Is High Salt a Problem?

Steve-D

Bronze Supporter
Jul 10, 2020
161
SW Boston Suburbs
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
OK...new SWG/Plaster pool owner here. Our build is 99% done and Pentair came out yesterday to get the heater running (yay!) and to program the EasyTouch/ScreenLogic panel (separate rant). Previously the IC40 was flashing "High Salt" and now via ScreenLogic the system is reporting a salt level of 4600. All salt was added by the installers so obviously they "oops'd" their calculation...

My question is what damage can the high salt level do (if anything) and how important is it for me to drain and refill to get the salt level down closer to 3600?

I'll have my salt test kit this weekend to confirm the numbers but in the meantime I'm running a slow siphon of the existing water. The water level is already too high from recent rains...an inch from the top of the skimmer...so I have to drain it another 1-2 inches to get it to the correct level for the skimmer anyway. Is it worth overshooting that another inch and refilling 1" (from the well)? Per my test kit the <well water> CH is in the low 200s so it won't affect that but I don't know what I'm dealing with (yet) for iron...I don't have that test back yet. 1 inch of depth amounts to about 330 gallons so draining 3" and refilling 1" loses about a thousand gallons and replaces it with a little over 300 gallons.

Is this salt level a problem that I need to deal with and if so what does best practice say I should do given that I'm on a well?
FWIW, there's a chance of more rain tomorrow evening but probably not more than 1/2 inch unless we get a direct hit from a pop up thunderstorm
 
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High salt does not damage an IntelliChlor cell the way it can damage a Hayward system.

Drain your pool due to the rains and wait and get your K-1766 Salt test kit and see what it says.

So far we are having a wet Spring in the Northeast and the rains will help you dilute your salinity.
 
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