Moving to salt?

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B

Bicster

0
Jul 4, 2018
78
Toronto, ON
Hey guys,

So I'm feeling pumped. 2/3rds of the way through the season and my water has been crystal clear the whole time - well, once I figured out I needed to keep the pump on when people are in the pool - it's been awesome.

HUGE thanks for all the help and advice from you guys here.

I've figured out how to keep my levels where they should be for FC, CYA, Ph and TA and have been for the past couple of months. All is good in the 'hood. So, being the overachiever that I am, I've started to think about transitioning away from Chlorine to a Saltwater system. This is partly for the feel of the water but also partly for the challenge of doing it.

I don't think this is something I'll be able to get going this year as there is no stock of anything left (also I feel like going from tap --> salt is probably simpler than going chlorinated --> salt, but I could be wrong??).

I'm interested to hear about people's experiences with this in a pool like mine. Is it doable if i were to acquire the Intex CG-26679 Krystal Clear Sand Filter and Pump? What else would I need? And anything I should watch out for?

Bic
 
Hi Bic - I have a 16' round Intex pool with an Intex SWCG and have liked it. It's my first year, but have had no real trouble maintaining the pool. On a pool this small, you really don't have to run the SWCG that much to stay steady. If anything I feel like you see a bit more bouncing up and down though with a small pool depending on usage, sunlight, etc - so just watch the levels or every few days once you get dialed in.

A SWCG pool IS still a chlorine pool - you just use the SWCG to generate the chlorine for you. So really - all you have to do once you find a way to obtain a salt cell is add the appropriate amount of salt to your pool, hook the SWCG cell up past your filter - and off you go. No more adding chlorine daily - just run the salt cell. You could even add the salt days ahead of time while manually chlorinating to make sure its dissolved. Some people add salt to their 'manual' chlorine pool just for the feel of it.
 
Bicster said:
That's a thing? Does it mess up the water chemistry at all?
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Sure it is. Most 'chlorine' pools have a significant salinity all ready.

Add a 1000 ppm of salt to the water. See what it feels like. No effect on overall water chemistry.
 
Bicster said:
Hold on now.....adding salt to the chlorine pool for the feel of it??!?

That's a thing? Does it mess up the water chemistry at all?
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Not at all. It's just salt. I mean if you went crazy and ran it up to ocean levels, then sure it might have some impact, but at regular salt pool levels of 3,000 ppm give or take, it does not do anything.

As was said, a salt pool IS a chlorine pool. If you add X amount of bleach a day to maintain your pool, then you set your SWCG to generate the same amount of CL per day. Actually you can get away with less CL with a SWCG for a variety of reasons.

The entire process for converting the pool to salt is.

Hook up the cell - this could be the most difficult part depending on your plumbing and available power.

Add salt to the pool to get to the required ppm depending on the cell you have

Fiddle with the cell output and filter times until you get it dialed in.
 
Bicster said:
How do I measure salt, strips?
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The best method is a Taylor K1766 test kit. But doubt that is readily available in Canada. Next best would be some salt test strips.

Or just add 1000 ppm worth of salt. That is 8 kilo of salt, water softener salt (plain) works. Probably cheaper than the strips.
 
You'd be surprised how much salt can accumulate over time. I measured 4,000 ppm salt in my non-SWG pool this spring before doing a partial drain and refill. The salt accumulated over eight years, even with a partial drain & fill every few years.
 

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I just realised I don't have any way to measure the weight of the salt....but I have jugs to measure liquids.

So, googling around gives me the ratio of 1/0.866 which means 8kg of salt would be 6928 millitires.

Does that sounds about right?

And, just out of interest, why would I go to 1000ppm and not say 2000ppm or 3000ppm?

And finally, how should I add it? steadily pour it over the inlet when the pump is on?
 
No need to be really exact. What size bag does water softener salt come in there?

Those that add salt for feel usually only need 1500 ppm or so. Start with 1000 ppm and add a little more after trying that. Much above 3200 ppm and most people can taste the salt.
 
Fellow Canadian, check your local walmart. They had 20kg bags of actual pool salt on for $6.80 or something like that. I just switched to SWCG a few weeks ago and loving it so far. Pretty close to having the settings dialed in now.
 
Bicster said:
And finally, how should I add it? steadily pour it over the inlet when the pump is on?
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I just dump it in, and then brush it around with my pool brush to get it dissolved. Takes less than 5 minutes of brushing the pile back and forth to get a 40lb bag dissolved (depending on water temp)
 
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