My pool has never been so clear!

[Beanie]

Thanks to all the information found within this forum, my pool has never looked so crystal clear!! I can't believe all the valuable information stored here! Just reading over the past 3 days and absorbing all this information has made so much difference!

Here is a picture of my pool water today:

I couldn't believe it this afternoon. My water is usually nice looking, but now it is just sparkly!! Even my parents who went swimming today in the pool couldn't get over how clear it was!!

Thanks so much!

 

[AnnaK]

Hey Tricia,

If you really want to impress the inlaws, add some solar salt now. It will make your water incredibly smooth and silky. You'll get in and just want to stay there forever because it feels so nice.

That's Morton's solar salt in the blue bag. I add 160 # (4 bags) to my 12,000 gal pool.. It softens my hair, makes my skin feel soft, keeps your eyes from burning if you're in the habit of swimming with your eyes open. Magical, just magical, really!

 

[TizMe]

Anna, how often do you add the salt and how do you test for how much to put in? I know if my wife knew you could do this to make the water softer she would already have me doing it ! :-D :-D

 

[AnnaK]

I add it just once a season when the water is warm enough for regular daily swimming. I don't test for its concentration. It's more of a 'by feel' thing, you know? If I have to do a lot of backwashing or refilling this year I'll adjust the 'feel' once the water gets diluted.

Last year was the first time we tried it after having read about it here on the forum. We figured it can't hurt, so we experimented with one 40# bag at a time. We put in 4 bags over a week's time which, according to the pool calc, produced a concentration of ~ 1600 ppm. Other people prefer it at 1800 to 2200. After the 4th bag the water felt so - dare I say it? - sensuous that we didn't add more. We had what for us felt like perfection.

At the concentration we have I can just barely taste the salt - or maybe that's my imagination. I do a lot of lap swimming with my eyes open and the salt addition has hugely improved how my eyes feel. I no longer wear goggles.

I drain the backwash water into my lawn and haven't noticed any adverse effects on grass or weeds from the added salt. This thread has some good information.

 

[TizMe]

Someone told my wife today that adding salt to the water helps with algae ? How much truth is there to this statement ?

 

[Guest]

Someone told my wife today that adding salt to the water helps with algae ? How much truth is there to this statement ?

None at all. Nor does it soften the water. It makes the water less irritating by bringing it closer to the isoelectric point of the human body.

 

[Casey]

Looks good Beanie!

Happy swimming! 8)

 

[JCJR]

I add it just once a season when the water is warm enough for regular daily swimming. I don't test for its concentration. It's more of a 'by feel' thing, you know? If I have to do a lot of backwashing or refilling this year I'll adjust the 'feel' once the water gets diluted.

Once you add salt, the only way to get rid of it is to drain water, so depending on your pool, salt will only go away from splash out or back washing. So, you might not need to add that much every season. I would get a water sample to the pool stroe and have them test for salt. Then check the pool calculator to figure out how much salt 1 bag (depending if it 40 or 60lbs) would add to your water. Most people add between 1200-2200 if they do not have a SWG (just for feel). People with SWG usually have 3200-3600 ppm which is more. I do not have a SWG and I have 1800ppm. Once you figure out how much 1 bag will raise your salt ppm, then put in the minimum amount you think you need ( I would start at 1200 and work my way up) and test for a couple of days and adjust. Once you have it the way you like it, test the water for salt at the pool store and save that number for future reference.

 

[Guest]

Better yet, get a bottle of salt test strips and test it yourself!
TF Test Kits sells the strips and most pool stores carry them also.

 

[AnnaK]

We do have a lot of splashout. Dragout, actually, on the dogs's fur. We estimate we lose a gallon each time one of the dogs exits the pool. So yes, there's a heavy dilution factor going on in our pool. It's one reason why I'm not hugely concerned about getting the CYA too high from my rather minimal use of trichlor, nor am I concerned about having a very high salt concentration. When the water loses its silky feel, I add a bag of salt and see where that takes me.

I didn't mean to leave the impression that I add 160# each and every swim season. The 160# was the initial dose last year; subsequent additions are on an 'as needed' basis.

Our pool is 15 x 30 oval and I add approximately 1" of water per week, not counting rain. My math is really shaky but I'm guessing 250 gal per week? The pool volume is approximately 12,000 gallons; that's the number I use for adjusting chemicals. Hence, I turn over 2% of the volume each week, give or take a few gallons. Interpolated over an active swim season (daily use) of 16 weeks and I've diluted the water by 32%.

Which is why I'm confident that adding a bag of salt now and then won't take me to marine concentrations