Considerations when converting indoor pool to saltwater

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jeremy

jeremy

0
May 30, 2013
74
Oceanside, NY
We put in a new liner in 2022 on a 15-year old pool and are now thinking of converting to saltwater. I have done no research yet of what this entails, or if it is even feasible with the equipment we have. But before I go down that rabbit hole, with an indoor pool, what special considerations need to be made, if any?
 
How do you chlorinate your pool now?

Have you tested your pool water for salt? If not take your water to a pool store and have it tested for salt.

Every pool is a salt water pool. Almost all means to chlorinate a pool contains salt - Trichlor and liquid chlorine. Slat accumulates in the pool unless you regularly drain the pool.

What test kit do you use?

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I use bleach/liquid chlorine. I have the TF-100 Test Kit and I have never tested for salt.

But even if there is "some" salt in the pool, would converting to a "true" saltwater pool with a SWCG cause issues for an indoor pool that might not exist for an outdoor pool? I am mainly trying to rule out being indoors as a barrier to making the conversion.
 
jeremy said:
I use bleach/liquid chlorine. I have the TF-100 Test Kit and I have never tested for salt.
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You may want to add the salt test to your TF100 - Salt

jeremy said:
But even if there is "some" salt in the pool, would converting to a "true" saltwater pool with a SWCG cause issues for an indoor pool that might not exist for an outdoor pool? I am mainly trying to rule out being indoors as a barrier to making the conversion.
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Nothing special about a SWG in an indoor pool. A SWG pool is a chlorine pool. Just the source of the chlorine is from the SWG instead of jugs of liquid chlorine.

And the salinity level of a "saltwater" pool is around 3,000 ppm while the salinity of the ocean is 10X at around 30,000 ppm. You do not have saltwater like the ocean.

There is sometimes concern about corrosion that the salt levels can cause. And that was my original point that you may already have 2,000 ppm of salt in your pool water.

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Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Salt Water Generators are designed to produce small amounts of chlorine continuously. This is perfect for day to day use and reduces work for the homeowner.
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jeremy said:
I have never tested for salt.
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The salt content of your water right now may surprise you.

My previous pool used liquid chlorine. After a few years, my salt level was 5,000. If I wanted to run a SWG, I would have needed to reduce the salinity.
 
With an indoor pool, your Daily FC loss should be minimal. This will be a factor to consider when sizing the SWG. What's your daily FC loss during the peak swim season?

TFP recommends an SWG rated at twice the pool volume, but this recommendation takes into account a daily FC loss of 2-4 ppm per day during swim season. You may get away with a lower rated SWG to achieve a more expeditious ROI. Either way, not having to manually dose chlorine each day is well worth the cost of the SWG IMHO.
 
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ajw22 said:
And the salinity level of a "saltwater" pool is around 3,000 ppm while the salinity of the ocean is 10X at around 30,000 ppm. You do not have saltwater like the ocean.
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Hmmmm, I have a Salinity Refractometer for my saltwater aquarium. Let me see what that shows...

pjt said:
The salt content of your water right now may surprise you.

My previous pool used liquid chlorine. After a few years, my salt level was 5,000. If I wanted to run a SWG, I would have needed to reduce the salinity.
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We put in a new liner 9 months ago, so relatively new water and not a ton of chlorine just yet.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
With an indoor pool, your Daily FC loss should be minimal. This will be a factor to consider when sizing the SWG. What's your daily FC loss during the peak swim season?

TFP recommends an SWG rated at twice the pool volume, but this recommendation takes into account a daily FC loss of 2-4 ppm per day during swim season. You may get away with a lower rated SWG to achieve a more expeditious ROI. Either way, not having to manually dose chlorine each day is well worth the cost of the SWG IMHO.
Click to expand...
You're right that the FC loss is relatively low with our always-covered, indoor pool. I can usually maintain 2-4 for a week without adding chlorine. We also don't use the pool on a daily basis.

What size SWG would you recommend?
 
jeremy said:
My results is 0.00 salt currently
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Not surprising with new water from your liner change. It would have been interesting to see what the salinity was of your old water.
 

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So you need the SWG to generate 2-4 ppm of FC with 23 hours of runtime per week in a 23K pool.

You have an Aqualink system so you should get a Jandy Aquapure SWG. The Aquapure 700 would only give you 2.4 ppm if run at 80% for 23 hours. The Aquapure 1400 would give you 2.4 ppm of FC if run at 40% for 23 hours or 3.9 ppm of FC when run at 65% for 23 hours.

Get the Jandy Aquapure 1400 to add into your Aqualink panel...

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