Salt taste liquid chlorine pool

[bigjohns97]

I have a bit of a weird one I can't seem to figure out.

I use two stenner pumps to run liquid chlroine and muratic acid to keep my FC/PH in check.

I have never had SWG and have never used salt of any kind but I do live about 50 miles from the gulf of mexico (houston area)

Salinity 1820 ppm
FC 3 ppm
pH 7.4
TDS 1780 ppm
CH 280
TA 40

I do have some calcium scale build up on the tile around the water line but I can't seem to find anything to suggest this is the cause of the salty taste. (I plan on remedying this soon with some MA spray and elbow grease)

Any thoughts where this salty taste could come from?

 

[PoolStored]

Liquid chlorine adds salt. When I converted my LC pool to SWCG, I had 2200ppm Salt.

In your pool, every 12.5% Liquid Chlorine gallon you add, also adds about 5ppm salt.

 

[bigjohns97]

Liquid chlorine adds salt. When I converted my LC pool to SWCG, I had 2200ppm Salt.

In your pool, every 12.5% Liquid Chlorine gallon you add, also adds about 5ppm salt.

I noticed that but I also have found everyone saying that I shouldn't taste it until the 3000ppm range.

 

[Brian PacNW]

Do others in your household taste salt, or just you? Maybe you are very sensitive to salt?

 

[Newdude]

Kinda funny how it's unheard of to track salt in a liquid chlorine pool, but if you call similar levels a 'salt pool', everyone loses their minds. Especially TX builders.

I also have found everyone saying that I shouldn't taste it until the 3000ppm range.

YMMV, taste is mighty subjective. Maybe you're sensitive to it. Salt tests of any kind are approximations at best, so maybe it's higher and you're tasting the low threshold with a sensitivity.

 

[bigjohns97]

Do others in your household taste salt, or just you? Maybe you are very sensitive to salt?

Yes everyone tastes it, and nobody is really drinking the pool water, this is just from splashing and going underwater.

 

[stodds]

My pool reached 3500 ppm salt after 5 years of liquid chlorine. I could taste it with my sensitive palate -- that's why I tested the salt level. Converted to SWGC without adding any "salt."

 

[Brian PacNW]

Salinity 1820 ppm

Are you using your Taylor kit to test salt? Are your reagents still fresh?

 

[bigjohns97]

I just noticed that my CSI is getting awful close to -0.6 with my pH going to 7.4 every day, I am going to try and keep it closer to 7.8 and only push MA when it gets closer to 8.0 and see if that does something to the taste.

Also going to fix the Cal carb issue cause it just looks bad and will also test water after that and see what it does to the numbers and taste.

Will post back with any findings.

 

[bigjohns97]

Are you using your Taylor kit to test salt? Are your reagents still fresh?

No I am using the following digital tester.

Amazon.com

 

[PoolStored]

I noticed that but I also have found everyone saying that I shouldn't taste it until the 3000ppm range.

Who is "everyone?" 1mg/L = 1ppm.

Characteristics of salt taste and free chlorine or chloramine in drinking water - PubMed

Salty taste with or without chlorine or chloramine flavour is one of the major consumer complaints to water utilities. The flavour profile analysis (FPA) taste panel method determined the average taste threshold concentration for salt (NaCl) in Milli-Q water to be 640 +/- 3 mg/L at pH 8...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[bigjohns97]

Who is "everyone?"

Characteristics of salt taste and free chlorine or chloramine in drinking water - PubMed

Salty taste with or without chlorine or chloramine flavour is one of the major consumer complaints to water utilities. The flavour profile analysis (FPA) taste panel method determined the average taste threshold concentration for salt (NaCl) in Milli-Q water to be 640 +/- 3 mg/L at pH 8...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4 Reasons Why Your Pool Water Tastes Salty (And Is It Bad?)

Ever get a splash of pool water in your mouth with a hint of saltiness? There are some surprising reasons why your pool water tastes salty.

www.homelifeleisure.com

Chlorine Pool Water Tastes Salty – Why?

Does your pool water taste salt? If you're not sure why, then we have 5 reasons why you may have salty water.

www.myperfectpool.com.au

Can you reduce or eliminate salt taste in a chlorine pool

:?: I have two pools in Florida, one commercial and one residential. My customers always say we have a salt water pool, or ask why it tastes salty. Both are standard chlorine treated pools. Any solutions to reduce the salt taste short of replacing the water. Thanks Kevin Venice Beach Villas

www.troublefreepool.com

My pool reached 3500 ppm salt after 5 years of liquid chlorine. I could taste it with my sensitive palate -- that's why I tested the salt level. Converted to SWGC without adding any "salt."

Basically everywhere I looked people said 3000-3500 is where you start to taste it.

 

[Newdude]

Basically everywhere I looked people said 3000-3500 is where you start to taste it.

I agree it's the general rule. We start to taste it at 3k on the nose at my house. Not like the ocean which is Cambells chicken soup, but just a skootch.

However. Define sweet. Or sour. Or spicy. We all have different palates. Sure there's a Scoville scale for spicy, but I pop jalapeños while the Mrs couldn't dream of it.

 

[bigjohns97]

I agree it's the general rule. We start to taste it at 3k on the nose at my house. Not like the ocean which is Cambells chicken soup, but just a skootch.

However. Define sweet. Or sour. Or spicy. We all have different palates. Sure there's a Scoville scale for spicy, but I pop jalapeños while the Mrs couldn't dream of it.

Yeah I can tell you this, what we are experiencing isn't just a "start to taste" it, it's pretty salty.

Maybe we are just sensitive to it, the pubmed link being 640 would suggest that this would be average, with my current salinity around 1800 that would be 3x when you start to taste it.

 

[PoolStored]

Basically everywhere I looked people said 3000-3500 is where you start to taste it.

You missed my point. None of them have done any scientific study.

I linked to an article from Water Science Technology where they used the flavour profile analysis (FPA) taste panel method determined the average taste threshold concentration for salt (NaCl) in Milli-Q water to be 640+/-3 mg/L at a pH of 8.

Everyone is different, but the minimum threshold to taste salt in water seems to be about 640 mg/L = 640ppm.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would confirm your testing with a K-1766 salt test kit. Many of those cheap conductivity probes on Amazon are just way off. If they don’t set the calibration factor correctly and they aren’t calibrated against known conductivity standards, then they are no more accurate than test strips.

Agree with everyone else - taste is HIGHLY subjective and there’s no one standard for it. Both sodium ions and calcium ions will stimulate nerve endings for salty taste buds. Other ions can interfere as well. So there isn’t just one threshold for every one.

 

[bigjohns97]

You missed my point. None of them have done any scientific study.

I linked to an article from Water Science Technology where they used he flavour profile analysis (FPA) taste panel method determined the average taste threshold concentration for salt (NaCl) in Milli-Q water to be 640+/-3 mg/L at a pH of 8.

Everyone is different, but the minimum threshold to taste salt in water is about 640 mg/L = 640ppm.

Nah I got your point, maybe you missed mine.

This wasn't a scientific study, we weren't asked to taste the pool water nor to sample multiple water samples and notify someone when we felt we tasted salt.

We went swimming with our two kids and both were like, wow why does this pool water taste so salty.

Generally speaking everyone who has noticed this on their own have mentioned that this happens around 3000ppm hence me doing the calculation seeing it was lower and then wondering if there was something else at play.

Appreciate the link because honestly it's the only frame of reference I have found so far that leads me to believe this is normal.

 

[JamesW]

Verify with a K-1766 salt test.

There is no "Standard" taste test just like there is no standard smell test.

Human beings do not come with calibrated senses.

Everyone senses different things in different ways.

In any case, verify the salinity several different ways.

Never rely on any single salinity test.

 

[mgtfp]

Kinda funny how it's unheard of to track salt in a liquid chlorine pool, but if you call similar levels a 'salt pool', everyone loses their minds. Especially TX builders.

I guess that's because pool stores prefer to track TDS instead. And once TDS reaches "dangerously" high levels, they tell their customers that it is of utmost importance to urgently drain and refill the pool and sell them everything they need to re-"ballance" the water.

If they told their customers that most of that mysterious TDS is actually just plain old salt, they'd lose a lot of lucrative business.

 

[Newdude]

If they told their customers that most of that mysterious TDS is actually just plain old salt, they'd lose a lot of lucrative business.

It's funny you mentioned this because for years pre-TFP, my brain never saw the now obvious chemical angle. 'Solids' naturally seemed like bather waste / oils / etc and it provoked an aversion to them being high.