No Salt being used?

[stephen11962]

15,000 gallon in ground pool, 10' x 40' x 4', 9 years old
Initial installation of pool was not good. Had 2 lights. First light had leak from the beginning but was, reluctantly, fixed by installer. Had to add water from the beginning but more and more as time went on. Last fall, under supposition that the liner was leaking, we got a new liner. It turned out that the second light was also leaking (1" +/- per day). This history got me used to adding a lot of salt. With the new liner, starting this spring, the salt reading was 3,300 (BioGuard system). After 3 months the salt reading is now 3100 (almost no water had to be added - some rain). Chlorine stabilizer reading is spot on. Chlorine levels test OK.

I am not used to not adding salt. I wonder if the reading from the generator is not accurate? Or, am I worrying too much?

I tried to present the info as briefly as possible. If more is needed, yell!

TIA
Stephen

 

[Philo]

I'm not specifically familiar with BioGuard, but +/- 200ppm seems in range to me. Water temp can effect results. I'd get the Taylor Salt Test Kit (K-1766 ) to double check the BioGuard.

 

[ajw22]

With the new liner, starting this spring, the salt reading was 3,300 (BioGuard system). After 3 months the salt reading is now 3100 (almost no water had to be added - some rain).

What method was used to test the salt levels?

Most salt tests are only accurate within +/- 500 ppm. That difference is within normal testing accuracy.

 

[JimMarshall]

Unless you’re replacing large volumes of water due to rain, backwashing, splashout, or a leak, you won’t “use” your salt up.... well you will, but in laymen’s terms, your SWG uses Saltwater + Electricity to create chlorine, and then when the Chlorine sanitizes your pool, you get chlorine + nasty stuff in pool = saltwater. So.... the SWG uses the salt up, but once the chlorine gets used, it converts back to salt in the water.

We we could get more in depth with the actual chemistry and byproducts of these reactions, but if you’re losing no water to leaking, overflow, or backwashing, I would expect no drop in salt levels (except for drops explained by testing error). Evaporation leaves the salt in your pool.

 

[mknauss]

The salt level in my pool goes up over the summer. Due to the addition of muriatic acid, fill water, and people. We get nearly zero splashout. And lots of evaporation.

 

[stephen11962]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I think I have been very naive about the problems I have had with the pool. My suspicions of the quality of the installation are confirmed. I did add a lot of salt because I had to add a lot of water which obviously depleted the salt AND stabilizer. I thought I had a good handle on pool chemistry, at least the SWG part, but I re-educated myself and now understand that salt consumption is much less than my personal experience taught me. At the beginning of the season I bought a quantity of salt based on that experience and I now have 200# waiting to be used (next year)!

Question: The cost of replacing the leaking light was too high (in nine years we used the lights about 10 times) so we took both of them out. Today, LED lights seem to be the lights of choice. Does anyone have suggestions for the addition of LED lighting to existing pools w/o lights?

Stephen

 

[Philo]

"I did add a lot of salt because I had to add a lot of water"

Salt won't evaporate with the water, the loss occures when the water overflows.

(revised...or leaks out)

 

[JimMarshall]

"I did add a lot of salt because I had to add a lot of water"

Salt won't evaporate with the water, the loss occures when the water overflows.

OP was losing water to a leak, not overflow or evaporation.