High Salt - best next steps?

[Amy DiChiara]

PB added too much salt in my new pool. Per Taylor kit, it’s 4000ppm.
Manufacturer for the Jandy TruClear SWG says target is 3000-3500.

I still need to add 64 lbs of Calcium chloride to get CH to 400 (currently 170) and need to add 14-17 lbs of CYA to bring it up from 3-5 to target of 60-70.
pH is also real high, and I’ll need to add some chlorine too. (FC 1 right now).

I am concerned that the salinity will further rise with these additions. I’d rather not have a strong salty tasting pool.

Should I pump some water out of the pool (& add fresh water) before adding in the CaCl & CYA? And idea how much to pump out?

 

[casiokid]

If your SWG isn’t complaining with flashing lights or error messages, you should be fine. Although I don’t know anything about your particular model, most of these units have a pretty decent operating range.

Getting your FC, CYA, and pH levels in range are much more important than your salt level right now. Your pool has a fraction of the salt concentration of the ocean, so I doubt you’ll taste any salt!

 

[Dirk]

You're both correct. But how are you testing the salt level? You need a proper test kit for that, as generally the onboard salt "meters" in SWGs are not all that accurate. The ultimate test, as kid points out, is if the SWG is not complaining, then the salt is OK. The manual I found indicates the Jandy will operate up to 6000. So 4000 is fine. Now. But many of the chemicals you'll be adding will leave salt behind, as will your swimmers, so it might rise.

Do you get any rain this time of year? When does rainy season start?

You should be OK, but if you're going to exchange water to bring down the salt, you'd want to do so before you add CYA and calcium, otherwise you'll just be dumping some of those chems, too.

But you need to act quickly. First step is to properly test your salt. We recommend the Taylor K-1766 for that. Then determine if you need to exchange any water. Then get your CYA and FC up asap, or you risk an algae outbreak with all this sunlight this time of year. If you can't get a hold of a K-1766, like today, then leave your salt alone and get your FC and CYA up. Keep your FC up either way, but you'll find it'll burn off quickly without any CYA.

You can use Pool Math (app, or here) to determine how much water to exchange. Assuming you don't have any salt in your fill water, you'd need to exchange 25% to get down to 3000, or 13% to get down to 3500. If you exchange 25% of your water, you'll lose 25% of the CYA and calcium you just added! Not to mention 7000 gallons of water! (How much will that cost you?) Because summer is halfway through, I'd be tempted to just let it ride as is and then let winter rains bring it down for you for free. As kid advises, the FC and CYA are really important just now.

 

[ajw22]

Focus on your FC, pH and CYA and not your salt and CH.

Get the CYA dissolving in your pool NOW.

Raise your FC and lower your pH.

CH of 250-300 is all you need.

 

[Bperry]

PB added too much salt in my new pool. Per Taylor kit, it’s 4000ppm.
Manufacturer for the Jandy TruClear SWG says target is 3000-3500.

I still need to add 64 lbs of Calcium chloride to get CH to 400 (currently 170) and need to add 14-17 lbs of CYA to bring it up from 3-5 to target of 60-70.
pH is also real high, and I’ll need to add some chlorine too. (FC 1 right now).

I am concerned that the salinity will further rise with these additions. I’d rather not have a strong salty tasting pool.

Should I pump some water out of the pool (& add fresh water) before adding in the CaCl & CYA? And idea how much to pump out?

If you got the CYA of 3-5 result with a paper strip or a pool store then be very careful adding CYA and those test methods arent very reliable.