Wrinkly feet! All I did was add an SWG!

[Pegasus_RPG]

Here's a strange one for you: Ever since I installed my SWG about a month ago (and brought the salt level to 4050ppm,) if I'm in the pool for about 45 minutes, my feet start to wrinkle on the bottom. One night we had friends over in the hot tub chatting for hours and my feet wrinkled so hard it hurt to stand on them for like 2 hours after I got out! I can't imagine the salt alone is doing this, because I've been in the ocean for an hour or more (at 10X the salinity) and don't have this issue. I used water softener salt, and nobody else is complaining, so any guesses as to what might be going on? Do I need to see a doctor?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I doubt it has anything to do with the pool water. Skin will always get a little wrinkled when your are in water (except under some very unusual circumstances)....your outer skin layers absorb water due to loss of oils (sebum) and osmotic pressure (the movement of molecules from high contraptions to low concentrations) and that causes localized swelling and contraction which results in the visible wrinkles. Sometimes adding very large quantities of salts (sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate, aka epsom salt) can affect the osmotic response of skin, but that's not really what's happening in your pool.

Perhaps spend less time in the water OR get a pair of flip flops or no skid water shoes to wear if plan to be in and out of the pool a lot.

 

[mgtfp]

Interesting observation. Have you recently used the pool this season before the SWG installation? Maybe your skin just has changed in general, or just differences over the course of the year, depending on how much barefoot walking you do, etc. Try an experiment and put your feet in a bucket of plain water over dinner or something like that.

 

[Pegasus_RPG]

No, i haven't been in before the SWG was installed. I am keeping the PH lower now (7.2-7.4) than I did last season (7.5-7.8) to combat scale build-up with the new SWG especially as my CH is over 700. (Though I can't seem to avoid a fading endpoint no matter what I try from the extended instructions.) Maybe the lower PH is the cause? I'll try the tap water bucket test tonight, thanks for the idea!

 

[mgtfp]

Let's see what the tap water does, and maybe test the pH first, so you know how that compares to your pool. Next you could add salt to the water bucket. And then you could take a bucket full of pool water and add some baking soda to raise the pH up to your old levels.