ECO-matic recommends in the owner's manual. I then tested the salt level using Aquachek salt test strips and it showed a 5.5 which is 2,190 ppm according to the chart on the bottle. That is less than half of what I expected to get, and the water tastes pretty salty. Can the salt test strips be that far off? Is there a better way to test the salt level? I did raise my CYA from 20 to 30 ppm after adding the salt. Here are my results. Any thoughts? I am obviously hesitant to add more salt. By the way, is it ok to pull samples of water from the skimmer when the pump is running? Sometimes I am too lazy to pull out the key to open the retractable pool cover. Thanks in advance for your help.
FC = 4.0 ppm
pH = 7.6
TA = 150
CH = 350 ppm
CYA = 30 ppm
FC = 4.0 ppm
pH = 7.6
TA = 150
CH = 350 ppm
CYA = 30 ppm