Add 3 bags of Salt??

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Thomas89

Thomas89

Active member
May 3, 2020
44
Plano Texas
Hey All,

I got my water tested at Leslie's and they showed my salt at 2500ppm while the ideal range is 2700 - 3400 ppm. They said I need to add 3 bags of salt, or 116lbs. My pool is approx. 20,000 gallons. Can I just add a pound or two of shock to increase the salt levels or will that not cause an increase in the salts? The shock was significantly cheaper than 3 bags of salt.
 
Hello, welcome! Recommend that you read: Pool Care Basics Archives - Trouble Free Pool

You should test the water yourself with a Taylor K-1766 kit before buying anything. Or alternatively, please get a TF-100 (Test Kits) or a Taylor K-2006C to properly test your water. Do not rely on pool store results. Especially when adding chemicals.

116 bags of salt would add 693 ppm of salt. I am unsure of the composition of the shock you are adding, but I do not think shock will raise it significantly.

You said salt was expensive? How much is the pool store charging? It should only be about $6 a bag at Lowe's, Sam's, Home Depot, etc.
 
Last edited:
Hey Randrx2, thanks for the reply. They had a sign for $19 by their bags of salt but maybe that was for another item as I'm not sure they would charge that much more. I'll be sure to check out Home Depot for my salt needs. Thanks for the recommended read, I'll be sure to check that out. First time pool owner and kinda freaking out but learning quickly. Thanks for the help
 
Thomas,

Welcome to TFP! You can easily check Pool Math to figure out how much salt shock will add. Depends on exactly what you're adding specifically and you have to be careful that you don't end up with unintentionally high levels of another chemical added such as calcium or CYA. As to salt brand I'd look at the big box stores. There are a lot of people on here that used Diamond and Morton's for under $7 per bag.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris
 
+1 to see if your SWG is reading low as well. If it is not producing, then yes you should add salt.

$19 is pool store craziness. Any Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot around you is going to have salt for less than $10 for a 40lb bag.
 
Good point Richard, everybody that has a salt pool should try to get a Taylor K-1766 salt test. It's the easiest drop test I've ever done, it's extremely reliable and the most accurate test available to pool owners.

Chris
 
One thing to add is to not get hung up on using "pool" salt. Water conditioner salt from a major brand such as Morton's will work just as well. You may need to brush it around a bit till it dissolves, but you can save a few bucks per 40 lb bag.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Hey all, I appreciate all of the responses to this thread. So I went to Home Depot and got several bags of salt. I dropped in 3 bags and spread evenly with my brush and left the pump running overnight. I turned off my SWG once I added the salt. I did notice the SWG "Check Cell" light is on, so I've watched a couple videos how to clean it - it's on my list to do tonight. The pool is still cloudy, granted it's been about 18 hours since I put the salt in.

Not sure if there's anything else I need to do to clear it up. Waiting to get the test kit in the mail. Would like to have the pool clear by Friday for the Memorial day weekend. I can provide the readings the test from the pool store gave although from other threads it sounds like no one listens to those lol.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Glad you found the salt. Has your salt cell been working at all this season and have you added any supplemental chlorine? We have been been pretty warm the last few weeks and you could have algae starting to form if your chlorine has been low/zero.

If you fear you have to chlorine, I would add some via liquid chlorine ASAP. Outside of that its really hard to tell without a test kit.
 
To my limited knowledge I believe it was working. The pool was clear the first month we had it until the heavy rain last weekend which made it cloudy.

The reading of FC from leslie's was 0. I have another reading from there on May 2nd and it was FC = 10.

I have some Chlor-brite granular chlorine on hand from the previous owner. They're individually packaged in 1lb. bags. Can I use those instead of liquid chlorine? I'd rather deplete the supplies I have than go buy new products if it's not completely necessary.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
It's hard for us to give advice on what you could or shouldn't put in the pool unless you have test results we trust. And unfortunately, pool store testing has proven so many times to us to be completely unreliable. We really want to give help, but to do so we need results from your own test kit.

It's in the $100 range to get a good dropper test kit, but if you get that and let us know what numbers are and maintain the pool with our recommended methods, you'll more than save that vs. what you'd spend at the pool store!
 
This is what I used... Diamond Crystal Splash Ready 40 lb. Pool Salt-110002702 - The Home Depot

Yes, its about 2 bucks more per bag than the HD water softener salt, but it is powdered and dissolved for me immediately, as opposed to the pellets which take some time. Either will work, and both are better than rip off pool store salt.

+1 on staying away from pool stores. Get your own test kit. My salt cell gives me average and instant reading and neither are spot on to the test kit. Between the test kit and pool math it was spot on as far as what I needed to add.
 
Thomas89 said:
Hey all, I appreciate all of the responses to this thread. So I went to Home Depot and got several bags of salt. I dropped in 3 bags and spread evenly with my brush and left the pump running overnight. I turned off my SWG once I added the salt. I did notice the SWG "Check Cell" light is on, so I've watched a couple videos how to clean it - it's on my list to do tonight. The pool is still cloudy, granted it's been about 18 hours since I put the salt in.

Not sure if there's anything else I need to do to clear it up. Waiting to get the test kit in the mail. Would like to have the pool clear by Friday for the Memorial day weekend. I can provide the readings the test from the pool store gave although from other threads it sounds like no one listens to those lol.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hey Thomas..
Can you put your equipment in your signature?.. it makes it a lot easier to gauge what kind of advice to give if its there to reference.. and instead of scrolling up and down in the thread to see if your equipment information is mentioned....
The check cell light is displayed every 90 days (I'm assuming you have a Hayward controller) as a reminder to do just that.. check the cell. The notification can be cleared easily. It does not mean it needs to be cleaned. I used to acid wash my cell with MA whenever that light came on and it turns out that is overkill. You should still check the cell for stuff stuck against the plates and acid wash only if there is evidence of Ca scaling. And when you do acid wash it, take it out as soon as the fizzing stops. Too much acid washing diminishes the life of the cell.
 
Hey Mguzzy, I'll get that added to my signature. Also, thanks for the heads up on the check cell light. I plan on taking a look at it and trying a water hose to clean it initially, then will proceed to the acid washing if Ca scaling is still present. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Hopefully the water hose works on the cell.

On those Chlor-brite, those will of course raise your chlorine, which you need right now. Unfortunately those also add calcium since they are cal-hypo. Since you may have calcium scaling, I would hate for you to add more calcium to your water.

Around here, Pool Essentials liquid chlorine from Walmart is pretty easy to find. That would be better to add since it only adds chlorine.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply