Adding salt without SWG?

[Cfyfe3199]

Hey all,

This may sound weird but I'm wondering if adding salt to my spa without the use of a SWG will help to improve the "feel" of the water. I did a full round of testing last night and needed to bump up my CH and TA a bit. I'm not really interested in using a SWG, at least not this year. I've added borates and waiting on test strips for that, but the water just feels very "dry" if you know what I mean. Looking to get a silkier, more "slippery" feeling.

Sanitation method is liquid chlorine

Would the addition of a bit of salt do the trick?

Levels for reference:
FC: 1.5
CC: 0.0
CH: 110 (brought it up to 150)
TA: 30 (brought it up to 50)
PH: 6.8, guessing low due to TA, aerated after increasing TA)
CYA; 30

 

[mknauss]

Low pH water will feel very dry.

You can add salt. Will not harm anything. Add about 1500 ppm salinity.

 

[PoolGate]

Bumping CYA, pH and adding salt will make the spa feel WAY better.

 

[santacruzpool]

I have fancy Himalayan pink salt in my hot tub right now - my wife found several multi pound bags cheap at Marshalls - I figure the extra trace minerals are better for my skin and sore muscles during my hot soaks...and it is more "natural", at least in my mind, even if it is still 98% sodium chloride.

 

[BravoRomeo]

I found borates (50 ppm) made for more of a silky feel than salt, at least when I had a SWG on my previous tub. One time I went a little too far with the borates and the water ended up feeling too silky. That said, salt seemed to reduce the wrinkling skin effect a bit, or so I told myself!

 

[Cfyfe3199]

Thanks for the replies!