Salty salt water

[Mattikuss]

Hi Friends,

My wife swears she read that salt water pools should not taste salty, but according to pool math my salt level should be between 3600-4000ppm. It is dead on at 3600 (brick red solution after 18 drops of 718). I will say, you can definitely taste the salt.
Should this be something I should be concerned about?

Matt

 

[Lake Placid]

Hi Friends,

My wife swears she read that salt water pools should not taste salty, but according to pool math my salt level should be between 3600-4000ppm. It is dead on at 3600 (brick red solution after 18 drops of 718). I will say, you can definitely taste the salt.
Should this be something I should be concerned about?

Matt

Nope. Some people are more sensitive to salt than others. I’m one of those. At 3400 I can get a slight tinge of saltiness. Consequently I run on the low side of good for my SWG (3200 ppm). It helps me but sometimes I can still taste it. Most family and friends that swim in my pool don’t perceive it at all. I wish I was one of those.

 

[proavia]

Nope - everyone's taste buds are different. Some can taste the salt at a lower ppm than others.

If she's still convinced, have her find the article and post a link here.
Tell her to quit drinking the pool water and have an adult drink instead.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The salt receptors on your tongue are not just activated by sodium ions (it’s the sodium in sodium chloride that you perceive as the “salt” sensation). Calcium, magnesium, and potassium will also activate the same receptors, just to a lesser extent. So what really matters to the perception of “saltiness” is actually the TDS of the pool water. There may be 3200ppm worth of sodium chloride in the water but there could also be a few hundred ppm more of other cations in the water that will also trigger a salt taste. So if you happen to be a person who is sensitive to saltiness, pool water can easily taste salty to your wife and normal to other people.

Back in the early days of medicine, “physicians” (I use that term loosely) would swish urine samples in their mouths to see if the patients urine tasted sweet or off. It was a way of diagnosing diseases … thankfully, nowadays, we have modern techniques for testing both pool water and urine samples … then again, most pools are just very diluted urine samples

 

[PoolStored]

Back in the early days of medicine, “physicians” (I use that term loosely) would swish urine samples in their mouths to see if the patients urine tasted sweet or off.

I have never forgotten seeing this movie...watch the finger swapping...

 

[Lake Placid]

I have never forgotten seeing this movie...watch the finger swapping...

After watching this clip I realized the issue…..IT’S THE FRACTOIDS! The pool store has a magic potion for that! FRACTOID ELIMINATOR 2000! It’s more concentrated and faster acting than FRACTOID ELIMINATOR 1500.

 

[Newdude]

We taste it too, just a touch and nothing like the ocean. I start at 3200 and top off when in nears 2800 due to rain overflow. If I don't catch it in time, the ICXX works down to 2600 after triggering the idiot light at 2800.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Matt,

I can taste the salt if my salt level gets above about 3400 ppm.. I try to keep my salinity between 2800 and 3200 for my IC40 salt cell.

That said, when I do taste it, it is only for about the first minute I'm in the pool.. After that, I never notice it again.

For me anyway, it would have to be like the dead sea, before I'd give up my saltwater pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Newdude]

For me anyway, it would have to be like the dead sea, before I'd give up my saltwater pool.

I'd just close my big fat mouth for once.

I'd draw the line at being the Bonneville salt flats, and only because I hate the shallow end.

 

[Mattikuss]

Matt,

I can taste the salt if my salt level gets above about 3400 ppm.. I try to keep my salinity between 2800 and 3200 for my IC40 salt cell.

That said, when I do taste it, it is only for about the first minute I'm in the pool.. After that, I never notice it again.

For me anyway, it would have to be like the dead sea, before I'd give up my saltwater pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim, it seems like everyone is keeping their pool in the same range as you, why does the pool math app suggest “much” higher for me (minimum 3600ppm). I’m regretting adding those 160lbs of salt last week.

 

[mknauss]

The PoolMath app is a calculator and storage unit. The ranges are suggestions. You should use the ranges that apply to your pool chemistry and equipment.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Matt,

The manual says the "ideal" salt level for the IC40 is 3600 ppm...

I suspect the cell might operate a little better at 3600, but since it works all the way down to 2800, I find it better for me, and my taste buds, to run at 3200..

Why not just drain some of your too salty water, and replace it with fresh water?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Mattikuss]

Matt,

The manual says the "ideal" salt level for the IC40 is 3600 ppm...

I suspect the cell might operate a little better at 3600, but since it works all the way down to 2800, I find it better for me, and my taste buds, to run at 3200..

Why not just drain some of your too salty water, and replace it with fresh water?

Thanks,

Jim R.

Draining feels intimidating. I don’t know where I would dump the water.