TDS test at pool store? Salty taste in water??

[Henrys514]

What the heck does this test mean? The pool store always tests for it, but can't really explain what it is. They don't make a big deal about it either, because ours is 5,500 (WAY above their acceptable max of 3000), and they don't seem to be concerned.
Then I found this link:
http://www.perfectpoolandspa.com/problem_saltytaste.html
when I was searching for a cause of our salty tasting water (we have no SWG). Our water is crystal clear, but has this funny salty taste to it. Could our high TDS be the reason?? I'm still fiddling with the TA and the CH, so I though that was the reason for the salty taste.

It also says the only way to get rid of high TDS is to drain, then refill. The thought of doing that after getting the water so clear makes me want to cry:eek: Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

[mas985]

The major contributors to TDS in a well balanced swimming pool are salt, calcium and magnesium to a lesser extent. So if your calcium is under control and your water tastes like salt, my guess is salt. The only time when high TDS can be a problem is when it is something other than salt. So if you don't mind the taste, I don't see any reason to drain and refill.

[Henrys514]

I wouldn't say our pool is well balanced...yet;) Our calcium is a bit low right now. I'm working on raising it to 200ppm.

How would salt get into our pool? Just through by-products of all the chemicals being added? Would it be a good idea to get our fill water tested for TDS as well? It's a pretty strong taste of salt....kind of like being in the ocean.

[mas985]

One of the byproducts of chlorine sanitation is salt. This is the same process of a SWCG pool only there is no regeneration of chlorine from a cell. This can build up over time if you do not lose much water through splash out or rain overflow.

If your fill water is from the city, then I doubt it would be that salty. Too many would complain.

[Henrys514]

Well, we certainly have not had a lot of rain. Since January, we've only had maybe 10 inches...so I don't think we've had to drain an overfilling pool once yet. We've had to top it off a bunch of times. Hopefully, once we get into july, august, and september we'll get some more rain and perhaps that will take care of it.

My husband wasn't too keen on the idea of draining half the pool water and refilling either...:D

[Henrys514]

I wanted to share this interesting article I found about TDS. It helped me understand a little better...it seems like it comes from a reliable source too.

http://www.ppoa.org/article_TDS.htm

I guess salty tasting, yet balanced water isn't such a bad thing. It's not really harming anything having a high TDS level...nobody's skin will burn off or anything. Thinking about where our pool was 1 month ago, it could definetly be worse.

[mas985]

Good article. Explained it all pretty well.