Converting to SWG - How Much Salt to Add?

[ugadawgs311]

I’m preparing to have a SWG installed this weekend. My pool is 22,500 gallons. How much salt should I add? Is there anything to look for when purchasing the salt (e.g. specific brands to get or avoid, other ingredients, etc.)? I plan on getting the 40 pound bags at Home Depot.

Also, anything I should do now to prep the water chemistry? I may need to increase CYA, but I’ve heard I can wait until after the install. My current levels are:

• PH: 7.4
• FC: 9.0
• TA: 60
• CYA: 50
• CH: 70

Thanks for any help!

 

[Newdude]

Do you have a k1766 or the TFpro salt ? Test your baseline and poolmath will tell you the difference.

Any of the salts that say pure/100% on the bags are fine. The prices are all over the place and some days the water softener salt in the plumbing aisle is cheaper and others the pool stuff is cheaper. Mid season when you need 1 bag for a top off, it's not worth the trouble to save $3 but when you're buying a bunch now, it likely is, so Google it up at WM / HD / Lowes / etc.

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test before raising the CYA because if there is anything brewing, your FC SLAM target (40%) goes up 4 FC for every 10 CYA added. Once you prove there's nothing brewing, CYA can be added with no regards to the salt.

 

[ugadawgs311]

Do you have a k1766 or the TFpro salt ? Test your baseline and poolmath will tell you the difference.

Any of the salts that say pure/100% on the bags are fine. The prices are all over the place and some days the water softener salt in the plumbing aisle is cheaper and others the pool stuff is cheaper. Mid season when you need 1 bag for a top off, it's not worth the trouble to save $3 but when you're buying a bunch now, it likely is, so Google it up at WM / HD / Lowes / etc.

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test before raising the CYA because if there is anything brewing, your FC SLAM target (40%) goes up 4 FC for every 10 CYA added. Once you prove there's nothing brewing, CYA can be added with no regards to the salt.

I have a K2006 Taylor test kit. Unfortunately I don’t think it came with the salt reagents for testing salt levels. Is there an add on I can get for it?

 

[Newdude]

Is there an add on I can get for it?

The k1766. The baseline is as important as the target. If you overshoot, you're draining.

 

[ugadawgs311]

This right? TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-1766 DROP TEST CHLORIDE SALT WATER https://a.co/d/jcQpkHm

 

[PoolStored]

This right? TAYLOR TECHNOLOGIES INC K-1766 DROP TEST CHLORIDE SALT WATER https://a.co/d/jcQpkHm

Yep. I'd also get a smart stir, makes that test so much more accurate.

Smart Stir Magnetic Stirring Device

tftestkits.net

Amazon.com

 

[ugadawgs311]

Yep. I'd also get a smart stir, makes that test so much more accurate.

Smart Stir Magnetic Stirring Device

tftestkits.net

Amazon.com

Hmm interesting. I haven’t heard of the smart stir before. Does it literally just stir water for you? Haha. I can see the convenience, but is it really worth the $50+?

 

[PoolStored]

Hmm interesting. I haven’t heard of the smart stir before. Does it literally just stir water for you? Haha. I can see the convenience, but is it really worth the $50+?

Take my smart stir away, I fill in the pool. It just makes all the tests more accurate.

My brother, who owned a pool for 30 years came to visit. We did back to back FC test comparison, me with smart stir, him swirling. His results were 1ppm higher. Smart stir makes the mixing of chemicals consistent.

 

[Newdude]

Take my smart stir away, I fill in the pool.

Pleasr be honest. You'd fight dirty if you had to and it wouldn't be taken away.

 

[PoolStored]

Pleasr be honest. You'd fight dirty if you had to and it wouldn't be taken away.

I'm assuming that assassins kidnapped me at gunpoint, shuttling me to a foreign country, and left me for dead in a locked hole in the ground.

 

[Oly]

Magnetic stirrers are used in labs for good reason, consistency.
I bought the unit Taylor sells and it's well built and the bottom light makes determining the color change a snap. This unit should last a long time.

 

[randytsuch]

Disregarding consistency and accuracy, a magnetic stir makes it so much easier to perform most tests.
Spend the money once, makes maintaining the pool a little easier for a long long time.

 

[BDY]

They make the test not so much a “chore” but a quick task. It takes me maybe 2 min to do my daily FC test etc and the full battery of tests it cuts down time tremendously

Leading the average person to be willing to do their testing more frequently and accurately

+1000 for smart stir

 

[BDY]

Ps - the ones TFTestkits sell fit with Taylor vials. I first bought an AquaStir and found out none of my Vials fit

 

[ugadawgs311]

Thanks everyone! The guy installing the SWG told me to add about 10 40-pound bags today (I’m getting 15 bags total). Do you all agree with adding the salt one day early?

Also, what’s the best method of adding? Just spreading around the perimeter of the pool?

 

[mknauss]

You have tested the water to see what the current salinity is?

 

[randytsuch]

For example, I think my level was 1000 ppm or so before I added any salt.

 

[ugadawgs311]

You have tested the water to see what the current salinity is?

unfortunately, no. I can’t test until he gets here tomorrow or the salt test kit arrives on Sunday.

 

[mknauss]

unfortunately, no. I can’t test until he gets here tomorrow or the salt test kit arrives on Sunday.

Then you do not know how much you need to add. As you get rain and likely overflow, the salinity will not likely be above 3000 ppm. But I would not add any salt until I have a proper test of the salinity.

 

[MITBeta]

Adding chlorine adds salt. So every pool is a "salt pool" to one degree or another. Salt only leaves the pool when water does, through splashout, overflow, draining, etc. So if you've been chlorinating in any way for several years, you could have >1000 ppm already in the water. Adding what your installer said will surely put you over the limit.